How Did The Black Death Affect Society

The Black Death swept throughout Western Europe like wildfire from 1347 to 1349, devastating the European population. In just this short amount of time, this horrifying plague killed between 25% to 50% of the entire Western Europe, which was more than any pestilence had beforehand or since. This Black Death, otherwise known as the Bubonic Plague, was caused by a bad bacteria (Yersinia pestis) that inhabited fleas, which lived on rats. Then, these infected rat fleas started infecting people with the fatal bacteria, and contaminated people started infecting others, therefore it was a rapid chain-reaction. Because of the Black Death, many changes occurred in society, such as people seeking a source to blame, society and the economy shifting, and peasants rebelling. To begin, the plague caused people to search for someone or something to blame. Therefore, many groups of people were organized according to what they believed was the cause of this massacre. For example, “The belief in witchcraft was revitalized...People called the Flagellants believed that the plague was the judgement of God on sinful mankind.
Since the plague brought about all the economical changes discussed previously, common folk started to understand their “added value as producers”, and when authorities began to step in and fix wages at a low level, anarchy was inevitable (Depopulation, Rebellion, and Social Progress, p.2). In other words, peasants wanted to receive the wages they thought that they deserved, but with these limited wages set by city officials, this was no longer possible. The peasants went on to rise against the wealthy merchants who had been running the city halls. These revolts were widespread in areas such as Spain, the Netherlands, southern Germany, Italy, and England. Without the plague devastating much of Europe, these economic changes and revolts could have been