The Plague In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

Nowadays, it is often thought that only war and a nuclear disaster could cripple a continent but that is not always the case. A terrible illness has the potential to create as much damage as a war or a large scale catastrophe. Amongst the Medieval Age in England, a ghastly plague overtook Europe and forever changed the lives of those living there. The plague that was later named the Black Death or the bubonic plague almost destroyed not just England but all of Europe. It greatly reduced the population by millions and left Europe in complete chaos. The epidemic altered the mindset of the world and the view on life. It was a horrible burden that Europe was forced to bear. The Black Death had a significant impact on Europe because of the effect …show more content…
It was thought that awful smells would prevent the disease. Strange acts were performed in the hope of not contracting the illness. It was common for people to drink and bathe in urine and to have farm animals live in their homes to give off strong odors. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer explains some of the unusual behaviors that people performed to prevent the plague. The Black Death lasted until around 1351 and claimed the lives of approximately seventy five million people …show more content…
Since a large number of workers died from the plague, there was an inadequate amount of working hands to complete all the work that had to be done. To make up for the loss of workers, windmills and watermills were built in England, France, and the Netherlands. However, these advances could not keep up with the supply, so new technology had to be invented to save time. One of the biggest inventions of this time period was the printing press. William Caxton created the first printing press in England. It was used to take the place of the people, who used to hand write all