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                                                                             Cause and Effect of the Black Death

The 14 century Europe is often referred to as the calamitous era. The century is associated with endless periods of war, pandemics and most remarkably the Black Death. The disease arrived in Europe in 1347 and was responsible for more than 25 million deaths. The Black Death is suspected to have started in Asia, in a trading camp in Genoa, Kaffa, and was consorted into Europe by the European merchants. It spread along the trading routes causing horrid deaths as it entered Europe. When it reached Europe its spread augmented killing more than 30% of the European population at that time. This paper examines the factors that allowed the attack and spread of the Black Death in the medieval Europe and the impact it had on society. Besides, it elaborates on the long-lasting impact of the pandemic that has penetrated contemporary society.

            The onset of Black Death in medieval Europe was to a large extent contributed by the European traders who travelled to various parts of the world at different times of the year moving goods into and out of Europe through the Black Sea. The merchants brought home with them various valuable goods from the Middle East but could sometimes come back with contagious illnesses. When the disease broke, the Mongols were invading Kaffa. The plague attacked the Mongol army forcing them to abandon their plans. Before they left, the Mongol general loaded some victims of the plague into their catapult and tossed them into a trading center (Genoa) in Kaffa (Cesana and Bianucci 2017, 161). As soon as the forces left the merchants contracted the Black Death and some moved to Constantinople carrying the plague with them. The Black death went on spreading from Constantinople through the trade routes leading to tremendous deaths as the merchants moved into Europe. Therefore, the first attack of the plague in Europe was caused by the wealthy merchants who travelled from Genoa.

            Shortly after reaching Europe, the spread of the Black Death was augmented by poverty in Europe. In the 14th century, the average inhabitants of western Europe were relatively poor. They also depended on wood fuel for heating their bathtubs. However, the cost of wood rose because most forests had been converted into agricultural land leading to a reduced supply of wood fuel. This made hot baths leisure because most people could not afford them during the long winters in Europe because of the exorbitant prices of wood fuel. As a result, personal hygiene deteriorated providing a favorable environment for the spread of the bacteria that caused the Black Death. Contrary to what most people think, medieval people, cherished body hygiene. They particularly preferred to wash the bodies in warm bathtubs, but unlike modern-day Japanese, they had public bathhouses that were later closed because of the high prices of fuel during the long cold winters (Nelson 2001, n.p). Because of poverty, the medieval Europeans were therefore forced into a lack of personal hygiene which intensified the spread of Black Death in Europe.

            Taming Black Death in the 14th Century was very difficult because of a lack of technology and widespread ignorance among the general populace. The medieval Europeans were neither aware of the causes nor cure of the Black Death which led to the further spread of the pandemic. The actual cause of the illness was not discovered until the mid-19th century, more than 500 hundred years after the plague (Kleis 2014, n.p). The disease was caused by Yersina pestis which was a bacterium that depended on rats as fleas as vectors. Yersina pestis lived in the gut of flea where they multiplied and block it after sometime starving the host. The bacilli are transmitted to rodents when the flea sucks rats’ blood. later the bacteria infected other rats and eventually move to human hosts when the rodents die (Gottfried 2012, 10). The bacteria caused two types of illnesses commonly referred to as the Black Death. Most people in the medieval age believed that the Black Death as a punitive disease from the Lord. They thought that God was punishing them for adultery, greed, irreligion, heresy, laziness, blasphemy, sloth and fornication. They also blamed each other because they believed that their fellow humans were secondary vectors of the plague (Saul 2016, 9). Since fleas and rats were very common in the 14th Century they remained unsuspected and continued spreading the plague across Europe.

            The Black Death had an immediate effect on the perceptions and actions of the members of the medieval society. The results of the plague immediately altered the attitude of the medieval Europeans towards religion. Since some people thought that it was a punishment from God some people prayed and gnashed their teeth asking God for forgiveness while most of them lost respect for the church leading to a new pietism. Some of them even attempted to destroy Christendom by poisoning the water followed by the massacre of the Jews (Kreis 2014). The medieval people killed the Jews since they believed that they believed that God casted the illness to wipe out human race for rejecting Jesus and breaking the laws of Moses. The plague led to the dismissal of religion and the persecution of Christians.

            The population of Europe declined following the death of many people due to the 14 Century plague. As a result, productivity went down leading to a rise in the prices of food and other agricultural products. Inflation encapsulated the economy of Europe for the better part of the century (Edwards et al. 2018). Besides, the laborers demanded higher pay because of their scarcity and the high prices of food. Landlords, on the other hand, tried to unveil new ways of increasing the earnings. They increased rent, planted with high yields and raised sheep on their land as a substitute for crop production. The Black Death also had some positive impacts on the European economy. Farmers started concentrating on the different ways of improving the fertility of the soil to get higher yields. The employers also started developing machinery as a substitute for scarce manpower. Therefore, the Black death acted as a precursor for technological innovations in medieval Europe. The plague not only led to inflation in the 14th century but also created an environment for critical thinking and creativity. In addition, it altered the culture and behavior of people. The Black plague led to migration from one place to another. Deserting the areas affected, was the most common reaction mechanism (Galanaud et al. 2020, 38). People abandoned their homes, culture and loved ones in pursuit of safety. As a result, they interacted with foreigners and embraced new customs and norms.

 Modern society draws its most significant lessons from past events. The lessons learnt from the Black Death have critical implications in contemporary society. The plague has impacted how people are currently viewing personal hygiene and a healthy lifestyle. According to Anderson (2019, 25), personal hygiene can reduce the spread of plagues such as the Black Death. The plague has also changed how people handle each in case of an outbreak of disease. While the medieval Europeans deserted or assaulted those affected by plagues modern society believes in unity at the time of an outbreak. Individuals provide monetary, medical and moral support to the patients to control the spread of such diseases. The Black Death also led to technological developments which prompted advancement in the methods of production in modern society. Therefore, the Black Death has a positive impact on the present that it has in the medieval era.

            The Black Death is the most catastrophic plague in the medieval era. It originated from Asia and brought to Europe by the traders. The plague killed more than 30% of the European population. It harmed the economy, culture and religion of medieval Europe. Besides, the plague has a long-lasting impact that still governs the actions and reasoning of people in modern society.

References

Andersen, Bjørg Marit. "Personal hygiene and care of patients." In Prevention and Control of Infections in Hospitals, pp. 255-264. Springer, Cham, 2019. 25

Cesana, D., O. and R. Bianucci. "The origin and early spread of the Black Death in Italy: first evidence of plague victims from 14th-century Liguria (northern Italy)." Anthropological Science (2017): 161.

Edwards, Jeremy, and Sheilagh Ogilvie. "Did the Black Death Cause Economic Development by'Inventing'Fertility Restriction?." (2018).

Galanaud, Pierre, Anne Galanaud, Patrick Giraudoux, and Henri Labesse. "Mortality and demographic recovery in early post-black death epidemics: Role of recent emigrants in medieval Dijon." PloS one 15, no. 1 (2020): 38

Gottfried, Robert S. Black death. Simon and Schuster, 2010. 12

Kreis, S. “History Guides: Lectures on Ancient and Medieval European History. Satan Triumphant: The Black Death (2014). Accessed March 26, 2020. http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture29b.html.

Nelson,  L. H. “The Great Famine (1315-1317) and the Black Death (1346-1351).” The Great Famine and the Black Death | 1315-1317, 1346-1351 | Lectures in Medieval History | (2001). Accessed March 26, 2020. http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/black_death.html.

Saul, Nigel. "What did medieval people think caused the Black Death, and how did they respond accordingly?." THE SWANSEA UNIVERSITY HISTORY AND CLASSICS STUDENT ONLINE RESEARCH JOURNAL (2016): 9.