The Impact of Black Death on Europe - Essay Example

The Impact of the Black Death in Europe In 1347, the Black Plague began its sweep across Western Europe. The initial outbreak lasted about four years killing approximately 40 percent of the European population (Gottfried, 1983) and it would recur sporadically over the following 300 years though the first occurrence is commonly considered the worst outbreak. The Black, or Bubonic, Plague was responsible for more than 40 million deaths and wiped out almost 200,000 towns throughout Europe (Nohl, 1926, p. 1). The Black Death refers to either the pneumonic plague or the bubonic plague.  “The pneumonic plague is the deadlier of the two diseases killing its victims is two to three days” (Spielvogel, 2003, p. 275). The worst hit was to the larger cities due to dense populations that more readily spread the disease and because of poorer sanitary conditions than in the urban areas. “The plague would visit an area, last for about a year, kill about one-third of the population, and move on. … Most historians believe that between 1347 and 1351, at least one-third of Europe’s total human population (20 to 30 million people) died” (Piccolo, 2004). Deaths alone were not the lone byproduct of the Plague, however. It also affected the economic, social and political landscape of this large region of the world. The sector of the population that was most impacted was the lower classes because they were more likely to live in unsanitary conditions and had limited means by which to protect their health. The massive decrease in population produced negative effects on the European economies beginning with a predictable surplus of products and food supplies. Prices fell greatly which allowed those that survived the Plague to enjoy more wealth which stimulated the economies in the respective regions. However, when more money is being circulated, inflation is generally the byproduct which caused prices to steadily rise, causing economies to again suffer (Boccaccio, 1977, p. 3). The reduction of populations caused the available labour force to decline which caused prices to further rise. Workers now realized the opportunity to demand more pay which inflated costs to consumers even more. Prices steadily increased which necessitated government action to prevent labour wages, thus prices of goods and services to become unaffordable to the lower and middle classes. “The effects of regression on rural economy were far-reaching. Labour was scarce and wages rose rapidly. In England and in Castile and elsewhere legislation was attempted to fix wages, but without success” (Nohl, 1926, p. 20). This legislation attempted to reaffix wages back to levels at which they were prior to the Plague. Workers, especially peasants who were finally making a decent wage, rebelled violently to the pay reductions and though the intent was sound, its affects were disastrous. Upward social mobility became a possibility, especially for the lower class, in the years following the Plague. Because the Plague ravaged the dense urban areas much more heavily than the rural areas, what had been densely populated towns were now largely deserted. Peasants from outside the towns could now move to where the money and greater opportunities were by replacing the many thousands that perished. “After the great pestilence of the past year each person lived according to his own caprice, and everyone tended to seek pleasure in eating and drinking, hunting, catching birds, and gaming. And all the money had fallen into the hands of nouveaux riches” (Nohl, 1926, p. 20). Homes and farms stood empty and landlords who previous to the Plague held power over tenants were now bargaining with peasants instead of controlling them. Many went as far to as to allow a family to occupy a house in return for a share of the crops grown on his land (Nohl, 1926, p. 72). The newfound riches for the lower-class was short-lived, however. The upper class was not about to stand idle as the poorest of peasants were climbing the economic ladder towards them. “Laws were enacted which basically kept those not actually born to their current social status from taking advantage of what that class can do for them” (Haddock & Kiesling, 2002). The Black Death altered everyday life in all communities. Large cities that were trade centers were hit the hardest overall but when small towns or villages were inundated by the disease, the results were very destructive to communal harmony (Snell, 2006). In a smaller community, everyone knew and depended on one another but following an outbreak of the Plague, people turned away from their friends and neighbors they had known all their lives. The Plague spread panic throughout the community in large part because of the mysterious nature of the disease. Its highly contagious nature changed people’s attitudes concerning the value of community. “People abandoned their friends and family, fled cities, and shut themselves off from the world. Funeral rites became perfunctory or stopped altogether, and work ceased being done” (Courie, 1972). Authorities finally found the answer to begin eradicating the Plague from a community. Isolating victims served to help prevent it from spreading, at least as quickly, but this technique also severely stigmatized entire segments of a community. Those that displayed symptoms were made to stay in their homes. Of course this amounted to a death sentence for the victim’s entire family (Grove, 2003). “From these and many similar or worse occurrences, there came about such fear and such fantastic notions among those who remained alive that almost all of them took a very cruel attitude in the matter; that is, they completely avoided the sick and their possessions; and in doing so, each one believed that he was protecting his good health” (Boccaccio, 1977, p. 5). The level of hysteria and the avoidance of friends, relatives and neighbors grew progressively more intense as the number of dead rose. As the death count mounted, those afflicted and their families became increasingly isolated and shunned at a time in their life when they needed to be cared for physically and emotionally more than any other. A small number of clergy and nuns stayed with these victims at first but when they died, the remainder of the afflicted died a painful, cruel death virtually alone (Bowsky, 1978, p. 16). “The fact was that one citizen avoided another, that almost no one cared for his neighbor, and that relatives rarely or hardly ever visited each other – they stayed far apart” (Boccaccio, 1977, p. 6). As in other aspects of life, plague victims were treated in accordance with their station in life. The lower class was required to congregate in ‘pest houses,’ a dormitory of sorts for the dying. Middle and Upper Class victims of the Plague most usually were allowed to remain at home. Public mourning of the dead was prohibited but those of higher social standing could have a ‘mourning display’ erected upon their passing. Even in this time of great crisis that would seem to equalize all people, the peasants remained at the bottom rung of society’s ladder (Carmichael, 1986, p. 109). The most conspicuous political consequences of the plague were the organizational responses by the hierarchy of the time. Although most of these legislative moves were intended as precautionary measures meant to prevent or at least slow the spread of the disease, some seemed enacted only to assign blame, a reflection of the popular sentiment of that time. Because of the lack of knowledge regarding the disease, heads of state and local officials were slow to react. Systematic strategies were put in place until well into the peak of the outbreak. In urban areas, where the disease was spread much quicker, sanitation was a primary concern. In the city of Florence, Italy as an example, “Citizens were ordered to clean up streets and piazzas, to scour their homes, to keep animals out of the city, and to illuminate the streets at night. Butchers were reminded of the restrictions on the slaughter of animals and the sale of fresh meats” (Carmichael, 1986, p. 99). These efforts did not eradicate the Plague in the city but it did make Florence cleaner, more organised and kept contamination in check. These policies were retained after the Plague subsided for these reasons and they also provided employment for the lower classes. In many cities across Europe, sanitary councils were formed consisting of three to ten legislators and nobles. These councils addressed major problems that were too extensive to be handled by just one person or small group. Though set up as a temporary solution, these councils became the forerunner of our modern form of government (Carmichael, 1986, p. 99). The first city to form such a council, however, was Venice (1348) as it was one of the first western cities afflicted with the Plague. “Venice was harder hit than the rest of Italy, losing 100,000 men, women, and children, nearly three-quarters of its population” (Deaux, 1969, p. 85). The city’s leaders became desperate to repopulate so they offered foreigners citizenship if they would live in the city for a period of just two years (Nohl, 1926, p. 40). One of the council’s decisions was to limit incoming travelers from Asia, where the disease originated from. Another was to quarantine carriers of the Plague for 40 days. This was ample time to discover if they indeed had the disease. If they did, their bodies had expired long before the 40 days had expired (Nohl, 1926, p. 109). The sanitary council’s political authority lasted for over 150 years, well beyond the extent of the Plague. The concept of a city council organised to act upon the needs of the city evolved from this attempt to stem the Plague. The aristocracies of Europe, not surprisingly, promoted their individual agendas with the onset of the Black Plague. They were powerless to control the disease itself so they assigned blame to those persons who had historically been the victims of persecution. “A measure to be found in nearly all plague regulations is the expulsion of drunkards, beggars, lepers, and gypsies” (Nohl, 1926, p. 110). The rampant fears associated with the Plague allowed them to affect a moral purging of their cities. They could now, without impunity, remove the ‘undesirables’ of society such as the sick and the poor as well as anyone in opposition to Christian ideologies including Jews and prostitutes. “The legislation regarding control of prostitutes and sodomites within the city also was included in traditional sanitary legislation. This was not because the city leaders felt that certain diseases were sexually transmitted, but rather because the activities of such individuals were offensive to God” (Carmichael, 1986, p. 98). These policies simply reflected a power-play for aristocrats and religious zealots of the time. Throughout history, leaders of society, especially those of the church, have utilised the technique of excluding and ostracising those of differing races, religions and classes to distract citizens from genuine problems that are not being addressed by the leaderships. The Black Death affected the societies of Europe in a myriad of ways including politics, economics and through various social aspects. Europe was plunged into a fearful hysteria filled with death and despair which was followed by the Dark Ages, a time of mass starvations, violence and gloom. It wasn’t until this disaster was finally contained that Europe emerged triumphantly to become the foundation for modern societies worldwide. References Boccaccio, Giovanni. (1977). Decameron. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Bowsky, W. (Ed). (1978). The Black Death: A Turning Point in History? Melbourne, FL: Krieger Publishing. Carmichael, Ann G. (1986). Plague and the Poor in Renaissance Florence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Courie, Leonard W. (1972). The Black Death and Peasants Revolt. New York: Wayland Publishers. Deaux, George. (1969). The Black Death 1347. New York: Weybright and Talley. Gottfried, R.S. (1983). The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. New York: The Free Press. Grove, Jim. (5 December 2003). “The Black Death.” Historic Kent. Retrieved 4 September 2006 from < http://www.historic-kent.co.uk/plague.htm> Haddock, David D. & Kiesling, Lynne. (June 2002). “The Black Death and Property Rights.” The Journal of Legal Studies. Vol. 31. Nohl, Johannes. (1926). Black Death. London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. Piccolo, Cynthia M. (19 July 2004). “Death on a Grand Scale.” MedHunters. Retrieved 4 September 2006 from Snell, Melissa. (2006). “The Great Mortality: Facing Death.” About Medieval History. Retrieved 4 September 2006 from Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2003). Western Civilization. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Read More