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Social Effects Of The Black Death Essay

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In 1346, a horrible and incurable disease known as the Black Death arrived in Europe via fleas on rats. This disease swept through villages and towns killing massive amounts of people in a matter of weeks. Many people thought this epidemic was the end of the world; it had great social effects on all people. There were numerous social effects because of the Black Death such as grief and shock caused by the massive decrease in population and the major disruption of daily life in towns, cities, and in the church.
The Black Death was a plague that killed everything in its path. It is estimated that twenty-five million people out Europe’s one-hundred million total population died in a span of four years (Geoffrey, 5). This massive decrease in population …show more content…

The plague caused the death of all people from peasants in small villages to the nobles in upper class. Large shortages of essential people caused the disruption of daily life. There were few physicians to treat the ill and dying and few or no priests to deliver the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The lack of lawyers to make wills for the dying caused many problems for the families in need of help. Numerous amounts of people thought that fumes from dead bodies on the streets were infecting people and spreading the disease. This compelled a shortage of gravediggers to bury and dispose of bodies. Desperately seeking people to fill these positions, criminals and beggars called “becchini” were employed to take away the bodies (Gunnell). Many becchini would drunkenly roam the streets forcing themselves into private homes and ransacking them. Some even warned residents that if they did not pay or give sexual favors, their loved ones would be carried away (McMullin, 20). Many though that the Black Death was a punishment from God. Groups called the flagellants abandoned their homes and families to travel across Europe to punish themselves and repent. Also, the majority of the medieval population blamed the Jews for the plague. Christians accused them of secretly poisoning wells and said they were focused on world

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The book, “The Great Mortality” by John Kelly, explores how the Black Death spread across Europe and Asia from 1347 to 1351 and left a trail of terrors in its path. Kelly describes the history of the plague from witnesses of the disaster. It describes how the black rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis spread the infection throughout this region, killing over half of the population. Kelly describes the measures taken by the town, the church and health organizations to prevent the Plague from spreading. Although there are many important issues brought to light by Kelly, some offer more discussion and though than others.

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For example, “the Jews were burnt all the way from the Mediterranean into Germany. they tortured a number of Jews in Berne and Zofingen [Switzerland].” (Document 8). Perhaps the most awful part of the Jewish persecution during the spread of the Bubonic Plague was the reasoning behind their blame. The Jewish people during Feudal Europe were quite wealthy.

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An image created by Givoennni Srcambihas, a pharmacist in the 14th Century, shows the intensity that the Black Death hit Europe with. In his image, an Angel of Death appears to be shooting arrows to everyone in sight; The author uses this angel to represent how the plague would kill anyone in its path (Document 3). This image accurately represented what was going on in Europe during these times. The amount of lives lost was so severe that Europe ended up losing around one-third of their population. As seen in the chart “Estimated Long Term Impact on Population of Europe”, in 1345 there were around 83 million people.

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The Black death is known around the world, in some parts its called the plague, while others call it the bubonic plague. No matter the name the people know the damage that the black plague caused and how it changed society, some of the ways that it changed society were. The black plague was mostly caused by bad hygiene and diseases being spread and back in the late 1330’s, everyone had diseases and especially rats these filthy creatures were the main cause of the spread of the black plague. Also, it killed millions of people, it scared everyone to death because they had no medicine back then so they thought it was going to kill the whole human race, also their was no cure for the black plague during the following years 1348-1349. When the black plague had eventually ended it had taken with it more than 25 million people died that was about 25 to 50%

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The effects of the Black Death were significant on Medieval society. The black death caused panic amongst communities and towns leaving unmaintained paddocks and scarce amounts of food. This is due to the plague's rapidly spreading nature, and the fact that many people died. The plague left Europe with a multitude of short and long-term effects and issues. These issues varied from flagellants whipping themselves, from town to town, to make up for sins against God to the loss of labourers to work the land.

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Many factors played a key role in the extensive spread of the Black Death, or Bubonic plague, like insect bites or rodents, but the progressive trade networks were the most impactful. It started in Asia, in the 1300’s, but the new trade routes allowed it to spread across the Indian Ocean. Many people from many different backgrounds were negatively affected by this disease, and many didn’t know that they were exposed to the disease until it was too late. The Black Death had a variety of clinical forms, but no matter which type a person had, they were guaranteed death. This disease completely changed the medieval world and affected religions as well as many other ways of life or cultures.

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In 1347, Europe had just been infected by the Black Death. This epidemic killed over 2/3 of Europe’s population and lasted for over five years. The pathogen that caused the Black Death was Yersinia Pestis which causes many forms of plague. The Plague originated in central and south Asia then traveled through trade routes like the Silk Road, all the way to Sicily The Black Death killed most of Europe’s population, thus ending Feudalism by having not enough serfs and workers to run fields and farms. The land owners started to offer more for their work and labor, making the lower class more wealthy, and providing more jobs.

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During the mid-fourteenth century, a plague hit Europe. Initially spreading through rats and subsequently fleas, it killed at least one-third of the population of Europe and continued intermittently until the 18th century. There was no known cure at the time, and the bacteria spread very quickly and would kill an infected person within two days, which led to structural public policies, religious, and medical changes in Europe. The plague had an enormous social effect, killing much of the population and encouraging new health reforms, it also had religious effects by attracting the attention of the Catholic Church, and lastly, it affected the trade around Europe, limiting the transportation of goods. As a response to the plague that took place

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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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As the Black Death traveled through Europe, it left thousands dead. From 1315 to 1322, the Great Famine caused starvation and death, weakening Europe’s population. Once the Black Death came into

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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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It was the Spring of 1348, and the citizens of Europe were malnourished due to limited food supplies for such a large population. This made them more susceptible to the outbreak of the Black Death. The Black Death originated in Asia, then moved westward into Sicily. From Sicily, the plague crept its way up through Europe infecting millions of people, in total killing more than one third of Europe’s population. In fact, over fifty percent of the population of Siena died, along with fifty percent of Paris, eighty percent of Florence, and over two thirds of Venice.

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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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