Lasting and Global Effects of the Black Death Essence Jones

-There are not many lasting or global effects of the bubonic plague, aside from those still evident in modern societies. However, we can note the effects of the black death on the 14th and 14 centuries and then look at the lasting societal effects.

-Europe’s population decreased anywhere from 30 to 60 percent between 1347 and 1350. The world population decreased from 450 million to 350 million in the 14th century, which was largely due to the outbreaks of the bubonic plague in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. Some historians actually argue that the death toll was 75% of the continent’s population. It took 150 years for Europe’s population to reach its pre-plague levels.

-Rural communities were isolated and had small populations with little contact with cities or affect areas and so were typically not affected, although villages through which visitors and travellers passed were susceptible. In cities outbreaks were rampant because of close living quarters, unsanitary practices, unsafe work environments, and the like. Plus, cities house rodents as well as humans, which makes for an ease of transmission. This explains why so much of Europe was killed by the plague as many Europeans were living in cities for work.

-The monarchs or governments were at a loss as to what could have caused the plague or how it was spread but eventually they took some measures like prohibiting the export of foodstuffs, banning black market transactions, outlawing large scale fishing, and setting price controls on grains.

-But these things actually hurt Europe, as they increased cases of malnutrition, poverty, and disease. In England, the 100 years war had emptied their treasury and so these anti-plague statutes created tensions which caused some peasant uprisings, which frustrated the economic recession. People were dying, they were poor, they were hungry, and now they were beginning to question the cause of the plague.

-Traditional healers didn’t understand it and couldn’t explain it. Clergymen were dying the same as peasants and the attribution of the plague to God’s wrath did not ease their minds. The stars didn’t tell them anything, Earthquakes and other natural disasters accounted for nothing either. This is a change in the medicinal practices of Europe in the 14th century. They began to stop relying on prayer, shamans, or superstition. But, one community of Europeans wasn’t as significantly affected by the plague, the Jews. This is obvious in the lack of Jewish communities in Western Europe today.

-All of that eventually led to a huge change in the social structure of 14th century Europe. A smaller population meant the survivors had more opportunities for employment and could be more demanding of their lords, which in turn meant that employers had to increase wages and improve conditions. This uprooted the “Old Ways” of Europe in that employers and the upper class could no longer mistreat the peasants, they needed them for labor. The clergy died off with

the parishioners which showed that God, who was believed to be the culprit, didn’t plague only the unjust. This idea of a sovereign and indiscriminate wrathful God coupled with the Papal scandals of the centuries led to distrust in the Catholic church and ultimately a change in social roles. The most lasting effect of the bubonic plague has to be the efflux of Jews from Western Europe. Due to anti-semitic sentiments spreading across the continent that blamed the largely intact Jewish populations for the plague, many Jews left Western Europe to seek refuge. Currently, there are only small pockets of Jewish populations in Western Europe.