The Black Death: The Bubonic Plague In Europe
The Black Death is one of the most deadly epidemics in human history, and is taught in schools throughout the world. Though it is most known to have killed 50 million people in Europe it also ravaged Asia killing 25 million people. The Black Death is a type of plague called the Bubonic plague. Encyclopedia Britannica defines the Bubonic plague as, “an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Bubonic plague is the most commonly occurring type of plague and is characterized by the appearance of buboes—swollen, tender lymph nodes, typically found in the armpits and groin.” The Bubonic plague has surfaced nine times in human history: the Plague of Justinian (541-542), the Black Death (1346-1353), the Great Plague of Milan (1629-1631),
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Medieval Economy, religion, and medical practice were especially changed by the plague. The European economic structure was extremely affected by the Black Death, and its exponential population decline. In towns, many skilled craftsmen died along with their valuable skills such as, blacksmithing, shoe making, and wood carving. With the large number of deaths came a shortage of workers, which resulted in the cost of their labor (wages) and what the prices of what they made skyrocket. Higher prices for goods and a much lower supply of workers demolished the economy. Wealthy landholders began to see their wealth disappear as the cost of goods and services skyrocketed. At the same type, because so few people were left to feed, demand for food grown in their fields decreased, and agricultural prices fell. Many landholders, who depended on the production of their lands for their income, could no longer afford to keep their land and simply abandoned it. On the other hand, workers who lived through the plague realized that they could demand higher wages from their employers, because there was no one else to hire. In addition, peasants were no longer tied to the estates of their lords, because they knew that they could be hired anywhere they went. Due to this series of events the wealthy became not as wealthy, the peasants became wealthier, and the economy was crushed. In the field of religion, the church lost an immense amount of power, and, historians believe, that the Black Death was one of the major causes of the Protestant movement in the sixteenth century. In the field of medicine, textbooks were printed in languages other than Latin, the Greek and Roman philosophy to medicine was changed to a more traditional philosophy, doctors became more important, and autopsies, which had been illegal for centuries, became widely used. In conclusion, the Black Death, though extremely
Medieval Economy, religion, and medical practice were especially changed by the plague. The European economic structure was extremely affected by the Black Death, and its exponential population decline. In towns, many skilled craftsmen died along with their valuable skills such as, blacksmithing, shoe making, and wood carving. With the large number of deaths came a shortage of workers, which resulted in the cost of their labor (wages) and what the prices of what they made skyrocket. Higher prices for goods and a much lower supply of workers demolished the economy. Wealthy landholders began to see their wealth disappear as the cost of goods and services skyrocketed. At the same type, because so few people were left to feed, demand for food grown in their fields decreased, and agricultural prices fell. Many landholders, who depended on the production of their lands for their income, could no longer afford to keep their land and simply abandoned it. On the other hand, workers who lived through the plague realized that they could demand higher wages from their employers, because there was no one else to hire. In addition, peasants were no longer tied to the estates of their lords, because they knew that they could be hired anywhere they went. Due to this series of events the wealthy became not as wealthy, the peasants became wealthier, and the economy was crushed. In the field of religion, the church lost an immense amount of power, and, historians believe, that the Black Death was one of the major causes of the Protestant movement in the sixteenth century. In the field of medicine, textbooks were printed in languages other than Latin, the Greek and Roman philosophy to medicine was changed to a more traditional philosophy, doctors became more important, and autopsies, which had been illegal for centuries, became widely used. In conclusion, the Black Death, though extremely