The Impact of the Black Plague on Europe Sample Essay

The Impact of the Black Plague on Europe Sample Essay The Black Plague became one of the greatest public health catastrophes in the history of humanity killing over a half of the overall European population in the 14th century. The dramatic pandemic is commonly titled as “black death” because of its mysterious nature and association with origins from the Black Sea region. In the mid-1300s, trading ships arriving at the Sicilian port of Messina were found with almost entire crews dead. Those sailors who entered the port alive suffered from pain with their bodies all covered by black boils. The ships with the unknown disease were ordered to leave the harbor, which, however, did not prevent the spread of the plague across Europe. Within the next five years, the disease killed over 20 million Europeans, which accounted for a third of the overall continental population. Along with the devastating effect on the public health, the disease produced crucial effects on social, religious, and political aspects of the European life in that period (Slavicek, 2008). To gain an in-depth understanding of the pandemic’s impact, it is essential to investigate what happened after the Black Death. How Did the Black Death Affect the Economy? The rapid and uncontrolled spread of the disease with dramatic health outcome set up panic in Europe, which resulted in mass migration of people. The fear paralyzed European cities with people abandoning their homes and cities in the effort to escape from the disease. It caused a severe scarce in the workforce; those who stayed alive did not want to go to work because of the fear of being infected. The rise in wages did not produce a desired effect with even peasants leaving their workplaces and shutting themselves from the world. The situation resulted in the unprecedented demand for agricultural workforce, which threatened the economic, social, and political position of the lordship. In the threat of death, peasants neglected the authority and power of their lords enforcing changing in the political, social, religious, and cultural structures of the 14th-century Europe. The shortage in labor force in the agricultural sector affected the entire economy of Europe. The work stopped throughout Europe leading to an abrupt inflation. The pandemic significantly challenged production of goods as well as their procurement from abroad, which affected prices extremely. By the 14th century, Europe had already reached a certain level of development and growth taking an active part in trade relations. However, the critical rise in the price of local goods increased the cost of their import in other countries. Hence, the answer to the question, “How did the Black Death affect Europe’s economy?” is that it caused the entire clash of local and regional economies. The continuing rise of plague-related mortality and decreased standards of living produced detrimental effects on European society. Black Death Effects on Society The large-scale health and economic outcomes of black plague laid the ground for changes in cultural, religious, and political domains of Europe as well. The rapid and uncontrolled distribution of the mysterious disease throughout the European territory as well as the inability of the then medicine to cope with it invoked a belief in the wrath of God descended on humanity for unrighteous way of living. To describe the treats to church power, one needs to point out to the formerly good reputation of the church as a means of cure and the source of eternal knowledge and truth (Byrne, 2004). Referring to the religion as a possible resort of survival, people abandoned their duties and routines to involve in an ardent prayer to fight the plague. Considering the pandemic being the God’s punishment, people sought help in the church. However, the bishops and priests appeared powerless to combat the plague. The observed incapacity of the church to either cure or explain the unexpected rise and spread of the disease shook the public’s confidence and trust in it. Having lost their faith in the church, people had changed their worldviews significantly. Apart from the lost trust in the church, religious effects of the Black Death included a mass withdrawal from religious teachings. For centuries, the church had proclaimed the priority of the afterlife over actual lifetime. Realizing the inescapability of death, many Europeans decided to enjoy human pleasures for the last time before dying for salvation. Interpreting the Bible verses “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” in favor of their situation, people involved in pleasures neglecting their social duties and responsibilities (1 Corinthians 15:32). Thus, the plague reduced both the power of the Catholic Church and the public’s faith in religion greatl y. By the time of the pandemic, the church had the sole authority in European society putting its rule over the government. The critical decline in the public’s confidence in the church created favorable conditions for a political uprising. By losing the power over followers, the church lost control over governments as well. Despite the historic shift in the power divide, Europe lacked the rule. Mass mortality of political figures and the focus of political elites on ways of avoiding the infection were other political effects of the Black Death. The scarcity in government officials destabilized governments and led to complete anarchy. To sum up, the plague undermined principles and tradition of European societies causing reshuffling in demographic, social, economic, religious, and political domains of life. Accordingly, cultural effects of the Black Death manifested in the uprising of the peasant population against manorial lords and followers against the authoritarian rule of the ch urch. Therefore, the phenomenon of the uncontrolled and incurable disease changed facets of European life entirely. References Byrne, J. P. (2004). The black death. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Slavicek, L. C. (2008). The black death. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.