The Black Death
The name “The Black Death” serves to promote an image of horror and death. The Black Death was a huge killer in the fourteenth century across Europe, parts of Africa, and parts of Asia . Population was being reduced by an alarming rate. The Black Death was no respecter of persons or titles. It took its toll on all walks of life from the common peasant to the highest lord. The people during this time tried to rid themselves of the plague in various ways such as quarantine, prayer to God, or self-mutilation to atone for sins. The self-mutilators or flagellants as they were previously known beaten themselves to try and receive forgiveness for their sins. They believed that their sins were what brought on the Black Plague and tried to rid themselves of it in this outrageous way. However, most of these flagellants probably ended up killing themselves because they weakened their bodies and immune systems. The flagellants’ deaths would result in other people believing that these self-mutilators had been guilty and that their deaths were judgment from God. People began to persecute Jews again because they believed the Jews were trying to kill off Christians. This belief caused the Jewish people to move around further from their homeland at Jerusalem
The positive side to the Black Death was that there were fewer “mouths to feed” in poor families and peasants did not have to work as hard to provide food for too many people. After this plague, many farmers decided that they would raise animals because of the better payment. Because of the rise in livestock, people ate more meat instead of the staple food that they had eaten during the medieval times. People now had better living standards as well and this caused an issue in the feudalist system. Commoners made more money and began buying things that originally only nobles could afford. The most fascinating thing about the Black Death is the fact that birthrates would leap a few years after each epidemic. The reason why this occurred is because working conditions had improved and, therefore, people made more money and could get married earlier than usual. The Black Death also killed many great teachers and scholars which called for drastic measures for the children’s education. Many nobles help fund universities to help educate the children left after the plague. In general, the lives of the people who survived the Black Death were much improved including healthier ways of life and better educations.
