Black Death Informative Essay by Stefano Colombo 3/06/18 “How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, breakfast with their kinfolk and the same night supped with their ancestors in the next world! The condition of the people was pitiable to behold. They sickened by the thousands daily and died unattended and without help. Many died in the open street, others dying in their houses, made it known by the stench of their rotting bodies. Consecrated churchyards did not suffice for the burial of the vast multitude of bodies, which were heaped by the hundreds in vast trenches, like goods in a ship’s hold and covered with a little earth.”-Giovanni Boccaccio. The Black Death is the disease the Italian poet alluded to in this famous quote. The Black Death caused a severe number of deaths when western Europe was exposed to its destructive ways. How did this affect society in Europe? What were the repercussions of losing one third of the general population? The Black Death was an influential factor in many societal changes that occurred during the 14th century. These changes were the depopulation of Europe, reduced labor force, rising wages, and increasing slave demand, government fixing wages promoting rebellion of the peasants and other workers. Depopulation in Western Europe occurred rapidly as during the 13th century after the sudden increase in population the Black Plague infected peasants which were usually farmers and also made up most of the population. This infection and