The Black Death, the world’s most devastating pandemic, lasted from 1347-1352. The Black Death was likely to have travelled to Europe via trade the silk road and ships used for travel. In those short years the Black Death significantly impacted history. The pandemic developed from a plague that was caused by an infection with the bacteria Yersinia Pestis, carried by rats that came from a ship docked in Messina, Italy. It then rapidly spread through all of Europe, affecting 30 to 50% of the European population. The Black Death impacted the medical knowledge, the Feudal System and the religious practices of the Middle Ages. Today’s society would have never been the same without the major event that was the Black Death. One of the major impacts …show more content…
Prior to the Black Death the dominant religion in the Middle Ages was Catholicism and this religion was an extremely large aspect of the peasantry, nobility and the monarchy’s lives. The only church in the Middle Ages was the Catholic church and people frequently visited churches to practice religion. Heads of religion were viewed as high members of society and were place highly within the feudal system. As the black death continued, the faith in religious practices of the time was decreased. Many heads of religious services like nuns or priests had passed, just like the common citizens, resulting in majority of religious practices such as going to church to stop all together. People of the Middle Ages started to doubt their religion as none of the practices that they were participating in would stop the effects of the Black Death. Nobody knew the cause of the Black Death because of the failing medical conditions at the time, so they blamed supernatural beings such as God, casing fear amongst religious communities. It was believed that the Black Death was a punishment for their sins. There was a movement during the Black Death named the Flagellant movement that would travel through towns to apologise to their sins and to attack other religions because of their fear of the plague. Consequently, this caused disbelief Catholicism as well as many other religions. It also caused a large focus on sins and fear within the remaining religious communities at the time. It is evident that the Black Death, causing the Flagellant movement, caused fear among religious communities and changed the way that the Medieval Europeans performed religious
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
It is no wonder that the Europeans felt that their economic environment was vulnerable and uneasy, “European economy slowly improved, and agriculture and manufacturing production eventually reached pre-famine levels” (Nelson, Insert Year). The economy impact of the Black Death must start with the historical context that the economy was not as sturdy as other time periods or European history. For this reason, the set back, economically speaking, was an enormous strain on European life. With population decreasing drastically, and the economy barely trying to recover from the famine, the Europeans suffered in terms of having workers to produce into the economy--especially to create food for what was left of the population. For these reasons, the Black Death took a major toll on the economy of Europe and created relentless heart ache, “Many people touched by the plague moved away from medieval cities and towns to unaffected areas.
Many factors played a key role in the extensive spread of the Black Death, or Bubonic plague, like insect bites or rodents, but the progressive trade networks were the most impactful. It started in Asia, in the 1300’s, but the new trade routes allowed it to spread across the Indian Ocean. Many people from many different backgrounds were negatively affected by this disease, and many didn’t know that they were exposed to the disease until it was too late. The Black Death had a variety of clinical forms, but no matter which type a person had, they were guaranteed death. This disease completely changed the medieval world and affected religions as well as many other ways of life or cultures.
In 1347, Europe had just been infected by the Black Death. This epidemic killed over 2/3 of Europe’s population and lasted for over five years. The pathogen that caused the Black Death was Yersinia Pestis which causes many forms of plague. The Plague originated in central and south Asia then traveled through trade routes like the Silk Road, all the way to Sicily The Black Death killed most of Europe’s population, thus ending Feudalism by having not enough serfs and workers to run fields and farms. The land owners started to offer more for their work and labor, making the lower class more wealthy, and providing more jobs.
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
The Black Plague and its Impact on Society in Medieval Europe The Black Plague, also known as the Black Death, was a global epidemic that struck Europe in the 1300s. It killed millions of citizens and had an extremely negative effect on the growing and developing populous. However, death wasn’t the only major change that the people of Europe experienced. The most significant impact of the Black Plague rather than death was the lasting effects it had on society as job and gender roles broke the norm, and new religious tactics and beliefs were developed and implemented to control and protect the European people.
In contrast, many just gave up on their religion and lived the rest of their lives for pleasures and wants, as they felt as if the Plague was a sign of freedom(Woodville). The people who gave up on their religion varied greatly, including Nuns, Priests, Women, Men, and Monks. The religious impacts on the individual level also greatly reflected upon the church, showing the same contrast. Because of the people who became even more religious and wanted to repent before they died, the church gained lots of power on a property and monetary scale and also took advantage of the turmoil Renaissance Europe was experiencing and took a stand to assert Christianity as the dominant religion(“Sickness and Disease”). On the other hand, the shift in attitude towards religion after feeling the Black Death was a sign of freedom took away lots of power from the church because more and more people were abandoning their Christian faith, making the church’s authority and influence
Furthermore, the impacts from the Black Death ruined the Catholic Church's teachings amongst the people of medieval Europe and caused a political uprising. At that time, the Church had complete rule and say over the government. And what the Black Death did was it opened the eyes of many 'brainwashed' followers of the Church. And because so many people thought that the plague was a sign of God punishing them, they turned their heads to the Catholic Church and thought constant praying and trying make amends for their sins would cure them or even their loved ones of the sickness. In appendix 1, the image depicts some peasants who might have the Black Death, they are begging for the priest to cure them.
The black death was one of the most devastating pandemics in European history, resulting in millions of death between the years 1347-51. It had significant impact at the time, sparking widespread fear and leading to the breakdown of social order and family bonds. The black death also arguably led to long-term changes to the structure of European society. It is historically significant not just because of its impact but also because it reveals some dominant ideas and religious beliefs of the time. Arguably it is also significant because it is still relevant today, highlighting how communities react during times of crisis.
The Black Death had a big impact on European religion. Because people could not understand the plague, they strongly believed that the plague was a punishment sent by God. The church claimed that God was punishing people because of the sins they have committed. They organized religious marches and told people to pray to get rid of the horrible disease. However, around 1348, Christians started accusing the Jews of bringing and spreading the plague to Europe.
The Bubonic Plague, other wise known as the Black Death, was a devastating pandemic that swept through Europe in the late 1340s and the early 1350s. The Bubonic Plague was thought to have originated in central Asia. There it was thought to have spread throughout Europe from rats and fleas that were carried from central Asia to Europe by merchant ships. The Bubonic Plague had a devastating effect on economic, religious, social, and cultural aspects in Europe.
The Black Death was a plague that was in Asia that also spread to Europe in the Middle Ages. Its took a toll on the society, trading and political development. Since the plague was considered to be bubonic and pneumonic almost anyone could catch it. At the time, there was not much knowledge on how to treat people with the plague. There also wasn’t much knowledge on hyenine, so the plague spread faster.
The Black Death was an occurrence that struck the Middle East and Europe, wreaked disturbance, and caused individuals to question their religion. Spreading to many parts, it killed off nearly 25-45% of the population it encountered (Doc C). The plague peaked from 1346 to 1351 and not solely affected a lot of individuals, however the loyalty of some Christian and Islam followers (Doc B). Christians and Muslims would each communicate God for solutions, however with separate demeanor's. The manner every non secular cluster reacted to the plague differed, likewise as what they believed were the causes and what they did to stop obtaining affected.
One of these disruptions, The Black Death, was a horrible disease which caused the most drastic changes in Europe by affecting The Church and the Feudal system negatively. Another disturbance at the time, The Hundred Years’ War, also affected the government
Since church played a big role back in the day in their everyday life they believed the black death was the end of time. “Perhaps the black death weakened faith in traditional medieval Catholic spirituality and set off a quest for a deeper naturalistic understanding of human psychology and behavior and the expressions of a more personal sensibility (Cantor, page 25.)” The black death meant various things depending on who you asked in that time. The Catholics did not have a clear understanding of how severe this disease was. As it was thought to be a sign that God was coming down to punish people for their sins.