The Black Death
The Black Death was an epidemic of bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in
the mid 1300s. Black spots that appeared on the skin of those infected gave
this epidemic its name.
The bubonic plague is carried by fleas on rats. The plague began in Asia and
was carried to Europe by merchants and traders. In 1347, it appeared in
Cyprus and Sicily. Unsanitary conditions and a lack of knowledge about what
caused sickness and disease caused the plague to spread quickly. Major
outbreaks were recorded in England, France, and Germany by 1348. By 1351,
all of Europe was engulfed in the Black Death. Survival rates for those infected
were only one in four. The bubonic plague killed 25 million people in Europe,
about 25 percent of the continent’s population. The plague killed tens of
millions more in Asia.
Black Death had a major economic impact on Europe. As populations fell,
agricultural land was abandoned. A shortage of labor created a large demand
for workers in towns. Serfs began leaving manors in search of higher wages.
This migration of agricultural peasants into towns hastened the end of
feudalism in Europe.
The epidemic also had a tremendous social impact. The Church lost some of
its influences as people witnessed the plague overwhelms Europe despite
prayer and worship. Some clergy deserted their infected congregations.
Distraught relatives abandoned family members out of fear of catching the
dreaded disease.
The plague returned to Europe over the coming years, but never with the
same devastation as the first epidemic. The economic and social
consequences of the Black Death induced disintegration of medieval society.