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Social Effects Of The Black Death Essay

807 Words4 Pages

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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