Black Death

3 Pages 681 Words

Black Death was the biggest problem in the Middle Ages. The plague was, “The disease, carried by the fleas of infected rats, traveled the caravan routes from central Asia. It arrived in Messina, Sicily, aboard a merchant vessel in October 1347.” No one (peasant or aristocrat) was safe from the disease, and once it was contracted, a terrible and painful death was almost a certainty. Black Death, or the plague, killed indiscriminately without remorse or thought of consequences. The after effect of the Black Death were that it changed the way people felt about life, it also effected the social classes, and it caused the peasants to revolt.
Black Death changed the way people felt about life. People in Europe soon began to react and tried to explain why and where the plague came from. Many people who were ignorant believed that the plague was the vengeance of god upon a sinful world. “Preachers saw the plague as divine punishment for sin.” Yet, another group believed that the Jews were the immediate cause of the Black Death. The Jews were accused of poisoning the water supply . Europeans started loosing their faith, “Traditional bonds of kinship, village, and even religion were broken by the horrors of death, flight, and failed expectations.” The immediate effect of the plague on communities was devastating. Families and friends were set against each other. “Brothers abandoned brothers, wives deserted husbands, and terror-stricken parents refused to nurse their own children.” As a result, people turned against each other and started accusing each other of causing the illness.
The Black Death had affected each of the different social classes in Europe. . Property owners got richer in land and goods after their relatives had passed away. “One consequence of poverty was increased crime, which led to repressive measures and harsh punishments.” The social classes started rebelling with each other Churc...