...The Black Death stands out as the most dramatic and lifestyle changing event during the 14th century. This was a widespread epidemic of the bubonic plague that passed from Asia and through Europe in the mid fourteenth century. The first signs of the Black Death in Europe were present around the fall of 1346. In the span of three years, the Black Death killed one third of all the people in Europe. This traumatic population change coming into the Late Middle Ages caused great changes in European culture and lifestyle. How exactly did the plaque begin? The Black Death was one of many catastrophes to occur following an increase in population during the High Middle Ages (1000-1300). The population of Europe grew from 38 million to 74 million in this time. Before the plague, Europe had been enjoying an increased state of growth in both agriculture and structure in society. Cities began to rise with artisans, farmers, and other crafts people specializing in their own field of work. The daily amount of contact between the European people in the cities and...
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...How the Black Death Affected the Modern World The Black Death is the worst plague that mankind has ever had to face, much worse than anything we face today. The mortality rate was astounding; whoever was unfortunate enough to become infected with the Black Death would die in a matter of days while suffering through a great deal of pain and agony (Snell). Its peak was around 1348-1353 in Europe, ranging from England all the way to Eastern Europe and beyond (The Black Death, 1348, 2001). The Black Death is thought to have started in China or central Asia, before spreading west. The plague then travelled along the Silk Road and reached the Crimea by 1347. From there, it was probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population. All in all, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century (Ibeji, 2011). The plague disease, generally thought to be caused by Yersinia pestis, is commonly present in populations of fleas carried by ground rodents, including marmots, in various areas including Central Asia, Kurdistan, Western Asia, Northern India and Uganda (Edmonds). Plague was reportedly first introduced to Europe at the trading city of Caffa in the Crimea in 1347 (Whipps, 2008). After a protracted siege, during which the Mongol...
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...The Black Death was a time period in Medieval Europe that happened during most of the 14th century. This period is called the Black Death because it was one of Europe’s darkest times in history with the emergence of the Bubonic Plague, also called Black Plague, which caused horrible symptoms that killed its victims in a short amount of time (CDC). Many people at the time did not understand how exactly the disease came about and placed the blame on people. Even though this disease was horrible and brought many consequences, it began to shape Europe as we know it and brought many technological and medical advancements (History). - The Bubonic Plague was named after buboes, which means swollen lymph node, a distinguishing feature noticed in individuals...
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...The Black Death was spread through trade routes particularly through the Silk Road, and it first began in Central Asia spreading from the bloodstream of black rats carried on by the fleas who fed on them, which was spread by a bacteria called Yersina pestis. It spread into Italy when the ships docked and even though the residents of Italy realised that the people on board were infected, it did not stop the black rats from entering the country. It infected Europeans in 1347 due to the siege of the Port of Caffa where the war strategy was for bodies infected with the plague to be catapulted over into Caffa. The disease affected the water supply and the air and gradually residents began to suffer and die. Caffa was defended by residents from...
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...dead already. The black death, also known as the bubonic plague spread so fast that no one could do anything about it. The columbian exchange was a large part of the black death especially since the things who infected people lived on ships and boats. The reason the Black Death was named the Black Death was because the things that infected people were lack rats and fleas. You could get infected by either getting butten by a rat, or being bitten by a flea. The fleas were not actually infected with the disease though, the fleas carried the disease with themafter biting a rat. The flas could not digest all of the rats blood when sucking it, so it would carry it to the next person,it bites. The next person...
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...The Black Death Ashford University World Civilizations I Todd HIS 103 February 21, 2012 The Black Death Another name for the Middle Ages is “The Dark ages” which was an era of inventors, discovery and trade. China’s ports were a renowned place for traders as many would travel around the world to trade goods. at the docks, thousands of people eagerly waiting for ships to return looking for goods from distant places. In October 1347, trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long journey through the Black Sea (Black Death, n.d.). Greeters, who were waiting anxiously for goods discovered something horrific. Many sailors on the ships were dead and the rest who made it through the journey were quickly dying as well. Not only goods came back from China but also came flea-infested rats, which is the source of the bubonic plague. Another distinctive name for the plague was the Black Death; this particular plague had a discerning effect on the history of Europe producing a sequence of social, religious, and economic catastrophe. This plague killed over half of Europe’s people. Spreading all over Europe and Asia, the Black Death was spreading fast. Victims of the Black Death suffered fevers, weren’t able to digest their food, and became delirious because of the pain. Unknown black boils oozing blood and pus are where the plague got its name. The Black Death ravaged through cities that caused a widespread of hysteria and death. This was an epidemic...
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...During the Late Middle Ages, the disease later known as The Black Death caused great losses. It is considered to be the worst plague suffered in Europe, but which were the steps that led to it? Historians agree that famines, floods, poor life conditions, overpopulation and ships navigating longer distances were its main causes. The disease attacked many times, and had a great impact on both economy and society. The depression left by the Black Death was only aggravated by the schism of the Church, which lead to confusion and general lack of faith. Below, I will analyse both events in detail, stating both their causes and consequences. The Black Death Causes Before the plague struck England, the economic situation in which the peasants were immerse could be defined as anything but favourable. During the first decade of the fourteenth century, inflation affected the price of grain, livestock, and other essential products. Weather was not on the peasant’s side either. England was suffering what was later called a transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age. The century began with torrential rains, which ruined entire crops of wheat, oat and hay. People could hardly produce enough to keep up with the rising prices, and feeding the animals became an almost impossible task to perform. Transporting food from distant places was both very hard and expensive. To crown it all, peasants had overspecialized in single crops in the previous decades. This system seemed...
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...Medicine throughout the Middle Ages During the Middle Ages, the culture and society of Europe and the Western world was under the control of the Church. The religious aspects of medieval European peoples were a great consideration in the matters of the body and health care. The majority of medical knowledge and research was under the influence and followed the expressed ideas of the Church. As the hold of the Church on society began to disintegrate, medicine was able to move from medieval practices influenced by religious belief into modern medicine, based upon observation and evidence. Causes of disease and illness were now understood and scientists were able to start searching for cures because restrictions that prevented modern medical theories from being discovered were lifted. Paracelsus discovered that agents outside the body caused illness. The study of the human anatomy was now practiced and became an essential part of medical knowledge, giving way towards new modern advancements such as blood transfusions and surgeries. Da Vinci conducted many autopsies and constructed detailed drawings of the human anatomy, which had never been studied earlier. Medical knowledge was no longer different and divided into sects but was now centralized under the modern scientific teachings taught to doctors in universities everywhere. As the culture of the Middle Ages moved away from the Church and religion so did scientific knowledge, and without this change medicine would never have...
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...human. It was created before written language in 3,400 BCE, and before agriculture in about 8,000 BCE, showing just how natural the desire to create art is for humanity (“Human History Timeline - Combined Timeline”). While it has evolved many times throughout history, the style, purpose, and subjects change though its existence remains the same. These differences allow an insight into a time period and a place in history. One can examine it on a small scale, analyzing what the piece meant to an artist or what the purpose was in creating it. Likewise,...
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...Black Death The Black Death was a devastation full of effects that led to a new revolution all around Europe. The major impact of Black Death was on the economy of the continent. Due to the shortages of labor, the wages increased to a high level. The population loss in Black Death also led to the prices of common commodities like wheat to decrease as well. With the shortage of labor and limited resources, the industry owners had to enhance their working methods. Therefore, an impact of the Black Death was the emergence of inventions that improved the way of life. Some would argue that this pandemic also lead to unequal distribution of wealth as to those who could grab opportunities went to be richer. Thus another impression of the plague was an increased gap between the rich and the poor. The way of life was enhanced for people around Europe and the women in Europe also went on join the working force. It is no surprise that Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in history. The plague burst out and started off the in winter of 1347-1348. The source of Black Death was traced back to the wild rodents of the steppes of central Asia even as far as Asia or China. Apart from China, some trace its origin back to Kurdistan and Iraq.1 The main concern wasn’t where it started but how it actually spread through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The plague first appeared in China and reached Crimea in 1346; from there it travelled to Constantinople and Sicily in...
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... How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis is an emotional picture book that has and still is shocking middle and upper class Americans . Riis created a sensation when he revealed to the world, combining detailed written descriptions with graphic photographs, the horrific conditions of New York City’s tenement housing. How the Other Half Lives raised many questions, such as how and why the poor are subjected to such terrible living conditions and how that environment affects them. Riis also reveals his fears and prejudices toward certain ethnic groups as he investigates each tenement in order to find some kind of solution. The miserable surroundings Riis discusses throughout the length of his entire document focus on the tenement. The tenement is a building, which due to the immigration boom was modified by its landlord to create as many rooms as possible, therefore sacrificing the human necessities of air and light. Riis says, “Large rooms were partitioned into several smaller ones, without regard to light or ventilation.”(Pg. 69) These rooms were too small to house one family and too dark and stagnant too live in, yet it was common to have as many as three or four families in one “apartment”! Tenements are the pit of filth, hot, dank and disease ridden. It was very common for a whole building to be wiped out by a disease such as cholera. The tenants were so cramped that many babies died of “foul air”, the cause of which was no ventilation. Deaths due to the...
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...between 1300 to 1650. For many peasants, their lives could be depicted as overwhelming, depressing, discouraging, and hopeless; yet, many events during these 350 years opened up opportunities for the peasantry to improve their lives. Events ranging from the Hundred Years War to the Black Death, and up until the beginning years of the Renaissance, changed the lives of the peasantry dramatically, all for the better. Before the Black Death reached Europe, peasants’ lives were very difficult. They usually never left the manor on which they served without the master’s permission. It was illegal for them to even move to another city or manor, if they so desired. They were forced to pay rent to their landlords for the land they cultivated themselves. In addition to the rent that was required of them, “they were also required to provide free labor on the lands used by the lord, known as a demesne.”[1] Although there were rewards to living on a manor, the peasantry had more advantages when the manorial system began to break down at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Even though the nobility still dominated rural Europe, peasants were beginning to move out of their status as servants. The Black Death, striking Italy in 1347, was one of the events that began to shape the lives of the peasantry. It is seen throughout history as one of the worst epidemics to ever hit the European nations. Later it became known as “the greatest natural catastrophe ever to strike Europe and one of the...
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...works on the Black Death in general and on medicine in specific cite the Black Death as a major turning point both in European history and in the history of medicine.”1 Vanneste states repeatedly throughout her investigation that the Black Death evoked an extremely substantial change in the progression of medicine. Her thesis explores the fact that "medical practitioners scrambled to both explain the origins of the plague and develop ways to prevent and cure it.”2 All of the former methods of treatment became obsolete when such a detrimental disease struck, forcing medical practitioners to search for new options, and eventually lead to countless crucial advancements.According to the author, the plague marked the end of the medieval era, and marked the distant beginning of modern times. One way in which this occurred was that many formerly uneducated doctors began to seek both answers and prestige, leading them to seek formal training and become much more adept at their craft....
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... accomplished its objectives. Why did it succeed or fail? Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A Short History; Carole Hillenbrand, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives; Christopher Tyerman, God’s War: A New History of the Crusades 2. How did anti-Semitism manifest itself in medieval Europe? Kenneth R. Stow, Alienated Minority: The Jews of Medieval Latin Europe; Mark R. Cohen, Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages; Solomon Grayzel, The Church and the Jews in the Thirteenth Century 3. What was the position of prostitutes in medieval society? Ruth Mazo Karras, Common Women; Leah Otis, Prostitution in Medieval Society; Margaret Wade Labarge, A Small Sound of the Trumpet: Women in Medieval Life 4. Why did the French choose to follow Joan of Arc during the the Hundred Years War? Kelly DeVries, Joan of Arc: A Military Leader; Bonnie Wheeler, ed., Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc; Margaret Wade Labarge, A Small Sound of the Trumpet: Women in Medieval Life 5. Discuss the significance of siege warfare during the crusades. You may narrow this question down to a single crusade if you wish. Jim Bradbury, The Medieval Siege; Randall Rogers, Latin Siege Warfare in the Twelfth Century; John France, Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade 6. Why did the persecution of heretics increase during the high and later Middle Ages? You may focus on the persecution of ...
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...Moore, Paul History 109 (World Civilization) 08 September 2013 Professor Karl Golemo The rise of Christianity during the middle ages is part with the collapse of Rome. The mighty empire had fallen in the western part of the territory and this left the Christian churches as a source of political, social and cultural unity. The church for Christians found itself to be in a particularly strong position when it came to the nobility of the feudal system that was still in place. With the Roman Empire pretty much in shambles the Christians had the perfect model government to format a new judicial and administrative model after. And let’s be honest during the Middle Ages only the rich or clergy had access to reading and writing so with small lordships or local kings trying to hold on to what authority they thought they had the Church walked in or was handed the keys to the car and started moving towards a centralized control of politics. And like most ordeals when it comes to power and being in control of everything a monopoly starts and no one knows how to stop it. When an organization has claim on your going to heaven or hell along with how you should conduct yourself here in the present that is truly a lot of power which most did not defy. In one case the church had made requests for followers to commit themselves on Crusades of protecting the Holy land of Jerusalem and doing what is right in the sight of God. But with doing what right in God’s eye may be working together that...
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