College Essay on
Black Death
The early fourteenth century was an era of emerging commerce for Europe and
Asia. Trade routes such the Spice route and the Silk Road connected Europe and
Asia. Seamen and merchants the Italian states provided a significant link
between Europe and Asia continent. Population of Europe was growing at an
extraordinary rate, so fast that the limits of food production were being
reached quickly. A strong class of European society had developed with the
nobility. A small middle class of mechanics and artisans enjoyed a happy life,
but the majority of the population was stuck in serfdom at the bottom of the
class structure. Lives of all people were soon to change for the period of the
great dying, brought about by the Black Death that was approaching.
Order Your
Term Papers, College Essays and Research Papers
The Black Death serves as a convenient separator between the late middle and the
central Ages. The changes between the two periods are huge; they include the
introduction of gunpowder, economic and demographic crises, increased importance
of cities, powerful new currents in culture and religion, political dislocation
and realignment. Overall, the later middle Ages are usually characterized as a
period of trouble and crisis. The Black Death plague exacerbated problems and
added new ones, and the tone of crisis was graver in the second half than in the
first half of the fourteenth century. At the century’s mid-point, the Black
Death served as a convenient demarcation (Philip, 1971).
Origins of the Black Death
First case of the Black Death erupted in the Gobi Desert in the late 1320s. No
one really knows the reason. The plague bacillus was active and alive long
before that; indeed Europe itself had suffered a plague in the sixth century.
Whatever the reason are there, we know that the outbreak of the Black Death
began there and spread outward.
While it went west, it spread in all directions, and the European and Asian
nations suffered as cruelly as anywhere. In China alone, for example, the
population dropped from around 125 million to 90 million in fourteenth century.
The Black Death was one of the worst natural disasters in history. In 1347 A.D.,
the Black Death swept over Europe, ravaged cities causing widespread death and
hysteria causing one third of the population of Europe died due to the Black
Death.
"The impact upon the future of England was greater than upon any other European
country." (Frederick, 1991)
The primary sources in spreading this disease were oriental rat fleas carried on
the back of rats.
Black Death in Europe
The Black Death moved along the caravan routes toward the West. By 1345 it was
on the lower Volga River and by 1346 it was in the Crimea and the Caucasus. In
1347 it reached in Constantinople. It also hit Alexandria, Egypt in the autumn
of that year, and by spring of 1348, more than thousand people were dying there
per day. In Cairo the count of death was seven times that.
1348 was worst year for the Black Death in Europe. It took little bit longer to
reach the periphery of Europe. Plague reached Norway in May 1349. The eastern
European states were not reached until 1350, and Russia was not hit until 1351.
Because the Black Death tended to follow major trade routes, and to concentrate
in big cities, it followed a circuitous route. The progress of the Black Death
very neatly describes the exact geography of medieval trade. No one was safe
from the Black Death, not in one’s home, not in one’s room and not in the city.
The scourge of the plague was everywhere. There weren’t enough clerics alive to
have proper funerals (William, Andrew, 2000).
Order Your
Term Papers, College Essays and Research Papers
Cultural Issues and Response
The Black Death had large-scale culture and economic issues and effects. People
left their family and friends, fled cities, and cut themselves from the world.
Funeral ceremonies became perfunctory or stopped altogether, and all development
work was ceased. Some people felt that the wrath of God was descending upon man,
and they fought the Black Death with prayers. Some people felt that they should
obey the sayings; eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may leave this
world.
The cultures experienced a disturbance to an extent normally only seen in
arranged circumstances such as carnival. Faith in religion was rapidly
decreasing after the Black Death, because of the so many deaths the complete
failure of prayers to prevent death and sickness.
Before the unknown terror, brave men became frightened and men of responsibility
left their charges. Judges fled from stricken cities, doctors refused to attend
the sick person, clergymen refused to administer the sacraments, and notaries
refused to write the wills. Few people had the courage to expose themselves by
burying the dead. The Black Death disease killed off a large portion of Europe's
population. The Black Death is more effective when it attacks weakened people at
that time Europe was already weakened by exhaustion of the soil because of weak
farming, the persistent Scottish invasions and the introduction of more sheep,
which greatly reduced the land available for corn. Fleas infected with the Black
Death would jump from rats to travelers, killing thousands and infesting the
continent with earth shaking fear. Normal people were afraid of the death,
causing them to alter their views on their cultures, which include: leisure, art
and work. Even children suffered from this plague.
Leisure
The Black Death disease crept gradually into the spare time time of people of
all class, no matter how much the rich attempted to stay way from it or how
little time the poor person had for recreation. Death was used for laughter and
funeral processions were used as jokes. People were standing at the point where
deaths were ignored altogether and deaths were routine of daily life.
Art
The damage caused to art by the Black Death is irreparable. As a result of
deaths in the church, written language was nearly lost and whole church and
prayers places were abandoned. Coffins had various pictures of corpses on the
cover, normally showing a very pleasing likeness of the body and inside wearing
their finest clothes. Painting was also affected. There are various types of
paintings containing people socializing with skeletons. Artists abandoned old
ways and methods of painting things idolized by the Christian religion. All
artists were so depressed by the death that surrounded them that they started to
paint pictures of dead and sad people.
The change in spirituality was one of the major cultural effects of the plague.
The Black Death left survivors depressed, mourning, and fearful of its return.
The church's power had weakened during this period. The most common belief was
that the Black Death had been sent by God and that it was the punishment for the
sins. People were dependant on their religion to get them through the
difficulties of life, and when their prayers failed to save them from the Black
Death they lost trust in religion and church.
Order Your
Term Papers, College Essays and Research Papers
Soon after the outbreak of the Black Death, the views on children also changed.
Although carrying on the family or sir name was still important, the birth rate
dropped dramatically. Some parents abandoned their children. Boccaccio is
emotional as he describes the breakdown of families: “The fact was that one
citizen avoided another, that almost no one cared for his neighbor, and that
relatives rarely or hardly ever visited each other - they stayed far apart. This
disaster had struck such fear into the hearts of men and women that brother
abandoned brother, uncle abandoned nephew, sister left brother; and very often
wife abandoned husband, and - even worse, almost unbelievable - fathers and
mothers neglected to tend and care for their children, as if they were not their
own.” (Boccaccio, 1930)
Children were considered ‘not worth for the Black Death trouble’ It took almost
four hundred years before Europe's population equaled the pre-Black Death
counts. The demand for farming workers gave remaining people a new bargaining
power. Workers who were formerly bound to the land now could easily travel and
demand higher wages for their work and services. In addition, people left rural
areas and migrated to big and developed cities for higher wages. The cultural
structure of land-based wealth shifted. Portable wealth in the form of skills,
money and services emerged. Cities and small towns grew while large manors and
estates began to collapse. The very social, cultural, and political structure of
Europe was changed forever. One small insect, a flea, collapsed whole government
system and changed the course of history in Europe. With such a frightening
thing as the plague to contend with, people changed their attitudes about
cultural values.
"From these and many similar or worse occurrences, there came about such fear
and such fantastic notions among those who remained alive that almost all of
them took a very cruel attitude in the matter; that is, they completely avoided
the sick and their possessions; and in doing so, each one believed that he was
protecting his good health." (Boccaccio, 1930)
The Black Death also had its economic effect. The Black Death, which in just few
months carried off over half the population of some towns was major reason for
economic and cultural problems. If the Black Death greatly reduced the number of
consumers and was the main reason of the decline in trade, it also reduced even
more significantly the number of producers, since the badly fed workers were
more vulnerable to the disease than other people. As a result of this, for over
a century there was a great shortage of workers, so employers were forced to pay
higher salaries regardless of their resistance.
The economy underwent extreme and unexpected inflations. It was so dangerous and
difficult to acquire goods through trade and to produce them due to less demand
and low price. Because of frequent deaths and illness workers became exceedingly
scarce.
Construction projects were stopped and abandoned, associations lost their all
workers, without the ability to replace them, important machinery was out of
order, and workers with the ability to repair them were dead. Due to the severe
shortage of workers, many city governments began to advertise for specialists at
extremely high wages. Living standard rose for those who were still alive, as
there was an over-supply of products at low prices.
Since so many people died during the plague, the peasants now had a broad
variety of work available to them. They demanded wages in addition to better
working environments. If the landlord failed to provide these facilities, the
peasants would simply leave to find better work somewhere else. As already
mentioned, the prices for many products dropped because of the less demand for
them. On the contrary, prices of some products were very high, like specialty
items that needed to be made by a qualified craftsman. The government attempted
to interfere by making rules that would restrict the employees from changing
work too frequently and setting salary limits. Government wanted to return to
the central system but unfortunately it was too late, the Black Death had
changed the economy irreversibly.
Serfs were no longer tied to single master; if one left the land, another lord
would immediately hire them. The lords had to make various changes in order to
make the situation more cost-effective for the peasant. In general, wages
greatly outpaced prices, so the standard of normal people was subsequently
raised. As a result of the beginning of blurring economic distinctions, culture
distinctions sharpened. The peasants became somewhat more empower, and revolted
when the nobility attempted to oppose the changes brought about by the Black
Death. The social and cultural structure of Europe was irretrievably and
drastically and changed.
When the Black Death raised the level of leisure, the people kept it up. The
population was also a cause of disruption in the economy because less population
means less tax, however the economy improved later. If the Black Death had any
effect on current economy, it would be that prices of goods are not as high as
they would have been because there was a century where the economy made no
progress and there was no development at all. As stated above art was also a
major victim of the Black Death because paintings are ever lasting record. The
plague also benefited art. Death inspired artists to stay away from religious
pictorials. The art is still a relatively easy thing to find and as a good
reminder of how the people can panic when there is a great fear around them.
Works Cited
Boccaccio, “The Decameron Vol. I”, 1930
Frederick F. Cartwright, “Disease and History, Dorset Press, New York”, 1999
Philip Ziegler, “The Black Death”, 1971
William Naphy, Andrew Spicer, “The Black Death and the History of Plagues
1345-1730”, 2000
Order Your
Term Papers, College Essays and Research Papers
