Question

explain how the black death changed the course of economic and cultural life in medieval Europe?

Answer 1

The Black Death – as it is commonly called – especially ravaged Europe, which was halfway through a century already marked by war, famine and scandal in the church, which had moved its headquarters from Rome to Avignon, France, to escape infighting among the cardinals.

In the end, some 75 million people succumbed, it is estimated. It took several centuries for the world's population to recover from the devastation of the plague, but some social changes, borne by watching corpses pile up in the streets, were permanent.

Quick killer

The disease existed in two varieties, one contracted by insect bite and another airborne. In both cases, victims rarely lasted more than three to four days between initial infection and death, a period of intense fever and vomiting during which their lymph nodes swelled uncontrollably and finally burst.

The plague bacteria had lain dormant for hundreds of years before incubating again in the 1320s in the Gobi Desert of Asia, from which it spread quickly in all directions in the blood of fleas that traveled with rodent hosts.

Following very precisely the medieval trade routes from China, through Central Asia and Turkey, the plague finally reached Italy in 1347 aboard a merchant ship whose crew had all already died or been infected by the time it reached port. Densely populated Europe, which had seen a recent growth in the population of its cities, was a tinderbox for the disease.

The Black Death ravaged the continent for three years before it continued on into Russia, killing one-third to one-half of the entire population in ghastly fashion.

The plague killed indiscriminately – young and old, rich and poor – but especially in the cities and among groups who had close contact with the sick. Entire monasteries filled with friars were wiped out and Europe lost most of its doctors. In the countryside, whole villages were abandoned. The disease reached even the isolated outposts of Greenland and Iceland, leaving only wild cattle roaming free without any farmers, according to chroniclers who visited years later.

The Black Death or know as the Black Plague was one of the most devastating diseases in human history. At the peak of the plague in Europe between 1347 and 1350 AD, the estimated deaths were 30-60% of the entire population. It reduced the world population form an estimated 450 million to 350-375 million. It took150 years and in other locations 250 years or more to recover.

The Black Death arrived in Europe by sea in October 1347 when 12 Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long journey through the Black Sea. The people who gathered on the docks to greet the ships were met with a horrifying surprise: Most of the sailors aboard the ships were dead, and those who were still alive were gravely ill. They were overcome with fever, unable to keep food down and delirious from pain. Strangest of all, they were covered in mysterious black boils that oozed blood and pus and gave their illness its name: the “Black Death.”

The effects of the Black Plague during the 14th century in Europe devastated the agricultural expansion that had characterized much of Europe for centuries. Those who survived the plague during this time became a golden age of prosperity with new opportunities and wealth. Land was abundant, wages higher and enslaved labor had all but disappeared. The plague upended the class system in Europe, permanently changing the balance of power between laborers and lords, peasants and nobles. The peasants gaining major control of production was an important consequence of the demographic changes of the 14th century. Peasants became more independent than before, enlarging their holdings on the countryside or acting as entrepreneurs in a market. The downside was the impact affected plants and animals as well as soil, bedrock, water and the atmosphere.

The Black Death had an impact on art and literature. European culture turned very gloomy. The mood was one of hopelessness, art began taken on the style of dark representations of death. Paintings were overflowing with tortured souls, death, dying, fire and brimstone. Meanwhile, in a panic, healthy people did all they could to avoid the sick. Doctors refused to see patients; priests refused to administer last rites. Shopkeepers closed stores. Many people fled the cities for the countryside, but even there they could not escape the disease: It affected cows, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens as well as people. In fact, so many sheep died that one of the consequences of the Black Death was a European wool shortage. And many people, desperate to save themselves, even abandoned their sick and dying loved ones. Church’s would suffer losses to its clergy and would be unable to come up with any answers against the devastation of the plague. The Church would lose much respect in the public eye following the plague, and such a loss would lead the way for the reformation period of Martin Luther and John Calvin.

As result of the Black Death trade declined, wars came to a halt, even though both of these picked up soon after. The long-term effects were the reduction of land under cultivation and a rise in labor costs due to the vastly reduced laboring population who were able to claim higher payment for their work. The same applied to skilled professions in towns, and these changes, along with a greater social mobility, have been seen to support the Renaissance: with fewer people holding more money, they allotted more funds toward cultural and religious items. In contrast, the Renaissance began a permanent change in Europe's life, and it owes a great deal to the horrors of the plague. Out of decay comes forth sweetness indeed.

I was working in Sierra Leone in 2014 during the Ebola epidemic in 2014 that received worldwide attention. I had experienced the panic, confusion and the desperation of a culture that was uneducated to the modern medicine of today similar to the cultural effects of the medieval Black Death.Unfortunately for the people of Sierra Leone, the Ebola epidemic was not a problem for the rest of the world until the first American contracted the disease in Monrovia, Liberia another country where I had the pleasure of working for nineteen months. The attention spread like wildfire throughout the international communities. Fortunately, the American missionary was diagnosed early and flown back to the U.S. for treatment and survived. The sure panic of the West Africans not knowing how the disease was spreading, the methods of treatment and the denial of having contracted the disease were chaotic to say the least. Education and prevention is the key to containment. Proper treatment facilities and medicine is the other part of the solution. When the poor cannot afford basic medicine, doctors and adequate treatment facilities then there is hopelessness within that society. A society who would rather listen to foolish beliefs versus witness progress in modern technology. The faith in advances in medicine was a hard sell to the people of Sierra Leone who were left out of the mainstream society. Now, through such an epidemic there is a cure and treatment that can save thousands of meaningful lives. Sad that so many had to die before it was brought to the attention of the international communities.   

Throughout history we as people have learned from past experiences good or bad and seek to improve the future. The experience of the Black Death or Black Plague and other once fatal illnesses has made us look for cures in medicine, treatment and awareness. It has made our hygiene habits improve and it has brought a consciousness to how the disease is transmitted, how to contain, and mitigate the risk of our society going into utter chaos.

Sources

Plagues in World History, Aberth, John (Author), Rowan & Littltfield Publishing Group, Inc., (2011)

Environment, Society and the Black Death (An Interdisciplinary approach to the

Late-Medieval Crisis in Sweden, Lageras, Per (Editor), OXBOW BOOKS, (2016)