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The Black Death: A Devastating Effect On Europe

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The Black Death was a devastating effect on Europe. The Black Death caused Europe to change the people’s religious, political, government, and economical views. In addition to its effect on Europe, The Black Death was a turning point in Europe’s history. The Black Death began in Asia around 1347. The Mongols, who ruled most of Asia during this time, opened trade routes from Asia to Europe. This played a major factor in the spreading of the Bubonic Plague. Before the Mongols had open the trade routes, China was isolated. The cultural diffusion between the two continents was not at its prime. As the isolation was removed and the trade routes were opened the Europe, the spreading of the Bubonic Plague into Europe began. In Caffa, a port city …show more content…

The reason how its residence were infected was because of a the ships that landed in Messina’s port. The ships carried goods and rats. The rats carried fleas which were infected with the Bubonic Plague. As the fleas bite the men who got on the ship to transport the goods, the virus spreaded with ease and, thus The Black Death begins in Europe. The symptoms of the Bubonic Plague, which caused The Black Death, were fevers; chills; swelling in the lymph nodes, armpit area, neck area, and groin area; internal bleeding, the drop of blood pressure, organ failures, and et cetera. The environmental conditions of Europe that enabled the plague to be so devastating was the hygiene of the residency and the trading between multiple countries by land and sea. When The Black Death began to take its grip on Europe, the Roman Catholic Church was both powerful and criticized. It gained its power from the fear of the populace who did not want to be sent to Hell after their death. It gained its criticism from the hypocrisy of the monks and priests who vowed to be abstinent and to not marry. A few of the monks and priests were known to have slept with prostitutes and women in the villages, thus the Church was criticised. The Pope during this time was Pope Clement VI. Clement VI reside in Avignon when the Plague hit. He believed that God would protect him from the plague, which they thought was spreaded through evil …show more content…

The faith in the Christian religion both strengthened and loosen. The economy collapsed due to people dying left and right. Flagellants were one of the result of the strengthening of the Christian religion. They were fanatics who believed that if they punished themselves as Jesus was when he carried the cross to be crucified, God would forgive them. They also believed that if they were to expel the Jews and the people whom they find to be heretics, God would forgive them also. As a result of the Flagellants’ behaviors, the Pope ordered them to disperse, but they refused. After refusing to disperse, the Flagellants were then persecuted from the armies of different lords, and thus the Flagellants came to an end. Laws were also changed. Anything that was considered a sin was made illegal for they believed it would please God, and God will forgive

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