How Did The Black Death Affect European Society

A bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, spread through Western Europe from 1348-1349. It killed about 25%-50% of the entire population of Western Europe. This plague changed Europe’s society and some of the changes would last a long time. The Black Death changed the society of Europe by causing many religious groups to blame religions, the demand of labor to go up, and rebellions of the common folk. First, the religious groups blaming religions for the plague was a change the Black Death caused. As the plague broke out, many people did not understand what the source of the plague was so they blamed it on people. In Germany and other parts of Europe blamed the Jews by saying they had poisoned the water (“Sin”). The Jews were arrested and they were put to death by being burned. For the next several centuries the Jews were treated harshly and the plague is one reason why. Another group, known as the Flagellants, believed that the plague was from God because of how sinful mankind was (“Sin”). They went around the country preaching that everyone should repent. The Black Death caused a change in European society because religious blamed some religions for the source of the plague.
In Western Europe the demand of labor had to fight against wages. In the end, many people started using slaves cut into the demand of free labor (“Depopulation”). The plague also caused families to go poor. With the demand of slaves going up, the parents would sell their children because they wanted them to have to work instead of dying from starvation. Slavery would start becoming a big part of the world. The Black Death might have helped slavery because it caused Western Europe to demand more slaves. The plague changed the society by causing the demand of labor to go up which lead to