How Did European Culture Contribute To The Black Death

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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…” ( DeWitte, S., & Slavin, P., 54) The Great Famine contributed to the Black Death because since people were in starvation, they were left susceptible to disease. The Black Death was brought to Europe in October of 1347, by a shipment …show more content…

People grew more and more concerned with contracting the disease that they would try to isolate themselves, “… and human aid was as vail as it was destructive to those who approached the infected.” ( Hecker, J. C., & Babington, B. G., pg 6) This quote shows the tremendous devastation that the plague caused since once the person was infected there was very little that could be done to save that person and in turn the risk that people faced when attempting to help someone would only kill them. The concern with contacting the disease was so terrifying since they would die a painful death that even mothers and fathers would abandon their children as soon as they discovered that they were infected. (DeWitte, S., & Slavin,

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