Black death or what was referred to as the plague or bubonic plague, spread across Egypt and China, finding its way to Europe between 1346 and 1353. Europe was hit the hardest as it was just recovering from war and famine (Whipps, 2008). It was transferred to people from fleas that were hosted on rodents, most likely black rats that were transported on ships and lived near the water. When the fleas spread to humans, the virus affected the lymph nodes, usually causing death within three weeks (Benedictow, 2005). An estimated twenty-five to fifty million died from the disease.
People fled, thinking they could out run the disease, many leaving farms, jobs and families behind. Industry came to a halt and businesses ceased to exist as people either became ill or died. Trading came to a halt in areas near large ports as well as people were afraid the disease was spread through travel and shipping. Black Death most likely came to Europe through trade routes starting in China and through Central Asia to Europe (Whipps, 2008). However, some parts of Europe were less affected because they were not located near a trade port. Because there were fewer and fewer workers, the ones who could work were paid more money because healthy workers were in high demand.
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Serfs (people forced to work on land) were free to work for other masters and that gave them more flexibility to earn higher wages as they were considered a valuable commodity (Courie, 1972). Because land labor was at a high demand, landowners made living and working conditions better for laborers or risk having the land unattended (Whipps, 2008). This also meant peasants revolted and were empowered as the aristocracy had trouble adjusting to a new way of life after the plague and knew they did not hold the power they had before the plague (Courie, 1972).
Religions were also affected. Because so many priests died, some churches ceased to exist. In addition, people were distrustful of God and religion in general because the plague had killed so many people – young and old – and many thought it was some kind of curse. Because people did not have the knowledge or access to information, they looked for reasons why the disease existed. Jewish people were accused of poisoning the water, as the disease did not appear to impact that population as much. Researchers say this may have been due to better hygiene among Jewish populations (Whipps, 2008).
A more recent epidemic that had cultural and economic impact is AIDS. Because the virus initially targeted gay communities, there was an overall sense of mistrust associated with this population, as there had been among Jewish populations during the Black Death. There was also, initially, no known cure or preventative measures as physicians, and in this case, scientists, did not even know what it was or what was causing it. AIDS also became a high profile political and religious issue. Depending on one’s stance on homosexuality, people took sides on whether research dollars should be invested and if enough attention was being paid to helping those infected and taking preventative measures. (Whipps, 2008). The AIDS epidemic also impacted other groups, such as those who had received blood transfusions or were exchanging needles used for drugs.
There have been other epidemics that impacted society such as Typhus, Cholera, the Spanish Flue, Ebola, Tuberculosis and smallpox, but Black Death is noted as the first pandemic, cutting the world’s population in half over the course of less than a decade (The 10 Most Deadliest, 2012).
- Benedictow, O. (2005). The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever. History Today, 55(3). Retrieved from http://www.historytoday.com/ole-j-benedictow/black-death-greatest-catastrophe-ever
- Courie, L. (1972). The Black Death and Peasant’s Revolt. New York: Wayland Publishers. The 10 deadliest epidemics in history (2012). Healthcare Business and Technology. Retrieved from http://www.healthcarebusinesstech.com/the-10-deadliest- epidemics-in-history/
- Whipps, H. (2008). How the Black Death changed the world. Live Science. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/2497-black-death-changed-world.html
