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Positive And Negative Effects Of Black Death On European Societies

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The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, was an infectious bacterial infection that came around in the year 1346. If one had caught this infection they would have symptoms of a high fever as well as puking blood. Two to seven days was the amount of time it would normally take to die after contracting the black death. This human killing infection lasted in Europe for eight years which is known as the “first wave”. This longlasting pandemic had many effects which brings in the question, what were both the positive and negative effects of the black death on European societies? The first source that I am going to be using to evaluate this question is historycrunch.com/impactsoftheblackdeath. This article provides a significant amount …show more content…

Including impacts on the social and economic state, medical practice and knowledge, women’s rights, and art and architecture. Following the vast death amounts, the impact on the social and economic state of Europe arose. “The demand for people to work the land was so high that it threatened the manorial holdings. Serfs were no longer tied to one master; if one left the land, another lord would instantly hire them. The lords had to make changes to make the situation more profitable for the peasants and so keep them on their land.” (Brown.edu, 1972) Due to this, workers had better wages and working conditions. Which led to a shift in power from the lords to the peasants as they were now able to demand more rights and freedoms. This transfer of power contributed to the end of the feudal system and the rise of the middle class. This was significant because the feudal system had been the dominant social and economic system in Europe for centuries. Overall, the Black Death led to a more equal society because the barriers between social classes had been broken and it allowed people to have more freedom and opportunities. Another advancement that came around was medical practice and knowledge. “Prior to the Black Death, medicine was in a very simple form, as it consisted of roots, flowers, herbs, etc, that apothecaries would combine to create remedies for certain illnesses or medical issues. Most people did not question the system until the Black Death came along.” (Levine) When the plague appeared, doctors attempted to cure the patients with the same methods they had always used. They quickly found out that these methods did not work. Doctors grew a better understanding of the disease leading to development of new medical treatments. Physicians and scientists began to study the disease more closely, and they were able to identify its causes and

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The Black Death changed peasant’s lives and society drastically. In hope of them having more respect they want to be recognized for their hard work and labor. A Peasants lifestyle and atmosphere was very strict and harsh which led to poor health and wellbeing. Some areas had food shortages and no one could provide them with food to feed everyone. Causing that made the peasants poor as they were only selling small amounts of food for the same price which gradually made them poorer.

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Wealthy and powerful people fled to country. People began to live for the moment and threw themselves into sexual and alcoholic orgies. Conditions for the wealthy declined while life for peasants improved. Jews were accused of causing the plague by poisoning town wells. It also led to economic problems, and economic

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It was a crisis where no one knew why death kept coming. Not only did kill, but it impacted how life was lived, too. Overall, the black death forever damaged the social pillars in Europe. One of the social pillars was how family was, and with a crisis like the plague, family wasn’t the biggest factor in surviving. In the event that the plague was spreading, it scared others and led them to panic.

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All plagues strike by uprooting individual lives and society as a whole. Nevertheless, the particular circumstances regarding the government, and religious and cultural beliefs in the affected lands influence the specific results of the tragedy, as witnessed through the Black Death and smallpox. Although both diseases led to drastic economic changes, they caused different overturns of religious beliefs, and only the Black Death resulted in the creation of public health services and the marginalization of groups of people. A lack of labor precipitated alterations to the economy--the end of feudalism in the case of the Black Death and the creation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the case of smallpox.

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The Black Death was so devastating to Europe because of the population change and the effects it had on people. The Black Death changed many people’s lives. For example, most of the population decreased, which is sad because their lives are gone. It affected Spain, France, and Italy in 1348; Barbaria, and England in 1349; and Poland in 1350.

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386 Words | 2 Pages

The Black Death caused many positive and negative changes in medieval society. Since the Black Death caused such a vast amount of humans to die in a short period, there was a large surplus of food however a shortage of peasants to work the land. This labour shortage meant that serfs were no longer tied to the land and could leave to find higher wages, as said in Chronicle of the Black Death 'such a shortage of workers... scarcely be persuaded to serve the eminent unless for triple wages'. Secondly, because of the upwards mobility and lack of structure that came from the Black Death and the fact that serfs could ask for more pay, feudalism became a lot less prominent in many places and was eventually replaced with other systems, such as capitalism.

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The medical advancement of the time were simply underwhelming and almost nonexistent when it came to the plague. Having large visible symptoms the plague seemed to send a message to its occupant that there was a short time left. Large swellings or bulbous showed up in the groin and armpits about the size of a softball and eventually spread to other parts of the body. The appearance of these

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The Black Death changed the lives of peasants in many ways. After going through all the pain and suffering, the peasants gained more freedom, rights and respect. The revolt against the government may have been unsuccessful but it still changed the feudal system, creating a better society. Workers became scarce when the Black Death striked. The peasants used this to their advantage against the lords.

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The Bubonic Plague killed millions of Europeans in its time of reign (DeLeo and Hinnebusch 42). The Plague was a very catastrophic time period, and due to lack of medical knowledge, the mass contagion was blamed on the Jews, and many other stigmas were also created as a result. In light of the massive death, the overall social construct and economy of the Middle Ages was changed as well. Context In order to fully understand why the economy and other social aspects were changed during the middle age, it is vital to understand what the plague was life.

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No one wanted to work at this time either because of the chance of getting infected so to actually have work done, they would have to pay more, aka inflation. Without workers, work wouldn’t get done, so they didn’t really have a choice. One place catapulted infected corpses to try to infect the enemies. All things considered, the Black Death affected society in many different ways. In conclusion, the Black Death was a catastrophic disease.

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The Black Death brought a period of growth to an end, and killed roughly a third of Europe’s population in just a few years. While the plague was present, a series of destructive wars were tearing apart trade and economy. Europe was repeatedly experiencing hard times and the Plague was when they just couldn't handle anything else (concourse). As more and more people died, it became much harder to find people to work fields, harvest crops, and produce other goods and services. Peasants began to demand higher wages.

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The Black Death impacted the economic and social balance of several monarchies. First, the people of Europe flogged themselves to renounce their sins and to achieve holiness. Secondly, the people disregarded the social balance, spiritual and secular laws. The Black Death not only broke up families, as the Romans

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According to Ole J. Benedictow “Inevitably [the Black Plague] had an enormous impact on European society and greatly affected the dynamics of change and development from the medieval to Early Modern period. A historical turning point, as well as a vast human tragedy, the Black Death of 1346-53 is unparalleled in human history.” It was one of the most devastating diseases in history

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To say the first aeroplanes used in WW1 were extremely basic is something of an understatement. Cockpits were open and instruments were rudimentary. There were no navigational aids and pilots had to rely on whatever maps could be found. A school atlas or a roadmap if necessary. Getting lost was commonplace and landing in a field to ask directions was not unusual, as was flying alongside railway lines hoping to read station names on the platforms.

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Economic and Social Consequences of the Black Death The Black Death was no modest disease it swept all over Europe during the dark ages , had immense and annihilating effects and is in fact one of the most disastrous and destructive pandemics in human history. It rapidly spread through Medieval Europe during 1347-1351 killing more than one third of the population. In the midst of Italy’s overpopulated cities 50 to 60 percent of the population died while villages were completely swept of their people in England and Germany (Spielvogel World History and Geography 248-249). The Black did not only bring the tragedy of killing millions but it also came with many consequences such as economic inflation and extreme social distinction ("Social and Economic Effects of the Plague").After the intense shock of the Black Death, Europe’s economically declined, its internal affair were instable and its social systems

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