The Black Death which swept through Europe in 1347, and extended until 1351, had devastating effects on the people living in Europe at the time, yet it was crucial to European society 's advancement. The Black Death, caused by the bacteria; Yersinia Pestis, lived in fleas and was transmitted to humans via rats. The plague originated in China where there had been previous small-scale outbreaks and traveled to Europe through trade routes such as the Silk Road. Despite the loss of life and suffering that the plague caused, the outcomes of the plague were overwhelmingly positive in that the loss of church power allowed different ideas to form. People also began to adopt science instead of blindly accepting religion 's explanation. Another outcome
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Before the plague arrived, peasants had baths only once or twice a year. Only wealthy people, with servants to heat and carry water from the kitchen stove to the bathtub, could bathe more frequently. The medieval world was an environment in which disease could thrive. There were no garbage collections or sewerage systems and people threw their human waste and rubbish into the streets. As described nina extract from King Edward III 's letter to the mayor of London:"The streets and lanes through which people had to pass were foul with human faeces and the air of the city was poisoned to the great danger of men passing, especially in this time of infectious disease." (1349, complaining about the conditions of the city 's streets). Before the plague there was no knowledge of germs and during the Black Death. People were treated with bizarre unscientific remedies such as using nice scents to cure people. Following the disaster of the plague, people looked to more practical medicine, based less in abstract theory and more in experience. The Black Death thus accelerated a shift in medicine toward its more practical elements and “helped to introduce something of the scientific spirit in so far as they were supported by the observations and experience of the advocates" (Campbell, The Black Death and Men of Learning, 33.) Robert Gottfried also argued in his work, The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe, that "The Black Death led to sweeping changes in the course of medical practice, ultimately leading to the beginnings of modern medicine These developments – the rise of surgery, the transformation of the role of hospitals, the rise in standards of public health, and the development of deontology – were all part of the professionalisation of medicine." As shown in above examples, the Black Death resulted in the formation of
Before the plague arrived, peasants had baths only once or twice a year. Only wealthy people, with servants to heat and carry water from the kitchen stove to the bathtub, could bathe more frequently. The medieval world was an environment in which disease could thrive. There were no garbage collections or sewerage systems and people threw their human waste and rubbish into the streets. As described nina extract from King Edward III 's letter to the mayor of London:"The streets and lanes through which people had to pass were foul with human faeces and the air of the city was poisoned to the great danger of men passing, especially in this time of infectious disease." (1349, complaining about the conditions of the city 's streets). Before the plague there was no knowledge of germs and during the Black Death. People were treated with bizarre unscientific remedies such as using nice scents to cure people. Following the disaster of the plague, people looked to more practical medicine, based less in abstract theory and more in experience. The Black Death thus accelerated a shift in medicine toward its more practical elements and “helped to introduce something of the scientific spirit in so far as they were supported by the observations and experience of the advocates" (Campbell, The Black Death and Men of Learning, 33.) Robert Gottfried also argued in his work, The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe, that "The Black Death led to sweeping changes in the course of medical practice, ultimately leading to the beginnings of modern medicine These developments – the rise of surgery, the transformation of the role of hospitals, the rise in standards of public health, and the development of deontology – were all part of the professionalisation of medicine." As shown in above examples, the Black Death resulted in the formation of