Effects Of The Plague

The Plague, also known as the Black Death, was the single most deadly outbreak in human history. The Plague was so deadly that is almost completely eradicated the population of Europe in a 5 year span. Because of the devastating effect the Plague had, Europe would be altered forever from that point onward. Even though terrible at the time, the Plague would carve the way for Europe's prosperous future. Marking the beginning of the end of the feudal system, sparking more widespread education and higher learning, and enabling the renaissance to come into fruition. The Black Death’s origin isn't completely clear, but the main thought of scientists is that it appeared in Central Asia in the mid 14th century (Ibeji). The plague probably traveled
on the Silk Road infecting people in the Far and Near East. Key symptoms of the Plague were large black boils all over the body, fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, and excruciating pain. The first instance of the disease in Europe was in October 1347. 12 Genoese trading ships fleeing from Crimea brought it to the Sicilian port of Messina. “The Sicilian authorities hastily ordered the fleet of “death ships” out of the harbor, but it was too late: Over the next five years, the mysterious Black Death would kill more than 20 million people in Europe” (History). The feudal system had existed in Europe since the 8th century and was a core part of everyday society.
Kings gave out land as rewards to loyal nobles and lords, who in turn gave this land to peasants to live off in exchange for their loyalty and labor. In this system, peasants were paid very little and had no way of purchasing their own land. But after the Plague took effect, the whole system changed. Because a large percentage of peasant workers died, demand for laborers increased dramatically. Peasants took advantage of this need for labor by bargaining for higher wages. The economic system began shifting from power being in the hands of the lords, to the hands of the peasants. The effects of the Plague caused living standards to increase greatly for those who survived. The higher wages the peasants were receiving allowed some to buy land of their own and created an emerging middle class. “The Black Death was a vital factor in the breaking down of Feudalism as it disintegrated the loyalty bond between peasants and lords” (Wilson). The economy of Europe would soon no longer be about forcing peasants to be loyal to their Lords in exchange for land, but about peasants being the masters of their own land and selling their labour in an emerging
market-economy. The Black Death was one of many factors that enabled Europe to become more educated and foster the Renaissance period.
The Plague set the stage for the beginning of modern medicine as people started to realize that antiquated remedies and treatments had no effect on the afflicted. Schools for higher education began to appear and grow throughout Europe; many of them stating that their purpose was specifically to reverse the effects that the Black Death brought upon society (Edmonds). As the Plague drove many people away from the church because of its corruption and inability to address the Plague, secular ideas and teaching began to flourish in these learning centers, paving the way for the intellectual aspect of the Renaissance period. As less and less people were looking to the church, the church began buying up more and more land from peasants that died from the plague. All the new land provided huge profits for the church. Many priests began to hire painters and sculptors that would beautify their cathedrals in order to show off their newfound wealth. Artists began to compete with each other for contracts with the church and inadvertently sparked the artistic aspect of the Renaissance as great works began to be made across
Europe.