...The Black Death stands out as the most dramatic and lifestyle changing event during the 14th century. This was a widespread epidemic of the bubonic plague that passed from Asia and through Europe in the mid fourteenth century. The first signs of the Black Death in Europe were present around the fall of 1346. In the span of three years, the Black Death killed one third of all the people in Europe. This traumatic population change coming into the Late Middle Ages caused great changes in European culture and lifestyle. How exactly did the plaque begin? The Black Death was one of many catastrophes to occur following an increase in population during the High Middle Ages (1000-1300). The population of Europe grew from 38 million to 74 million in this time. Before the plague, Europe had been enjoying an increased state of growth in both agriculture and structure in society. Cities began to rise with artisans, farmers, and other crafts people specializing in their own field of work. The daily amount of contact between the European people in the cities and...
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...Black Death The Black Death was a devastation full of effects that led to a new revolution all around Europe. The major impact of Black Death was on the economy of the continent. Due to the shortages of labor, the wages increased to a high level. The population loss in Black Death also led to the prices of common commodities like wheat to decrease as well. With the shortage of labor and limited resources, the industry owners had to enhance their working methods. Therefore, an impact of the Black Death was the emergence of inventions that improved the way of life. Some would argue that this pandemic also lead to unequal distribution of wealth as to those who could grab opportunities went to be richer. Thus another impression of the plague was an increased gap between the rich and the poor. The way of life was enhanced for people around Europe and the women in Europe also went on join the working force. It is no surprise that Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in history. The plague burst out and started off the in winter of 1347-1348. The source of Black Death was traced back to the wild rodents of the steppes of central Asia even as far as Asia or China. Apart from China, some trace its origin back to Kurdistan and Iraq.1 The main concern wasn’t where it started but how it actually spread through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The plague first appeared in China and reached Crimea in 1346; from there it travelled to Constantinople and Sicily in...
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...The Black Death in Europe Europe had prospered for about 300 years prior to the beginning of the 1300’s but a series of natural disasters occurred. Economies were in recession at the onset of Black Death, Europe as a whole would take a step backward because of an epidemic that almost wipeout sixty percent of the entire population. Black Death was one of the worst disasters on record (Lerner 533). This plague began in 1946 on grassland where a reservoir stretches far from the northwestern shores of Caspian Sea into Southern Russia. At the time, Southern Russia was believed to be under the rule Mongolian Empire travelling in Silk Road using caravan between China and Europe. As a result, Russia which might have become the Black Death’s European conquest, but in fact was its last, and was invaded by the disease not from the east but from the west which is China (Benedictow 4). During the rampage of the bubonic plague, the Chinese population was decimated by up to 90 percent. The Mongols who were infected with the disease surrounded a Genovese trading centre in the Crimean coast and fled the site by a ship carrying the disease with them back to Europe via ports of Sicily. The plague spread further North by major trade routes and reached Europe through its ports. Once it had reached England, it proceeded rapidly with devastating consequences throughout Eastern Europe all the way to Russia (Duiker 322). There were many theories that existed at the time about the reason behind the Black...
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...The Impact of the Black Death From the point of view of developing a pest and control methods, the manifestation of the plague in Europe historically known as "Black Death", “ fever " or "Bubonic plague" among other epithets, is a particular example of why a pest or plague can be developed and how can it be controlled. In this specific case, the plague is used to expand from the general conditions of a concrete reality, and disappears spontaneously when these conditions vary, these circumstances promoted behavioral changes to encourage changes in behavior and domestic actions of man, which in turn caused such a change of environment that disfavored the transcendence of the plague, which has its ultimate manifestation in the Old Continent nearly four hundred years after his arrival in Europe. Some people consider this event as the worst of the epidemics that affected man in its history. Although historically it has been established that the disease was bubonic plague acting with pneumonic and septicemic variants, some researchers attribute the high mortality registered to more than one disease, they base their statements and even in our times, by studying bones from graves that in which tradition is known to have been buried victims of the plague , in some cases there was no evidence of bubonic plague and its variants in one hand and in the other hand traces of other diseases such as Anthrax were found. What is certain and beyond doubt is that this epidemic ends with...
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...The Black Death Labor Supply and Demand Missie Thomas XECO/212 August 2, 2013 Anna Gonzalez PhD. The Black Death devastated Europe during 1347-1351 and is believed to have claimed the lives of 75 million people that is about 1/3rd to 2/3rds of Europe’s population. The Black Death is a result of the Bubonic Plague and spread from Europe, India, Middle Eastern lands, and China. The Government had no idea how to cure the disease since they did not know the origin of the disease. This caused the monarchs to prohibit export of food even this did not stop the disease from spreading. England was one of the hardest hit places and could not buy grain from France as a result of the prohibition and crops were dying because there was not enough laborers to maintain crops. The Churches power was weakened because people were losing faith blaming God for the sickness that was spreading. The Black Death caused economical downfall everywhere. The epidemic led to widespread rebellion in numerous portions of Europe including France, Italy, and England. Various people see the Black Death as a cause in the Revitalization and maybe even the Renovation in Western Europe. With an inhabitants decrease this got inexpensive property costs, extra sustenance for the common farmer, and a big surge in per capita revenue amongst the poor. “Economic historians such as Fernand Braudel have concluded that the Black Death exacerbated a recession in the European economy that had been under way since the...
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...between 1300 to 1650. For many peasants, their lives could be depicted as overwhelming, depressing, discouraging, and hopeless; yet, many events during these 350 years opened up opportunities for the peasantry to improve their lives. Events ranging from the Hundred Years War to the Black Death, and up until the beginning years of the Renaissance, changed the lives of the peasantry dramatically, all for the better. Before the Black Death reached Europe, peasants’ lives were very difficult. They usually never left the manor on which they served without the master’s permission. It was illegal for them to even move to another city or manor, if they so desired. They were forced to pay rent to their landlords for the land they cultivated themselves. In addition to the rent that was required of them, “they were also required to provide free labor on the lands used by the lord, known as a demesne.”[1] Although there were rewards to living on a manor, the peasantry had more advantages when the manorial system began to break down at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Even though the nobility still dominated rural Europe, peasants were beginning to move out of their status as servants. The Black Death, striking Italy in 1347, was one of the events that began to shape the lives of the peasantry. It is seen throughout history as one of the worst epidemics to ever hit the European nations. Later it became known as “the greatest natural catastrophe ever to strike Europe and one of the...
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...works on the Black Death in general and on medicine in specific cite the Black Death as a major turning point both in European history and in the history of medicine.”1 Vanneste states repeatedly throughout her investigation that the Black Death evoked an extremely substantial change in the progression of medicine. Her thesis explores the fact that "medical practitioners scrambled to both explain the origins of the plague and develop ways to prevent and cure it.”2 All of the former methods of treatment became obsolete when such a detrimental disease struck, forcing medical practitioners to search for new options, and eventually lead to countless crucial advancements.According to the author, the plague marked the end of the medieval era, and marked the distant beginning of modern times. One way in which this occurred was that many formerly uneducated doctors began to seek both answers and prestige, leading them to seek formal training and become much more adept at their craft....
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...Summer Musser Topics of Historiography Example 1: Question 1 The Black Death was an event that changed the course of the Medieval World and slowly began to tip the balance of power. Many historians would agree that the events that took place between 1347 and 1352 had left a lasting impact on the current economy. Slack argues that not only was the Black Death a factor, but it was also any pre-existing economic and political turmoil that laid the foundation for the plague outbreak to have such a devastating after effect. Not every part of Europe had suffered the same effects; England had less productive arable land, which caused many of its residents that lived near the city to pick up new trades. Other midland areas were not as fortunate and were unable to get out of that rut. The effects of the Black Death ultimately resulted from the demographic recession where some areas were able to bounce back much quicker than others. Question 2:...
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...The Black Death was spread through trade routes particularly through the Silk Road, and it first began in Central Asia spreading from the bloodstream of black rats carried on by the fleas who fed on them, which was spread by a bacteria called Yersina pestis. It spread into Italy when the ships docked and even though the residents of Italy realised that the people on board were infected, it did not stop the black rats from entering the country. It infected Europeans in 1347 due to the siege of the Port of Caffa where the war strategy was for bodies infected with the plague to be catapulted over into Caffa. The disease affected the water supply and the air and gradually residents began to suffer and die. Caffa was defended by residents from...
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...threatening excommunication to the lowly servants of God. The end of feudalism was a gradual happening caused by the Black Death, the commercial revolution, and humanism in European Society resulting in the enlightened, free thinking peoples of the Renaissance. The Black Death was one of the leading causes for the disintegration of the feudal system. Also known as the Bubonic Plague, the Black Death originated in China in the early 1000’s A.D.[1] The epidemic spread to Europe around 1347 A.D. killing two-thirds of the population. Denser populated areas of Europe, like London, were affected the most however; because of it’s crowded towns, and poorer families housing at least twelve people, the black plague swept through these places easily. [2] Because of the drastic drop off in population, new opportunities began to present themselves to the once hapless citizens who survived the bubonic plague. An increase in available land was one of these many benefits resulting in more crop yield per family. With healthier and more abundant nourishment, the peoples of Europe naturally received the expected benefits from such a gain. Also with this new development the infant mortality rate drastically dropped by thirty-three percent. [3] After the wrath of the black death had completed it’s trek through Europe the end of feudalism could clearly be seen. The Black Death...
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...How the Black Death Affected the Modern World The Black Death is the worst plague that mankind has ever had to face, much worse than anything we face today. The mortality rate was astounding; whoever was unfortunate enough to become infected with the Black Death would die in a matter of days while suffering through a great deal of pain and agony (Snell). Its peak was around 1348-1353 in Europe, ranging from England all the way to Eastern Europe and beyond (The Black Death, 1348, 2001). The Black Death is thought to have started in China or central Asia, before spreading west. The plague then travelled along the Silk Road and reached the Crimea by 1347. From there, it was probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population. All in all, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century (Ibeji, 2011). The plague disease, generally thought to be caused by Yersinia pestis, is commonly present in populations of fleas carried by ground rodents, including marmots, in various areas including Central Asia, Kurdistan, Western Asia, Northern India and Uganda (Edmonds). Plague was reportedly first introduced to Europe at the trading city of Caffa in the Crimea in 1347 (Whipps, 2008). After a protracted siege, during which the Mongol...
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...Before Europe became successful, they took a downfall in their population due to the bubonic plague “the black death”. The black death was a disease that decreased many countries population because it was killing over half of each country's population all across Afro-Eurasia. The spread of this disease was fast due to the climate changes, one known as “Little Ice Age”, that possibly was the reason why it weakened the population and left them vulnerable to the disease (textbook pg 385). During this time, Europe had harsh winters and rainy summers which made it impossible to supply the amount of food needed to feed the people. “The Rise of the West” was basically inevitable because during this time there were so many changes that Europe made...
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...The Black Death in England * The Black Death introduced “a complete revolution in the occupation of the land” * Shaped the social and economic development from the scale of deaths it caused * England’s late medieval development was impacted by a variety of political and constitutional forces as well as by independent changes in social and economic structures * Black Death “undoubtedly accentuated the tendencies in course of development, but it neither originated them nor has it materially affected their course” * The world was already changing, and Black Death only gave it a slight push to the direction * It is widely believed that the English society and economy were already in the throes of major change, aka crisis * Before the onset of the plague, there was already equivalent consensus that the Black Death did relatively little to speed the process thereafter * Despite the enormous death rate many aspects of life have been shown to have reverted swiftly and powerfully towards normality * The generation after the first plague the gap between richer and poorer members of village communities widened as the upper and middle strata prospered disproportionately * - primarily because the great majority of the numerically dominant smallholders, cottagers and landless lacked the resources to take full adv. of the opportunities for advancement which were created * Any improvements which took place in the material welfare of wage-earners were...
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...In 1347 the Black Death was brought into Europe by the Asians because of the trade routes. The Europeans at the times had no idea that the Black Plague would’ve affected their lives how it did. The Black plague was said to kill probably one out of every three people. When one person had contracted the disease it would affect the entire family. Parent were abandoning children, brothers were leaving their brothers because of how infectious and deadly the disease was. The disease would keep close friends away, family members and even priest away as soon as someone had contracted the disease. For years to come the Black Death had spread throughout Europe and neighboring cities killing many people. The exact cause for this disease is still...
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...In the years 1346-53 an epidemic of the terrible bubonic plague, spread across Europe. This plague is more commonly recognized as the Black Death, a name that came several centuries after. In order to stop the spread of this devastating disease, it was necessary that the physicians and scientists of that day begin to research and understand certain things: where this disease came from and how it spread so fast among the population; the symptoms and stages that made this disease unique; and how it was impacting society. Research shows that one way this disease most likely evolved, was from the Central Asiatic Plateau, the stretch of dessert that touches Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Most researchers believe it came from rats,...
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