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The Black Plague During The Renaissance

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The Black Plague
During the Renaissance period a disease was brought to Europe that is known as the “Black Plague”. A ship came from China that brought rats infested with fleas, carrying the plague to Sicily. Many people aboard the ship were already dead from the disease and the ship was ordered to leave the harbor, but it was too late. Sicily was then overcome by the disease and it spread through the trade routes all over Europe. The plague was fatal and spread rapidly in cities where people were close together. This was one of the worst outbreaks of a disease in history and drastically brought down the population. The Black Plague had an effect on the economy, religion, and culture in Europe during the Renaissance period.
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Skilled merchants were dying by the thousands as well as the consumers so there were less people to make or buy products. The merchants that still continued to work began having products that did not sell and the they lost large amounts of money. Wages went up since there were fewer people to work and farmers were in high demand since there were so many deaths. In addition to wages, the price of goods went up since it was difficult to produce them. According to brown.edu “The economy underwent abrupt and extreme inflation. Since it was so difficult (and dangerous) to procure goods through trade and to produce them, the prices of both goods produced locally and those imported from afar skyrocketed.” There were a low number of farmers and people to work for them which resulted in a famine. Many healthy people left their jobs and ignored the sick to live a life of their own. They were expecting to die soon so they went day and night only doing things that they …show more content…

People in Italy began to be interested in death after so many people had died. People were negative and believed the world would end, but they also they began to experience happiness as they tried to enjoy the rest of their lives. Writers and artists during this time expressed themselves pessimistically but also described things in life that made them happy. According to plaza.ufl.edu “The most obvious cultural influences were seen in the art and literature of this period. In 14th century Europe, artistic and literary expression took on a dark humor and tone in order to cope with the tragedy...The art of the period also showed the bleakness of the situation. Drawings were morose, full of death and destruction.” People began to be more fascinated with artists and literature to find happiness as many people were affected by the disease and dying. Art was a distraction from the negative things happening from the plague. During the Renaissance period the Black Plague had a negative effect on the people living during that time. According to Ole J. Benedictow “Inevitably [the Black Plague] had an enormous impact on European society and greatly affected the dynamics of change and development from the medieval to Early Modern period. A historical turning point, as well as a vast human tragedy, the Black Death of 1346-53 is unparalleled in human history.” It was one of the most devastating diseases in history

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Also, how the plague had affected people of all society. In my gallery, I really enjoyed learning about the Dance of the Death because it gives a powerful message that after death everyone is equal. The only thing that matters is the good deeds a person does in there lifetime. This is a very important piece of that time period and related to the plague. While on the other hand I also learned how African culture has so many festivities and ceremonies in which masks play a crucial role.

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