ipl-logo

Short-Term Effects Of The Black Death On Medieval Europe

458 Words2 Pages

The Black Death

The Black Death, also known as the pestilence or the plague, arrived in 1347 and spread throughout (name the continents and countries) for 14 years. The most immediate short-term effect of the plague was the decline in population. Between thirty and fifty per cent of the population died in the years between 1347 and 1351. In the long term changes also took place on a social, political and economic level.
The decline in population had immediate effects on Medieval Europe. It reached Europe in the late 1340’s killing an estimated 25 million people. This was 30 – 60% of Europe’s total population. Some historians believe that one third of the population died while others believe it was one fifth. This is because there was no …show more content…

Longer term social effects were changes to medicine, sanitation and public health, religion, social structure, and growth in the middle class. The changes to medicine include increased emphasis on medical knowledge and more dissections of human corpses to further understand the human body and develop other treatments. Libraries with medical texts were introduced and hospitals developed relationships with universities so people could be better educated on medicine. In sanitation and public health authorities became more aware of the need to take responsibility for health of the population and new laws were introduced to prevent littering. This also increased employment as there were jobs open for street sweepers. For religion, the Black Death weakened the influence of the previously all-powerful Catholic Church since most of the people who prayed, died. This lead to people losing faith for the church. Long term political effects were political unrest and weakening of the feudal system. Peasants were able to demand higher wages however these demands were often resisted by those in power. The long term economic effects were new power for the peasants. This meant that many estates had insufficient numbers to work the land. Wealthy land owners started offering increased payment to agricultural labourers to entice them to their estates. Skilled trades opened

Show More
Related

  • How Did Black Death Cause The Bubonic Plague

    136 Words  | 1 Pages

    In 1347, rats on ships brought fleas infected with the bacillus that caused the Bubonic Plague, or Black Death. Within four years, between 1347 and 1351, the Death had spread across much of Europe. Between 25 and 50 percent of the population of Europe died of the disease. The Plague led to fanatical religious practices such as flagellation, when people whipped themselves to atone for the sins they believed had caused the disease.

    Read More

  • How Did The Bubonic Plague Affect Medieval Europe

    500 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Plague Dbq

    140 Words  | 1 Pages

    The plague then started to infect thousands and thousands until 35% of Europe’s population was deceased. This reduced the world population in total to seventy-five to one hundred million people. Massive loss of life was caused. For a short time war stopped and trade declined. Many of the serfs died, so the remaining ones demanded higher wages.

    Read More

  • The Black Death Dbq Essay

    355 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Death was so devastating to Europe because of the population change and the effects it had on people. The Black Death changed many people’s lives. For example, most of the population decreased, which is sad because their lives are gone. It affected Spain, France, and Italy in 1348; Barbaria, and England in 1349; and Poland in 1350.

    Read More

  • How Did The Bubonic Plague Affect European Culture

    601 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Plague: The Black Death

    306 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Death Set in the 1340s, crucial disease started named by The Plague, this was one of the biggest world spreading diesis going through Europe. This was cause by an infection carried by rodents, biting the victim. In addition, this can be spread by trade, like trading over food that these rodents have been on. The plague was punishing to people, thinking that god had done this to them.

    Read More

  • Economic And Social Consequences Of The Black Death Essay

    998 Words  | 4 Pages

    Subsequently death and illness caused labor to be extremely rare to find so wages rose rapidly thus living standards were raised ("The Black Death - Economic

    Read More

  • Black Death In The Middle Ages Essay

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, some regularity does exist in these events. Although very difficult, information following the impact of high mortality on early farming economies could be estimated. The effect of these outbreaks is highlighted through the observation of some familiar developments in the economy of medieval Europe. It is estimated that in the 14th century 25 million people died as a result of Black Death (Martin, 2008). In simple economic perspective, we understand that productivity diminishes as a result of a shortage of labor force.

    Read More

  • How Did The Bubonic Plague Affect Society

    1336 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague Dbq

    1281 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Black Death brought a period of growth to an end, and killed roughly a third of Europe’s population in just a few years. While the plague was present, a series of destructive wars were tearing apart trade and economy. Europe was repeatedly experiencing hard times and the Plague was when they just couldn't handle anything else (concourse). As more and more people died, it became much harder to find people to work fields, harvest crops, and produce other goods and services. Peasants began to demand higher wages.

    Read More

  • Social Changes During The Black Death

    1676 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Black Death led to social change because it diminished the power of the Catholic church with an increase in heresy, worsened the position of the Jews, and increased social mobility for the lower classes. The pandemic spread through Europe for about 5 years (1347-1352) and it claimed the lives of 25-30 million people. Life over these years changed significantly. One example that was not favorable to many was how the peasants were being treated. They were treated as slaves, and had no rights to demand better even though the agricultural and living conditions were unfair.

    Read More

  • The Feudal System: The Black Death

    2635 Words  | 11 Pages

    The Black death, along with taking down Europe’s economy, also affected the way of life, and the church’s power. When the black death struck the church also started to lose it’s power. People started to abandon the church 's and piety, for more self indulgent ways of life such as Hedonism(Green). Also, the people became angry with the church not being able to deal with the problem which lead to people not believing in the clergy, which is known a anticlericalism. This also lead to protestant reformation when the church really lost it’s

    Read More

  • Response To The Plague Dbq Essay

    1097 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Black Death: The Hundred Year's War

    1668 Words  | 7 Pages

    It was the Spring of 1348, and the citizens of Europe were malnourished due to limited food supplies for such a large population. This made them more susceptible to the outbreak of the Black Death. The Black Death originated in Asia, then moved westward into Sicily. From Sicily, the plague crept its way up through Europe infecting millions of people, in total killing more than one third of Europe’s population. In fact, over fifty percent of the population of Siena died, along with fifty percent of Paris, eighty percent of Florence, and over two thirds of Venice.

    Read More

  • The Black Death: Changes In Art And Music During The Fourteenth Century

    235 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Black Death also known as the “black plaque” was a widespread of bubonic plaque that killed nearly seventy-five million people and wiped out a fourth of the entire Europe population. The Black Death was caused by the bacterium “…Yersinia pestis that comes from wild rodents that arrived in Europe by sea in October

    Read More

More about Short-Term Effects Of The Black Death On Medieval Europe

Open Document