By the end of the fourteenth century, the Black Death killed nearly 60% of Europe’s population. First arriving in Europe through sick merchants on Genoese trading ships that docked in Sicily, the plague caused boils, fever, diarrhea, horrible pain, and shortly, death. No one was sure how the Death spread, and this combined with the fast course the disease took and the primitive medical practices of the time allowed for the disease to spread through the continent in devastating time. It only took about twenty-three days from the point of infection for the plague to be fatal (Benedictow). The Black Death spread extensively through Europe, affecting both nobility and peasants. This epidemic caused panic and distress among people of all classes. …show more content…
The country, before the plague ravaged it, was under the feudal law system. In this system, the lord owned the land in small communities, and the peasants living there farmed the land and gave him a portion of their crops as a form of payment. The plague forced this system to collapse. The Black Death killed most of the aforementioned peasants, so the fields they were expected to farm on were left unplowed. In addition to this, lords advised peasants to leave their homelands during the epidemic to come work for them, but also refused to let them return to their original village. Peasants realized they could move from village to village, constantly switching to whichever proprietor offered them the best deal. This greatly changed the traditional feudal system, which served to confine peasants to a certain piece of land. In response to this, the government passed the Statute of Labourers in 1351 that forced peasants to remain in their homelands and did not allow lords to change their wages from what they were in 1346. This infuriated the peasants and led to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. Survivors of the Black Death felt that they were special, chosen specifically by God to be saved (Trueman), and after this the lower class began to demand more economic and social equality. When the government passed the Statute, the poor felt that the law served to keep them from this equality. Unfortunately, the Revolt did not immediately result in the end of serfdom, but was seen by the Whig historians as the “beginning of the end of the feudal system” (BBC Staff). In an indirect way, the Black Death led to the abolishment of the feudal system and more freedom for the
Why did the Black Death kill so many people in the 14th century? The plague was the most devastating disease in world history. There were three types of the Plague which included the bubonic, septicaemic and the pneumonic plague. Fleas living on rats that came from Asia on a trade ship spread the bubonic plague, the septicaemic plague is created by the entrance of bacteria from their multiplying place into the blood vessels. There are two different forms of pneumonic pest.
There were attempts by the rich to put the peasants back in their previous condition however it was unsuccessful and multiple revolts happened as a result. The peasants still struggled but they could now live better lives and there was less authority over them.
The peasants viewed this ignorance of their rights as people unacceptable, given their new found of idea of worth, which they interpreted from Luther’s teachings. Such a response from the lords was yet another step towards a revolt, indirectly having been started by Luther inspiring the peasants to want more. The upheaval of peasants against their oppressing social structure is also seen in the French Revolution of the late 18th century. The feudal system had been gradually disappearing in parts of Europe, replaced with early capitalist structures. The peasants living in these parts of Europe had attained a higher
An image created by Givoennni Srcambihas, a pharmacist in the 14th Century, shows the intensity that the Black Death hit Europe with. In his image, an Angel of Death appears to be shooting arrows to everyone in sight; The author uses this angel to represent how the plague would kill anyone in its path (Document 3). This image accurately represented what was going on in Europe during these times. The amount of lives lost was so severe that Europe ended up losing around one-third of their population. As seen in the chart “Estimated Long Term Impact on Population of Europe”, in 1345 there were around 83 million people.
It infected the lungs, and it could be spread to others through cough droplets (“Plague”). Because these illnesses were so severe, many people lost their lives as a
The Black Death was a pandemic that affected a large part of the world in the 1346–1353 that was spread by the fleas on rats and i 'll be answering various of questions about the Black Death. How did the Black Death affect a large part of the world, well it spread by the fleas on the black rats it got to the people is by bacteria the of the fleas infecting the black rats and it got to people and made them really sick. It made people sick by killing the tissue and turning the dead tissue under the skin black with the persons who had the Black Death died within the couple days after they got the black death. How could have the Black Death could 've been prevented, well it could have been prevented by washing your hands like having good
The Black Death was one of the most shocking plagues ever to exist. It caused the deaths of approximately 75 to 200 million people, and was at its most devastating between 1346 and 1353. This highly contagious disease started with bacteria called Yersinia pestis. Yersinia pestis is mostly discovered in rodents, especially rats, and in the fleas that forage on them. Contact with other humans and fleabites spread the Black Death.
On the surface, it appeared that the peasants rebellion had been in vain. But, their revolt had put fear in the hearts of the rich landowners, the Lords, for they had shown what they were capable of under oppression. The peasants were afforded a respect by the Lords they had not formerly known and Parliament relinquished control of the power they had held over landowners in regards to the wages they paid their workers. The peasants also gained their freedom. No longer were they seen as their Lord’s property, they were free men and as such worked with a renewed vigour.
In the early 1330s a contagious disease was going to spread all over Europe and it was going to kill many persons, not a lot of people would survive to it. This disease is called: Black Death. This illness have changed the population of Europe and its future, as a fact many are the consequences of the Black Death. Historians think that this plague started spreading from the arid plains of Central Asia, because by the mid-thirtheenth century Europe.
The fact of the matter was in that time if you or your loved ones obtained the virus, you would be dead in around a week. The Black plague was so disastrous because of how fast and deadly it was, the effects on religion and ethics, and the way it changed art forever. The plague spread like a wildfire in the mid-14th century, probably the worst outbreak of a disease in history. According to Robert Kastenbaum the virus first struck in 431 B.C.E in Athens, Greece and then broke out a second time one hundred years later in Egypt, Northern
I have a received a ticket to go anywhere I choose to go. Out of all the places I would choose to go I would choose to back in time to the year 1340 back when the black plague was disaster brought upon by the wrath of God, to show them a way to contain the virus, and possibly help stop the spread of the virus sooner. The Black Death or also known as the black plague was one of the world’s most devastating pandemics in human history, it resulted in nearly 75 to 200 million deaths. That was about 30-60% of Europe’s total population.
During the late 1340s the standards of living for the peasants began to increase. According to Routt, many peasants were able to afford things that they were not able to before due to the surplus and the plummet of the prices of goods. Since many of the workers died because of the Black Death, many employers were left without workers. These employers grudgingly employed the peasants since they were the only people left who were not infected and who did not have jobs. The Black Death had a profound effect agriculture.
The black death also known as the black plague had given people black boils that had oozed blood and puss. It also withheld them from keeping food down as they became overcome with fever and delirious pain. The plague had not only affected humans, it also affected cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens (“Black Death”). The living conditions in Europe of the time were very harsh. With so many people dying at the time survivors were moving into large
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
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.