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If you think Ebola is bad, you obviously haven’t heard about The Black Death. The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague, was a fatal disease that spread from China in 1348 to the rest of Europe. During those years of the pestilence, between 25-50% of Europe’s population was killed. The Black Death was a very deadly disease that infected everybody it came in contact with and caused farmers to flee. Due to many failed attempts to cure the disease, the people of Europe shifted their focus from religion to medicine.…
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From the late medieval era to the enlightenment a series of plagues devastated European society, economy, and social/political structure. In the Middle Ages, the Black Plague (or Death) was a pandemic that killed nearly 2/3 of the population in Europe, and lead to the downfall of the feudal system. The groups that benefited the most from the changes caused by the Black Death were peasants and laborers reaction toward the calamity ranged from rational and proactive to irrational, egoistic, and even criminal. Over all, the human devastation revealed a growth over time in government role and the role of the educated class in serving society, while uncovering a persistent criticism of the upper classes and the common people.…
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Around 1339 in northwestern Europe, the population was beginning to outgrow the food supply and a severe economic crisis began to take place. The winters were extremely cold and the summers were dry. Due to this extreme weather, very low crops yielded and those that grew were dying. Inflation became a common occurrence and as famine broke out, people began to worry. The time period of approximately 1339 to 1346 is now known as the famine before the plague (history). These seven bad years of weather and famine lead to the greatest plague of all times. In 1347, endemic to Asia, The Black Death began spreading throughout Western Europe. Over the time of three years, the plague killed one third of the population in Europe with roughly twenty five million people dead (bbc.co). The Black Death killed more Europeans than any other endemic or war up to that time, greatly impacting the Church, family life, and the economy. These three social pillars were changed forever.…
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The Black Death impacted Europe both socially and economically. This plague altered Europe’s art, faith and everyday peasant lifestyle. During the onslaught of death, art and literature took a dark turn to reflect the epic pandemic. Not only that but people's faith in God was also tested as people believed that he was abandoning them or even the cause of the Black Death itself.…
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Many things contributed to the crisis of the later middle Ages. There was inflation throughout the Northern Europe. Torrential rain ruined what little crops farmers had and caused a "great famine." Since many people had little to eat they were not able to receive vitamins and became very unhealthy. They became susceptible to diseases and death. Many villages became abandoned, since work could not be found people resorted to living on the streets. It was a vicious cycle and very hard to improve conditions.…
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The article “Black Death and Sin” states, “In Western Europe, common folks were more inclined to rebellion. With labor in short supply they were aware of their added value as producers and eager to improve their situation. In response to rising wages, authorities started to fix wages at a low level – the opposite of a minimum wage. Hostility toward employers and authorities increased. Peasants and other workers tried to dodge these impositions. Peasants called for a reduction in service obligations. In cities, workers rose against the wealthy merchants who had been running city hall. Peasants and workers revolted in Spain, the Netherlands, southern Germany, Italy, and England.” This is saying that because of the disease, people were not happy. People such as laborers were in much higher demand, so many started to say that they needed to be payed much more to support there families. In response, the authorities in many European countries set something similar to a maximum wage; a pay limit that no workers of any calibur can be payed more than. As you can imagine, this led to many revolts by workers saying that this was unfair treatment. They started to say that if they were getting payed less, then they were going to work less, too. This meant that things were not getting done, which made people even more upset. Then the people who were not doing anything were saying, “if they payed us more, we would do it!” This lead to many people attacking the authorities and business owners, blaming them for things not hetting done. This issue went on for years after the Death, and caused many of the nations such as the Netherland’s economies to plumit. This was a very bad thing for the continent of Europe, which suffered for decades after the horrid…
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The Black Death and Hundred Years War caused a massive loss of life that destroyed the European population which led to the downfall of agriculture and rise of prices. The Black Death was a big deal because it “…was the first major disease to strike Europe since the seventh century…” and the people did not know how to react (Spielvogel 305). Many thought they were being punished by God or that the devil was causing it, no matter what one believed the Black Death hurt the government and almost caused most of Europe to become an anarchy. The people “…began living for the moment…” not caring what they were doing and the government was too scared to stop them which caused chaos (Spielvogel 307). Social upheaval was everywhere, peasants were revolting because of the economy and they were being treated unfairly. To make matters worse there was a political instability that caused a war, the Hundred Years War. The war started for many reasons which one can overall sum up as confusion over a piece of land between the French and the English, and the war lasted for a long time bringing even more death and pain to…
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The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, or the Bubonic Plague killed one third of the population of Europe during its reign in the 13th and 14th centuries. The arrival of this plague set the scene for years of strife and heroism. Leaving the social and…
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The initial decline of the middle ages laid between 1420 and stretched to 1470. During that time was the disastrous bubonic plague, also known as the black death, and other factors dragging the time longer after the plague even released it’s solid grasp on the world. Nearly seven thousand people died per day in Cairo, Egypt. The entire world was impacted by this time period, leaving no room for any group, social place, or country safe, save for very few. As for example, some German villages were never even touched by the disease, thanks to isolation and other higher living standards. The New World Encyclopedia mentions, “ In Western Europe, the sudden scarcity of cheap labor provided an incentive for landlords to compete for peasants…
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The Black Plague is best known for taking the lives of about half of europe during the middle ages. It seemingly come out of nowhere, killed thousands, then went off and on for several more centuries. Many know of the plague but do not about it, what caused it, or what were the effects on the people from this killing disease.…
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The Middle Ages was a hard time for Europe throughout the years 500-1500 CE. Central government struggled in this time that was also known as the Dark Ages. Medicines were very simple at the time and serious diseases were hardly ever cured. A serious outbreak during this time was the Black Death. This was a plague that could not be cured by the medicines of it's time. During the Middle Ages, the Black Death was a violent disease with horrible signs. It spread through carriers who brought it to Europe where it killed many and spread throughout the area.…
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Without the chaos in Europe during the fourteenth century, Europe would not have become a newly unified power. Famine, cold, wet, and deadly conditions set place in Europe during the middle ages. Poor leadership and unlucky sequences caused the massive economic/political meltdown in Europe and the consequences were immensely costly to the general population for more than a 100 years. Northern Europe endured a large economic turnaround during the Little Ice Age because they heavily relied on agriculture. Agriculture became a growing concern due to the cold weather and the lack of production caused shortages which resulted in The Great Famine. The lack of food caused the prices to rise and since the general population already suffered from the appalling economy, they could not afford the prices which made them resort to violence and disturbing food selections. Disease from Asia mainly known as the Black Plague riddled Northern Europe causing a large population decrease and a change in balance of power.…
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Besides the fact that the Black Death devastated Europe in the medieval times, it also had a powerful impact on population, culture, religion, and economy. The population decreased due to the thousands of deaths caused by The Black Death. The population “did not recover…
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People infected died in their homes and on the streets where many other civilians would pass by, making them more susceptible to the infection. The fact that the majority of citizens were malnutritioned made them even more of easy targets for the plague due to their weak immune systems (Unknown, The Black Death – How the Black Death received its name). Elites and more wealthy people did not have to go to the same public places therefore they had better chances of avoiding the infection, but they were still not completely untouchable. After everyone had shut themselves up in their homes, lost jobs and many family members as well as friends, the plague began to disappear. ‘It had not been long since it had arrived in England, and since the plague was carried mainly by fleas and fleas were summer and spring time insects, the disease would only strike people in summer, calm down over the summer and would come back the following spring.’ (Bates and Salkeld) Throughout the five years that this went on, citizens would look for new ways to try and prevent this deadly disease from coming back once again. Citizens of England began to think the Black Death was a punishment from God, and feared even changing clothes at the time of the disease because it was a sign of vanity which was a sin that they feared they would be reprimanded by being struck…
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The Black Death, or as most people know it today as The Plague, killed more than 20 million people in Europe and Asia in the Late Middle Ages. This horrific disease affected all aspects of life during the time. The population decreased by more than 60 percent. The Black Death got its name from the black boils that oozed blood and pus from all of its victims. These were called "buboes" and appeared black on the skin. "Blood and pus seeped out of these strange swellings,…
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