The Plague During The Period Of The Middle Ages

The period of the Middle Ages is widely known amongst the people of the modern day. Told as a time of knights and castles, codes of chivalry, massive battles with bows and armored men with swords, kings and queens and royals ruling over the peasant class, and sometimes, even dragons and other folklore. Many have heard tales of King Arthur and the legendary Knights of the Round Table, or the popular and supported thievery of Robin Hood. However, what isn’t told on the same scale is how these feudal times went through a steep decline. Many haven’t related the weather impacts to mass starvation throughout Europe, simply killing or in other cases severely weakening immune systems. Many cannot compare the Black Death, killing millions and eradicating
The reasons behind the ability for rampant starvation to take place were long travel distances, food spoil times, farm capacities, but most of all, the weather. During the period between 1000-1300, the weather was relatively warm, allowing for crops to grow and develop yet also nulling any need for preparation. This all changed around 1300, when the weather suddenly went cold. Crops failed to grow or ripen and the main food source of wheat, oats, and hay were killed off. European reliance on these was extremely heavy, so as a result starvation set in. Many died, especially the poverty-stricken, which was extremely common at the time. Bodies were left in the street unattended due to the sheer amount, and the economy took a hit. The most interesting thing, however, was the effect of starvation on the immune system. Because of the decreased state of health and energy, the immune system weakened too, which allowed the next major catastrophe to take greater effects, the plague. The Bubonic Plague went by many different names, the most common being the Bubonic Plague, the plague, the Black Death, or various other Latin words writers used to describe the
It also wasn’t helped by the Mongols catapulting infected bodies into besieged cities. The result was a mass outbreak of the disease across all of Europe. Symptoms included agonizing boils and bubos appearing on the body, black blemishes appearing under the skin, and a deadly infectious cough that signalled the death of the infected within 2-3 days. Due to the infectious nature of the disease, and the underdeveloped knowledge in the medical field of time, infections were often deadly, and many cities went under lockdown, were infested, or simply eradicated by the disease. About 14-23 of Europe’s population were killed. After the pandemic, labor shortages were high and the economy fell. However, most of the survivors, especially the poor peasantry, had a higher standard of living due to falling prices. Society saw the plague as God’s punishment upon humanity, or simply blamed the Jews, in which mass antisemitism occurred. The greatest effects of the plague were the mass death and economic failure that it inflicted upon Europe, greatly aiding the decline of the Late Middle Ages. Shortly before the time of the plague, one of the longest wars in Europe began, the Hundred Years