How did the Black Plague affect England’s population in 1347-1350? This question is significant because not only did the Black Plague affect people, but it also eliminated them. The people in England had no idea what was the cause of this disease because it was unknown to them. As time went by, someone already had the disease, and soon enough the whole town did. Every minute, every second was precious time for them because in those few seconds someone was dying, but they could not do anything because they did not know where to begin to find their solution. It was helpless.
During the middle ages, Black Death was known to be one of the most devastating epidemics in world history to ever be known (Sharon N.DeWitte). England, in the other hand,
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According to Graham Twigg, the plague, “spread rapidly and resulted in a death rate across Europe that for exceeded that produced in the region by any known disease organism in a single episode.” This shows how the disease would be able to attach itself and infect any other living organism; by infecting them, they would have the ability to spread the disease whether they liked it or not. No one had a choice. No one was safe, not even with their own family. Someone in the family can be infected with the disease, of course no wanted to be infected, so they would leave them there. It could have been a wife, husband, or child, but that did not matter. At the end there, body would turn out the same, useless. But just because there died does not mean they cannot infect. The people that had the disease were just as dangerous as if they were dead or …show more content…
There would be priests who would encourage each other to be like Jesus, according to G.R. Evans, “ ‘Who gives us relief from our pain through contrition, and through confession we receive a purgative; he recommends a healthier diet through our keeping of fast; he orders therapeutic baths through our outpouring of tears; he prescribes bloodletting through our recollection of Christ’s passion. But what is this medicine?”-Penance. This shows another reason why death mortality was so large, people would mix religion with medicine. Instead of them actually making an effort for finding a solution, most of the priest just believed that it was God’s way of punishing them and the only way for it to go away is to pray for
In 1348-1350 the Black Death kills one-third of the English population including Kind Edwards daughter. War alone was taking lives everywhere much less the Black Death and other diseases that took a fearsome toll (Merriman 84, 176). The Black Death affected more than ninety percent of Europe’s population, some not directly but family members and such. Plague ravaged through many countries causing them a downfall to a lack of soldiers and the sickness was rampant across many countries. The Black Death wiped out about sixty percent of Europe’s population of eighty million at the time, which calculates to about fifty million (The Black Death: The Greatest Castrophe Ever). The population did not reach the level it had been in the 1300’s until about 1550, then it began to rise rapidly but Europeans still took precaution with the disease. For the next century, births and deaths remained balanced with higher mortality rates wiping out whole cities due to this disease that spread like wildfire. Europe only began to recover during the second half of the fifteenth century because of the disease became less rampant and started to die down, as well as wars (Merriman
The Black Death was devastating and was one of the most significant events in Medieval Britain. The Black Death was also known the plague and bubonic plague it describes the spread of disease that caused mass deaths throughout Britain. The disease itself was carried by fleas and spread across Europe between 1346-1353 leaving towns and city such as Siena Italy with 85% of the population wiped out. This was seen all over Europe including Britain and it can be argued economic factors was the most significant consequences of the Black Death. However there are many factors such as political, social factors and Mortality rates that were also results of the Black Death and perhaps social factors may be more significant.
The plague was spread by fleas, which were not effected by the disease. Fleas first infected the rats, which lived off garbage and sewage. The rats then spread the infection to the humans. Rats were a common sight in the cities, due to the poor sanitary conditions, so no one
The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in history. The disease ravaged Europe, Western Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa between 1346 and 1353 (Horrox 1994). It is difficult to understand the reality of such a devastating event, especially given the fact that science during the middle ages was severely underdeveloped. No one knew about bacteria, viruses, or other microbial agents of disease (Benedictow 2004). They had no way of protecting themselves during that time and no one was safe from the effects of the plague. Those who wrote chronicles claimed that only a tenth of the population had survived, while others claimed that half to a third of the population was left alive (Horrox 1994). In 1351, agents for Pope Clement VI predicted the number of deaths in Europe to be 23,840,000 (Gottfried 1983). Obviously, not all regions experienced the same mortality rates, but modern estimates of the death rate in England give the first outbreak a mortality rate of about forty-eight percent (Horrox 1994). That is, England lost half of its population in about a year and a half. Clearly the chroniclers ' who claimed that ninety percent of the population had died were overstating the magnitude of the plague, but this overemphasis demonstrates how terrifying the pandemic was to those who experienced it (Horrox 1994). The Black Death had huge consequences on the lives of those who were impacted directly, as well as major religious and cultural effects that came afterward.
The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a rapid infectious outbreak that swept over Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s resulting in the death of millions of people. Tentatively, this disease started in the Eastern parts of Asia, and it eventually made its way over to Europe by way of trade routes. Fever and “dark despair” characterized this plague. The highly contagious sickness displayed many flu-like symptoms, and the victim’s lymph nodes would quickly become infected. The contamination resulted in a colossal and rapid spread of the disease within one person’s body. Due to the lack of medical knowledge and physicians, there was little that people could do to save those dying all around them. Now that a better understanding of
Among three devastating events of the fourteenth century, I consider the Black Death(Plague) had the most pronounced impact on the course of medieval history. Although, other two events were also left an impact on the course of medieval history, but there is no such comparison to the black Plague. The changing climate and poor harvests which lead to famine, malnourishment, and death was just the beginning of troublous period on Europe’s. Europe was already suffering from famine, but more devastating time has just arrived along with the medieval shipping. Plague first started from china, and soon brought by Genoese ships to Europe, which was the ticking time bomb waiting its own time to burst. It has start spreading throughout many parts of
Pursell The Black Death Reassessed What really happened to Europe during Black Death? For years, the accepted version of the event has been that a plague from the East, carried by rodents who were infected by fleas, traveled by trade routes and subsequently infected Europeans. The name of this plague is infamously known as the Bubonic Plague; it’s said to have claimed the lives of a third of the continent’s population. Not everyone accepts the prominent version of this event though. In this essay, we will read of two scholars who dispute the official narrative of the Bubonic plague; one scholar will apply this revisionism solely to England, whereas the other will look at Europe as a whole. Moreover, death toll estimates will be scrutinized too. In addition, we will read of a third scholar who offers insight into the aftermath of the Black Death in England in terms of its social and economic development. Clearly, something devastating struck Europe in the 14th century. Whatever it was might not ever be exactly known. However, for the sake of understanding its true impact upon European society, it’s worth reassessing this long-held account. In his writing, The Black Death:
Doctors, churches and government were powerless against the disease. The only way to escape the infection was to avoid contact with infected persons and contaminated objects.(paraphrase) (Therefore, some cities set up the policy to prevent strangers from entering their cities, particularly, merchants and Jews. The discrimination of Jewish population became another major problem. The people laid the blame of the plague at the feet of the Jews.)
The mortality rate of the Black Death was horrendous. It is estimated in various parts of Europe at two-thirds to three-quarters of the population. In England it was even higher during the first wave. Some countries were less seriously affected. Shrewsbury, the author of ‘History of Bubonic Plague in
The bacterium, Yersinia Pestis was responsible for leaving the people of Europe with buboes, fever and weakness. The worst part of the disease was that there was not a cure. The Black Plague deeply impacted the European society in numerous ways including the decline of population, individuals being falsely accused and a medical crisis. From 1348 to 1353 the bubonic plague spread like wildfire throughout the European cities. Almost all of the cities were deeply affected except for five which included Milan, Nuremberg, Bruges and Gherti (DOC. 1).
The pandemic known to history as the Black Death was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in history. It was a critical time for many as the plague hit Europe and “devastated the Western world from 1347 to 1351, killing 25%-50% of Europe’s population and causing or accelerating marked political, economic, social, and cultural changes.” The plague made an unforgettable impact on the history of the West. It is believed to have originated somewhere in the steppes of central Asia in the 1330s and then spread westwards along the caravan routes. It spread over Europe like a wildfire and left a devastating mark wherever it passed. In its first few weeks in Europe, it killed between 100 and 200 people per day. Furthermore, as the weather became colder, the plague worsened, escalating the mortality rate to as high as 750 deaths per day. By the spring of 1348, the death toll may have reached 1000 a day. One of the main reasons the plague spread so quickly and had such a devastating effect on Europe was ultimately due to the lack of medical knowledge during the medieval time period.
Sometimes, like most explanations back then, it was the work of God and punishment afflicted upon Europe for whatever reasons of the time. For these people, the only cure was to be somehow forgiven by God. This was usually done by people carving or painting the symbol of the cross on the front doors of their house with the words “Lord have mercy on us” either near it or on it. Another great contributor to the destruction of the Black Death was the Great Fire of London which helped eradicate most of the rats that carried the disease and wiping out most of the people with the disease. The plague actually repeatedly continued to remain in Europe and the Mediterranean throughout the centuries. The major occurences of the plague happened around the year 1346 and 1671. The Second Pandemic Black Death was pretty active in the years 1360 and 1667. All of Europe was ravaged and it impacted Europe so devastatingly that it took 150 years for the population of Europe to be fully recovered. Quarantining people was another way of combating the plague in ancient times. Taking anti-bio tics was advised was advised in case you came into contact with a victim of the disease. In early 2011 it was discovered that the bacteria Yersinia Pestis was actually the culprit for one of the most devastating pandemics ever to surface in the world. While
The Black Death The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague or simply Plague, or less commonly as the Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people, peeking in Europe from 1347 to 1352. The infection may take three forms: bubonic, pneumonic, or septicemic. This essay will discuss the effects The Black Death had on Medieval society as well as evaluating the responses. The Black Death arrived in 1348 from China to kill perhaps half of the population of Europe.
The plague of the black death was a panic and disaster in Western Europe because it leads the death of ⅓ of the population. It quickly spread all over the continent, destroying full towns and cities. Moreover, the plague reached its peak of destructions in 1349, which was a “wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the people alone remain.” Life before the black death arrived for the serfs it was unpleasant and short. Nevertheless, Europe before the black death arrived was successful and the trade at the time was strong. The spread of the plagues was traumatic and unexpected because it spread so quickly.
There were multiple waves of the Black Death, one in 11th-12th century, another in the 13th century, and the biggest one in the 14th century. Each time there was a wave more and more people were killed, it was more concentrated in a short amount of time, and it led up to the one of the most important epidemic in human history, (DeWitte, 2015). When one wave would hit, there was usually a trigger that would welcome the plague. It was either a natural disaster, scarcity of food or a war had taken place (DeWitte, 2015). It was speculated that the economy, government and occupations of the people are what lead to the 14th century Black Death epidemic. The overall health of the people in England was deteriorating due to stress and malnourishment