Free The Black Death Essay Sample

The worst plague in human history broke out in the fourteenth century. This terrible disease, which was called "the Great pestilence" or "Black death" in those days, devastated Europe, causing panic in the hearts of the people. There was no salvation from it. The pandemic has demonstrated a complete helplessness of medieval medicine and the impotence of the Church in the fight against the plague, which resulted in a wide range of phenomena from the revival of the pagan and satanic cults and superstitions, persecutions of potential "poisoners" and "distributors of poison of plague" to the rise of religious fanaticism. The black death left a huge mark in the history of Europe, putting an imprint on the economy, psychology, culture and even the genetic composition of the population. The bubonic plague was like a natural disaster, but greatly exceeded its tragic scope and gloomy grandeur. There weren't enough living people to bury the dead. In the period from 1347 to 1350, the population of Europe was decreased by three times, according to rough estimates to around 25 million people. The mortality rate within those who caught the disease was 77-97%, so, under conditions of greater compactness the plague could wipe out more than 9/10 of the population. The plague devastated the city and the whole area, it hit the old and the young, righteous and sinful, without any exceptions. The ill person was practically doomed, and everyone who talked to him was expecting the same fate. One by one, despite desperate attempts to isolate from the outside world of the city "fell" from the epidemic. The plague overtook the Queen of Aragon and the King of Castile in Spain. The first half of the 1348 black death was sneaking to England. In the spring it appeared in Gascony, where it killed the youngest daughter of the king — Princess Jeanne. Soon after, the plague broke out in Paris, where it ruthlessly killed a huge number of people, including Queens of France and Navarre. People believed that the end had come and this world will cease to exist very soon. The black death has penetrated everywhere. Many people questioned the power of God. They were unable to understand why death was sweeping not only bad, but also good people. Peasants left farms, churches became empty. Prior to the beginning of the epidemic in Europe, there was an excess of low-paid labor force, but later, after the beginning of the epidemic, the wages have skyrocketed. The villagers poured into the city, first time getting deserved money for their work. The weakened feudal system has collapsed. Riots started to break out. The Europe and the Muslim world got a devastating blow. The next century brought many changes. The middle ages were left behind and the new, less naive world was born.