How Did The Bubonic Plague Affect Western Europe

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The Bubonic Plague killed more than 2/3 of the Western European population. It was a very contagious and deadly disease that spread quickly because of the dirty living conditions that the people lived in. For example, the streets were lined with garbage, which led to the breeding of rats who spread the disease, and people didn't bathe, which had them have fleas and lice. Because of this, the Bubonic Plague was more significant to Western Europe because of the multiple effects it brought to the region. Some of the effects included the different political and social changes which changed Europe. First of all, the Bubonic Plague brought many political changes to Western Europe that collapsed the Middle Ages and medieval society. Because of the fact that the plague was spreading because of the people coming in from the east, Europeans didn't want them to keep bringing in the plague. This lead to the decrease and disruption of trade, which meant prices went up because there weren't any goods coming in. Next, another change that the Bubonic Plague brought to the west was the fact that serfs were leaving the manors they worked on to see if they could find a better lifestyle and wages. Finally, the Church lost respect when it failed to stop the Bubonic with it's prayers and the priests started leaving their …show more content…

People didn't know where the plague was coming from so they started blaming the Jews for it. Because of this, the Jews were driven away from their homes and in some cases massacred. Next the population all throughout Europe was decreasing rapidly. Since the plague spread quickly, many deaths took place because of how contagious the disease was. Finally the nobles weren't meeting the demands of serfs so more and more of them left their manorial lifestyle. This really caused the medieval life to crumple and end. In conclusion the bubonic plague brought many social changes to Western

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