The Significance of the Black Death in Europe

The Significance of The Black Death In Europe The Black Death, which swept across Europe between 1347 and 1351, had significance in all areas of life and culture: economic, social, psychological, and even religious. It ushered in a new age for all of Europe, in many ways speeding up the change from the medieval to modern era. In under a five year time span, one-third of Europe’s population died. There is some speculation that the toll was actually more than one-third, and could have reached as much as one-half. Entire towns and cities were completely decimated by the illness in extremely brief periods of time. The arrival of the plague, and the speed with which it spread, struck panic across the continent as a whole. It would be safe to say there was not any single individual who did not meet the Black Death in one form or another. The consequences of the plague, and the calamity it brought, were far-reaching. By 1346, Europe was in the decline of the “High Middle Ages.” During the High Middle Ages, the population grew from thirty-eight million to seventy-four million (“The Black Death”). Europe seemed to be growing, with advancement in agriculture and society. People were branching out and settling in new areas, bringing way to new towns and cities. With this came more trading routes, which would be instrumental in the spreading of the plague when it arrived. Trade had not long before opened up with eastern societies through Mongol territory, and it is from the east that the Black Death is believed to have originated, though the specific point of origin may never be known. The disease had been endemic in various locations in Asia for centuries, flaring up occasionally, with any of these locations being the possible origin from which the Black Death began. The first recorded appearance of the plague in Europe was in Messina, Sicily in October 1347 (“The Black Death”). It arrived on trading ships, likely coming from the Black sea, past

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