The Black Death, the most notorious epidemic of the plague, wiped out around thirty to fifty percent of Europe’s population between around 1346-1353. Despite the massive loss of life, it is important to consider that dire situations can reap surprising benefits and are often necessary to give society a nudge forward to greater prospects. As traumatic and horrific as the Black Death was, it offered a variety of opportunities that assisted in propelling Europe to a brighter future.
1. Advancements in Anatomy
In 1300, under Pope Boniface the eighth, the church banned any form of dissection or autopsy of the human body. It was believed that the dismembering of the dead would thwart the soul from rising to heaven (Link 1). As a result, very
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In fourteenth century Venice, the practice of quarantine was utilized in an attempt to stunt the spread of the plague from incoming merchant ships. The word is even derived from the Italian word “quaranta”, which translates to forty days (Link 9). While their efforts were not highly successful in inhibiting the dissemination of the disease, it did mark interest in early contagion theory and more formal procedures of quarantine that better resembles the methods we use today (Link …show more content…
The Birth of Protestantism
Even before the Black Death, faith in Catholicism began to dwindle. King Philip the fifth used his power to move the papacy from Rome to France, where abuses and corruption ran rampant. In order to salvage the church’s reputation Pope Gregory the eleventh moved the church back to Rome. He died shortly after the move and a fight over electing a Roman or French Pope left the church divided, and vulnerable (Link 15).
The Black Death hits when the church was at one of its most weak and corrupted points in its history. With the spread of disease, many priests were dying, and countless living priests avoided victims seeking last rights out of fear. Faced with the church’s excess, depravity, and lack of empathy, followers began to lose faith. The plague put one of the final nails in the coffin and allowed for the seeds of the protestant reformation to be planted (Link 16). That reformation, famously led by Martin Luther, would end indulgences that took advantage of the poor, advocated for the education of lower classes through the distribution of texts, and strip the church of much of its corruptive power (Link 17).
8. Overall Living
In 1347, Europe had just been infected by the Black Death. This epidemic killed over 2/3 of Europe’s population and lasted for over five years. The pathogen that caused the Black Death was Yersinia Pestis which causes many forms of plague. The Plague originated in central and south Asia then traveled through trade routes like the Silk Road, all the way to Sicily The Black Death killed most of Europe’s population, thus ending Feudalism by having not enough serfs and workers to run fields and farms. The land owners started to offer more for their work and labor, making the lower class more wealthy, and providing more jobs.
In mid-fourteenth century Europe a plague (also known as the Black Death) appeared in which the first wave killed millions of people. But the plague didn’t stop there, it persisted, spreading around the whole known world and exerting its power on people up until the eighteenth century. In Europe there were many responses to the plague which included helping to stop and cure the plague, profiting off it, and trying to protect and care for their loved ones. One response to the plague was to help stop and cure the plague. As the traveler Heinrich von Staden observes, “....
Often as a result of overpopulation, pandemics—like swine flu and ebola, for instance—have affected life on Earth for centuries; one of the most well-known, and possibly the most unforgiving epidemics was the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death . Although the first symptoms of the Plague trace back to the Mongol Empire in 1331, the disease first struck Europe in Venice and Genoa during the winter of 1348. In the following years, the Bubonic Plague spread rapidly throughout Europe, killing roughly a third of its population. It is suggested that the rapid spread and extreme severity of the Black Death was partially due to the weakened immune system of the Europeans, which had been caused by the Great Famine, a period of food scarcity that affected Europe from 1315 to 1322. Additionally, the lack of knowledge about the spread of
As the Black Death traveled through Europe, it left thousands dead. From 1315 to 1322, the Great Famine caused starvation and death, weakening Europe’s population. Once the Black Death came into
This will prompt the Protestant Reformation. A large portion of the informed individuals in Europe were ministry (monks and priest individuals who "work" for the congregation). Most priest would visit the sick and die. The ministers lived nearby other people and on the off chance that one got tired the vast majority of the religious community would be wiped out. Since these individuals were the most taught for the time and they were hit hardest by the Plague this will prompt Colleges and Universities being built up.
Many epidemics swept across the world, such as smallpox, which affected 95 in every 100 people in 1775 and had killed 1 in seven people (79). Epidemics jumped from large populations masses to another, such as the case of the plague being brought to the West from China and India (81). Tying hand in hand with famine, disease affected the poor the greatest, and many of the poor and sick were “penned up” together in contaminated towns (85). Many perished to the plague, so much to the fact that it is said “a good half of the population of Marseilles succumbed” (88). Diseases constantly reappeared through out history due to virgin soils never experiencing the disease and gaining immunity, or due to new forms and mutations
Escaping Death In the year 1348, there was a great pestilence that overtook the city of Florence, Italy. The pestilence was named the Black Plague, for the disease left black buboes all over its victims. It was so powerful an illness that once it took hold of a person, he had no chance of surviving. Tragically, the Plague spread all over the continent and destroyed one-third to one-half of all of Europe’s population.
The black plague was a very successful disease in the mid 1350’s due to the low medical ability and knowledge of the people populating the city or town. I will start off by saying people often run away from the danger to others, where with this you have to stay away from people. If you want to get to switzerland because
The Black Death had a big impact on European religion. Because people could not understand the plague, they strongly believed that the plague was a punishment sent by God. The church claimed that God was punishing people because of the sins they have committed. They organized religious marches and told people to pray to get rid of the horrible disease. However, around 1348, Christians started accusing the Jews of bringing and spreading the plague to Europe.
Most people have heard of the “Black Death,” or the “Great Plague” but only because it was an epidemic. Taking a closer look at the Great Plague enables focusing on the factors that helped it spread not just the aftermath. It is important to have basic knowledge and understanding of the plague in order to be able to focus in on the factors involved in allowing it to prevail. It is believed that migration and trade had a substantial amount of influence on the prevalence and the spreading of the plague. The prevalence also allowed for a dramatic change within the European countries socially and economically.
All together 50% of all Europe’s population was dead in less than ten years. Now scientist think it was more than just one diseases. 3. Botches or plague sores would form in the groin, armpit or neck, then rupture, causing pain so agonizing that some victims would leap from windows. Finally, speech would become difficult, and victims would suffer delirium before succumbing to heart failure.
The Black Death was a disease that had a catastrophic impact on Europe. Reaching Europe in 1347, the plague killed an estimation of one-third of the population in the first wave. Each document varies with its reasons for the cause of the plague and how to deal with it. The first document Ordinances against the Spread of Plague seemed to blame Pisa and Lucca for the plague and thus, began to forbid contact with those places. It was forbidden for citizens of Pistoia to go to, or have contact with anyone or anything from Pisa or Lucca.
During the mid-fourteenth century, a plague hit Europe. Initially spreading through rats and subsequently fleas, it killed at least one-third of the population of Europe and continued intermittently until the 18th century. There was no known cure at the time, and the bacteria spread very quickly and would kill an infected person within two days, which led to structural public policies, religious, and medical changes in Europe. The plague had an enormous social effect, killing much of the population and encouraging new health reforms, it also had religious effects by attracting the attention of the Catholic Church, and lastly, it affected the trade around Europe, limiting the transportation of goods. As a response to the plague that took place
The outbreak of the pandemic known as the Black Death in 1347 brought to Europe devastation unlike any other on record which demanded immediate action in both treating and preventing further spread of the disease. Firstly this essay will examine the causes and diagnoses of the disease. Following this, there will be an investigation of the precautions implemented in an attempt to stop the spread of infection, such as quarantine and the understanding of contagion. Furthermore, there will be an argument that the Black Death can be seen as a normal accident according to Normal Accident Theory. Finally there will be a discussion on how the Black Death’s implementation of quarantine relates to the precautionary principle and how we deal with epidemics
It was the Spring of 1348, and the citizens of Europe were malnourished due to limited food supplies for such a large population. This made them more susceptible to the outbreak of the Black Death. The Black Death originated in Asia, then moved westward into Sicily. From Sicily, the plague crept its way up through Europe infecting millions of people, in total killing more than one third of Europe’s population. In fact, over fifty percent of the population of Siena died, along with fifty percent of Paris, eighty percent of Florence, and over two thirds of Venice.