Positive And Negative Effects Of Black Death On European Societies

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

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