How Did The Black Death Change European Society

The book, “The Great Mortality” by John Kelly, explores how the Black Death spread across Europe and Asia from 1347 to 1351 and left a trail of terrors in its path. Kelly describes the history of the plague from witnesses of the disaster. It describes how the black rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis spread the infection throughout this region, killing over half of the population. Kelly describes the measures taken by the town, the church and health organizations to prevent the Plague from spreading. Although there are many important issues brought to light by Kelly, some offer more discussion and though than others.

In the 14th century, a contagious plague called the Black Death damaged society physically and mentally. After the Genoese were defeated by the Mongol armies, they accidently took germs of the “disease” and aboard the ship to leave. As a result, more than half of the passengers were dying slowly. This sight scared away those people waiting on shore to collect the goods because they fear death. Even though captains on the ships realized the mess they got themselves into, it was too late because the disease was spreading very quickly from one port to another.

Change in European Understanding of Plague in the 1348 versus 1352 Known as the “Black Death,” one of the most devastating plague pandemic wiped out approximately 30 to 60 percent of the European population, peaking in between 1348 and 1350 . It caused massive religious, social, and economic, upheaval in the European society causing great changes in the European culture and lifestyle1. Finally, when after three and a half years the first wave passed in 1351, it spared few regions causing devastation in towns, rural communities, families, and religious institutions . The plague was reportedly first introduced to Europe via the ports of Caffa and Sicily in 1347, when several Italian merchant ships returned from a trip to the Black Sea, one of the key links in trade with China .

The Black Death has been marked as one of the worst plagues to have ever struck humans in history, since it killed twenty five million Europeans in the course of the plague, and twenty million in Asia. (“The Black Death, JewishHistory.com) The Black Death took place in England in the fourteen century and killed millions between the years 1347-1350.(“Black Death”, n.p.) This came after an already terrible period in European history known as the Great Famine which left many people dead; the source starvation. The Great Famine occurred because of terrible climate changes that led to a disastrous farming season, that resulted in England loosing “…about 15 percent of its population during the famine years, between 1317 and 1348…”

It impacted art in some aspects and it helped with the ascension of the Renaissance. This paper argues that The Black Death did indeed contribute to the start of the Renaissance in Europe. The Black Death was a tragedy that Europe and perhaps the whole world had never experienced before. The plague may have originated from China and was brought to the

Cylina Schibig Paris Hendry English 2020 2 April 2023 Yellow Wallpaper and Turn of the Screws One of the most lethal pandemics in recorded human history was the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death. Between 75 and 200 million individuals are thought to have perished during the 14th century. The disease was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis that was spread by fleas living on rats. The bubonic plague had a profound impact on society, leading to economic collapse, social unrest, and religious upheaval.

Trade and trade routes were a major part of the spread of the Black Death but was not the only significant factor to its spread. Trade and trade routes become a major part of the spread allowing the infected rats, fleas and people to travel to uninfected lands. Other major factors that helped the black death spread was the growing population of the villages and the horrible living conditions of their villages. There were more than one significant factor that helped the Black Death spread. Trade and trade routes become a significant factor towards the spread of the Black Death at the time.

The Black Death arrived in Europe in the year 1347 and was also known as the Black Plague. This horrible disease spread throughout Europe in places such as Scandinavia, Spain, Britain, Italy, Greece, Moscow, London, Venice, Genoa, Caffa, Constantinople, Tabriz, Naples, Athens, , Baghdad, Mecca, Aden. It also spread throughout some places in Africa like Tunis, Marrakesh, Tripoli, Alexandria, Egypt. Asia was also affected by the plague it spread through places such as India, Bagan, China, Xian, Hangzhou and Hubei. There are many short term and long term effects of the plague.

Often as a result of overpopulation, pandemics—like swine flu and ebola, for instance—have affected life on Earth for centuries; one of the most well-known, and possibly the most unforgiving epidemics was the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death . Although the first symptoms of the Plague trace back to the Mongol Empire in 1331, the disease first struck Europe in Venice and Genoa during the winter of 1348. In the following years, the Bubonic Plague spread rapidly throughout Europe, killing roughly a third of its population. It is suggested that the rapid spread and extreme severity of the Black Death was partially due to the weakened immune system of the Europeans, which had been caused by the Great Famine, a period of food scarcity that affected Europe from 1315 to 1322. Additionally, the lack of knowledge about the spread of

Rats and the Black Death The Black Death will forever be one of the scariest and catastrophic disease outbreaks that stuck mankind. In 1347 the Black Death surfaced wiping out entire towns, eventually claiming the lives of some 60 percent of the European population. Most of our history teachers and historians blame the outbreak on the fleas carried by the black rat. From my research on the topic I am amazed to say that some of the articles that I have read have me rethinking what I had been taught over this topic may have been wrong or inaccurate.

The Black Death (1347-1352) was the Medieval black plague that ravaged Europe and killed a third of its population. It was due to the plague which is caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis) transmitted to humans from infected rats by the oriental rat flea (MedicineNet, 2018). There are three main forms of plague in humans: bubonic plague (the commonest form of plague in humans, characterized by fever, delirium, and the formation of buboes), septicemic plague (an especially dangerous form of plague in which the infecting organisms invade the bloodstream), and pneumonic plague (a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis). There are a few factors in explaining plague in the Middle Ages: religion, medieval medicine, and modern science, and I will be discussing religion in the Middle Ages as well as

The Black Death started during the Middle Ages in the 14th Century and killed about 150 million people in Central Asia. The epidemic originated from fleas and rats. The symptoms started out as egg shaped swellings in groin and armpit and ended up as dark blotches and swellings on the body. The people believed that the plague came from dead bodies and the victim’s clothing. According to the rulers of Pistoia, any old imported cloth was to be burned and corpses were not permitted to enter within the city (Doc 2).

The Black Death was a disease that had a catastrophic impact on Europe. Reaching Europe in 1347, the plague killed an estimation of one-third of the population in the first wave. Each document varies with its reasons for the cause of the plague and how to deal with it. The first document Ordinances against the Spread of Plague seemed to blame Pisa and Lucca for the plague and thus, began to forbid contact with those places. It was forbidden for citizens of Pistoia to go to, or have contact with anyone or anything from Pisa or Lucca.

A When the Black Death strikes Europe, this continent was at a time of economic downturn, following a frank feudal system in descent and a economy in very poor condition as a result of frequent crop failures and significant overcrowding. The Bubonic plague or black Death, native pest of China, reaches Europe via Italy by the year 1343, in a fleet of Italian commercial ships. Some consequences of The Black Death include economic, social and political issues. The economy went bad as a result of the reduction of the workforce and the massive reduction of crops. the european society was destroyed but but for the crown there was a high income.

1347-1353: The Black Death The first pandemic that was widely recognized