Throughout history, Europe has faced many adversities such as plagues that immediately impacted the people. The Justinian plague, which lasted from 541-549 AD, and the Black Death, which affected Europe from 1347-1351, are two such plagues that affected the societies of Europe. These plagues brought death tolls that affected the economy and military strength of countries. As a result of the Justian Plague, almost a third of the Byzantine population was wiped out. While many believe that plagues only brought about destruction, the plagues that affected Europe during the Middle Ages didn't only negatively influence the nations but also caused the region to enter a new age of prosperity. When the Black Death affected Europe, it provoked fear …show more content…
This led to a catastrophic phenomenon called de-urbanization. De-urbanization is very detrimental to a growing society because it takes a step back in a developing society. An urban society has many benefits such as collective learning, innovative ideas, and improved infrastructure. When everyone left the cities, it caused de-urbanization which halted advancements in the fields of science and mathematics (“Man and Disease: The Black Death”). Throughout history, it can be seen that de-urbanization is precarious such as when the Roman Empire also went through de-urbanization, which eventually led to its demise and the start of the Medival Ages (“Man and Disease: The Black Death”). On top of that, another negative outcome of the plague was the tremendous death toll. After the passing of the Black Death, the death toll accumulated to a quarter to a third of the population. In total, the estimation of the death toll is thought to be between 75-200 million citizens. The sudden loss of citizens proved to be a challenge for many societies that suddenly lost their workers. This is because without workers, a society cannot function as no workers equals no production. With no production, a society cannot maintain the people so the loss of a third of Europe’s …show more content…
The Justinian plague was a widespread disease named after Justinian, the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. During his reign from 527-565 AD, the plague broke out and it is understood that Justinian himself contracted the plague (Byrne). This plague spread all over the Mediterranean and wiped out between a quarter and a half of the population. The deaths of 30-50 million citizens assisted in the fall of the already faltering Roman Empire. Rome was in constant conflict with the Germanic people and when the plague hit, their military lost a lot of soldiers. The lack of soldiers contributed to the downfall of Rome. In the Byzantine Empire, it is believed that the plague came through trading with Egypt. The trade networks between Egypt contributed to the devastating effects of the plague reaching the Byzantine Empire (“The Plague of Justinian Striked Constanople: 541-542”). Corpses of victims of the Justinian plague lay on the streets of the Byzantine Empire and the effects of their deaths could be felt in the economy and military. The first effect on the economy was felt by the farmers not being able to produce enough food. There were not enough farmers to produce crops that would feed the citizens of the Byzantine Empire (North.)To make it worse, the trade routes that Justinian set place during his reign caused the plague to travel further out and spread to other
The Positive Effects of the Black Death The Black Death was the fear-inducing disease that struck medieval Europe. Nevertheless, positive effects can emerge from what is described as nothing but a catastrophe. The Black Death was the most fatal plague in history and forever changed the course of Europe's society. Before the epidemic, the Roman Catholic Church was seen as all-powerful and was obeyed by most citizens.
The Black Death was an outbreak of bubonic plague, which is a highly contagious bacterial infection and disease. The Bubonic Plague spread across Europe in the years 1346-53. 25% of the European population was wiped out by the disease. People knew when they had the black plague, when the symptoms started to show. The black plague came to Europe from Asia, and had social and economic effects on Medieval Europe.
It spread rampant among the trade routes to Constaninople and Europe. It claimed the lives of close to sixty percent of the European population. The massive labor shortages are is what to be said what helped boost the emergence of the Renaissance in the 14th century. The Modern Plague also began in China in 1860 in Hong Kong. In just twenty years it had spread to port cities by rats on steamships.
This disease also brought about changes for the people in the affected areas. The Black Death caused large changes in the population of Europe during the Middle Ages. In the article Depopulation, Rebellion and Social Progress it states, “It has been roughly estimated that a third of England died from the Black Death of 1348-49, and perhaps this figure in not far from the losses suffered in other areas of Europe…” The number of losses suffered in this time makes the Black
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 plague of Athens hit Athens, Greece in 430BC, taking as many as 75,000 to 100,00 people, in its two year life span. Approximately 25% of the city’s population fell victim to this plague. During this time the city was under attack by Sparta so the population had been moved within the city walls. This lead to overcrowding and with the humid temperature, no sewage, and poor water supply, making it easy for any viruses to spread quickly. The death rate of this plague was very alarming, as in the first outbreak there was a mortality rate of 33% and in the second outbreak, a mortality rate of 26% was recorded.
Harun Vemulapalli 5-24 Q3 Benchmark Constructed Response Prompt: Explain the effects of the Bubonic Plague on Medieval Europe The Bubonic Plague effected Medieval Europe in many ways. One way the Bubonic Plague effected Medieval Europe is that it caused one third of Europe's population to die due to the sickness spreading rapidly. For example, in Document 4, the chart includes, In all of Europe there were 53.2 million people there, but after the Plague, however, the population decreased about 30 percent leading the Post-Plague population to be 37 million. This piece of evidence shows how the Bubonic Plague effected Europe because it shows a serious decline in population which was 30% or one-third percent.
In 1347 the disease called the Black Death was spreading through Italy. By 1348 the disease spread all throughout Europe. One in three people died, the disease killed about 20 million people in Europe. The disease had a major impact on the European lifestyle and economy. The following paragraphs will further explain how the disease was spread and the impact it had on European life and economics.
The goods from the East moved to Europe through Constantinople slowly spreading the plague. The plague then went through Constantinople and moved spread throughout Mediterranean countries. From there, the plague spread further Europe affecting more countries. During several years, the plague made its way throughout Europe and affected Europe causing numerous deaths and depopulation. Europe Before the Black Death struck Europe, they were in the High Middle Ages (1020-1300) where they were prevailing in agricultural technology, but was inadequate for further expansion of its country.
The Pestilence, named The Black Death in the 16th century, was one of the deadliest afflictions in history(Noymer, Andrew. “Contesting the Cause and Severity of the Black Death: A Review Essay.” Population and Development Review, vol. 33, no. 3, 2007,). It destroyed Europe in the 14th century (1300 hundred), leaving many death and destruction.
The disease killed a multitude of people, the pre-plague population of Europe was 75,000,000, but in 1351 went down drastically to 51,160,000, leaving Europe with a mortality rate of 31%. The pre-plague estimated population of the English population was 4,200,000, the post-plague estimated population of the English population was 2,800,000. The general English population had a death rate of 33%, the death rate of English monks in monasteries was 44%. All of the parish priests had a death rate of 45%. The pre-plague Egyptian population was about 4 to 8,000,000 and the death rate becoming 25 to 33%.
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 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.
During the mid-fourteenth century, a plague hit Europe. Initially spreading through rats and subsequently fleas, it killed at least one-third of the population of Europe and continued intermittently until the 18th century. There was no known cure at the time, and the bacteria spread very quickly and would kill an infected person within two days, which led to structural public policies, religious, and medical changes in Europe. The plague had an enormous social effect, killing much of the population and encouraging new health reforms, it also had religious effects by attracting the attention of the Catholic Church, and lastly, it affected the trade around Europe, limiting the transportation of goods. As a response to the plague that took place
Additionally, there were many evident effects that appeared due to the horrific spread of the plague including deaths of millions of people, decrease in production rates throughout Europe and Asia, and increase in anti-semitism. The Black Death had a variety of causes that all played their parts to make the disease rampage throughout Europe. According to Elias Beck, one main cause was the Crusades which made it so people traveled between Europe and Asia which brought about the much easier transport of the plague (historycrunch.com). The Crusades were holy wars between Christians and Muslims over Jerusalem that occurred when Muslims invaded the Byzantine empire and took over the Holy land which was significant to both religions.