How the Black Plague Changed Europe - Coursework Example

How the Black Plague Changed Europe The Black Plague, also known as the Black Death or the Bubonic Plague led to the death of millions of people in Europe in the period between 1347- 1350. This massive loss of life resulted in radical changes in the economic, political, social, and religious structures of the 14th century Europe. This paper analyzes in details how the Black Plague radically changed the medieval Europe by killing millions of people. Let us begin by looking at the economic changes in medieval Europe that were brought about by the Black Plague. In 14th century Europe, Agriculture was actually the backbone of the European states. The aristocracy wealth was based on ownership of land. The death of millions of people due to the Black Plague, therefore, meant that there was an acute shortage of labour. The peasants were particularly affected by the Black Plague because of the poor conditions in which they were living; the poor conditions coupled with close quarters in which the peasants were living provided a conducive environment for the spread of the Black Plague (The Flow of History,n.p. Web.). The shortage of labour led to drastic reduction in agricultural produce. The reduction of agricultural produce was a real disaster in the economy of medieval Europe. Apart from reduced agricultural produce, the few available peasants/labourers started demanding higher wages because the demand of their services was very high (Herlihy, 8-9). This led to increase in the cost of production of agricultural products. This in turn led to inflation because the aristocrats had to sell their produce at higher prices because of the high cost of production. Another factor that led to the inflation of the economy was the prohibitive trade measures that were instituted by some monarchs, these measures made procurement of goods through trade quite difficult (Zapotoczny, 2-3). This meant that there was insufficient supply of goods in the market leading to inflation. The crumbling of the Agricultural sector in the 14th century Europe due to the Black Plague depleted the tax base of the European states. The medieval European states were therefore forced, as it were, by the economic constraints occasioned by the Black Plague to increase taxes. The increase in taxes exacerbated the already high inflation in medieval Europe. The Black plague therefore caused economic recession in the medieval Europe. The economic recession ultimately led to complete change of economic system in Europe from Feudalism to capitalism as we shall see later in this paper. The second change that the Black Plague brought to the 14th century Europe was the political change. After the Black Plague catastrophe, there were popular uprisings in 14th century Europe (The Flow of History,n.p). Web.). One of the main two causes of the uprisings was the demand for higher wages by the peasants and the workers. The nobles and the guilds strongly opposed the demand for higher wages by the labourers. The second cause of the uprisings was the increased tax by the monarchs. The kings of England and France had, of necessity, to increase taxes significantly so as to be able to finance the Hundred Years war between England and France. These two factors triggered insurrections by the peasants and the workers against the nobles across Europe. To increase their bargaining power, the workers in cities formed organizations to bargain for higher wages and better working conditions. The organizations enabled the workers to fearlessly face the guilds, which had earlier outlawed such worker’s organizations. This led to violent confrontations between the worker’s organisations and the guilds. The guilds were organisations made by the landowners to defend the interests of the landowners, for instance, the guilds would look for better markets for the agricultural products of the landowners. The guilds also would set the minimum wage for the peasants. When the peasants formed their own organisation to agitate for their rights, the guilds were displeased about it and this led to fierce confrontations between the peasant organisations and the guilds. The results of the peasant revolutions were oftentimes bloody. The monarchs would often send armed troops to quash the workers revolutions. The revolting workers did not have sufficient weapons to defend themselves against the armed state troops and many peasants therefore died in the revolutions (The Flow of History,n.p). The revolutions, however, were successful because the workers, ultimately, got higher wages, their working conditions were improved, and nobles’ authority declined significantly in medieval Europe. This was, indeed, a major political change that the Black Plague brought to Europe. The second element of political change that the Black Plague brought to 14th century Europe was senseless attacks and murder of the Jews, lepers, and foreigners. These three groups of people were blamed for causing the Black Plague by either poisoning the water or the air (Foa, 146). The Jews and the lepers were particularly blamed for causing the Black Plague and they were rounded up and persecuted. The persecution of the Jews, the lepers and the foreigners affected negatively the relationship of these groups of people with the rest of the Europeans. The Black Plague also brought about unprecedented social changes in the 14th century Europe. One of the social changes was increased social mobility. Prior to the Black Plague pandemic, the dominant economic system in Europe was Feudalism. The Feudalism economic system, social mobility is very hard because land, which was the main element of production, was owned by the Lords. The Black Death, however, wiped out almost half of the population of Europe and this meant that some peasants could now own parcels of land hitherto owned by the Lords. Also, with increased wages, the peasants and the labourers could now be able to own more property, therefore being able to easily move upward in the social classes (Obrien, 25). The economic empowerment of the peasants and the labourers weakened the feudalism economic system a great deal. Another social impact of the Black Plague was the decline in the authority and the status of the nobles in relation to the peasants and the workers. Prior to the Black Death pandemic, the nobles were very powerful and their authority was largely unquestioned by the peasants and the workers (The Flow of History,n.p). With the economic empowerment of the peasants and the workers, however, the authority and the status of the nobles were questioned leading to revolts as we have already seen. To appease the nobles and the workers, the Lords offered more freedom and higher wages to the labourers. This therefore meant that there was radical change in the social view of the nobles in relation to the peasants and the workers. The economic empowerment of the peasants and farmers coupled with more freedom for the labourers, and increased competition for the few available labourers by the nobles made the economy of the medieval Europe become quite competitive. This marked the beginning of capitalism as an economic system in Europe. This is because, with the abolition of serfdom, the peasants were able to own means of production, i.e., land, and to sell their labour to the wealthy land lords at a bargained and higher wages (Penn, 335-358). This made the economy of Europe quite competitive. The other major change in the medieval Europe brought about by the Bubonic Plague was religious change. With the death of so many people due to the Black Plague, many people started questioned some teachings of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church was the predominant Church in Europe during this period of time. Some people saw God as being unfair to them and as having abandoned them, and for that reason they stopped going to church (Zapotoczny, 3). Many other people thought that God had abandoned them because of their sins; many Christians saw the Black Death as a punishment from God. For this reason, some Catholic Christians joined the austere Christian movement known for their strict and severe mortifications; the severe modifications meant to appease God for the sins of human beings (Zapotoczny, 3). Other Catholics started different Christian Churches. Many protestant Christian Churches therefore were founded during this period of time. Another religious impact of the Black Death in Europe was the shortage of priests in the Church. The Black Death had killed many Catholic priests, especially the monks who offered charitable services to the people suffering from the Black Plague. The shortage of the priests therefore posed a great challenge to the Church in its evangelization efforts (Zapotoczny, 3). In conclusion, the Black Plague radically changed all the spheres of life of the 14th century Europe. Due to the massive death of people in Europe, life in Europe could never be the same again. This is because there was now more land with less people, and this in turn meant that the peasants and the labours could own land and get higher wages and better working conditions. This in turn led to radical political, economical, and social changes. The Black Death also led to religious changes in Europe because of the death of many priests; Black Death also made people to question the benevolence of God. Works Cited Foa, A. The Jews of Europe after the Black Death. USA: Harper, 2000. Herlihy, D. The Black Death and the Transformation of the West .Cambridge.: Harvard University Press, 1997. Obrien, J., and Roseberry, W. Golden Ages, Dark Ages: Imagining the Past in Anthropology and History. USA: California Press, 1991. Penn, S, A. and Dyer, C. The Economic History Review. "Wages and Earnings in Late Medieval England: Evidence from the Enforcement of the Labour Laws". 1990. Vol. 43. No. 3. Pgs. 355–358. The Flow of History.”The Black Death and its Impact c. 1300- 1450)”. Web. http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/west/10/FC71. Zapotoczny, W.S. “The Political and Social Consequences of the Black Death, 1348- 1351”. Web. http://www.wzaponline.com/BlackDeath.pdf. Read More