Before Europe was struck by the Black Plague, the majority of European countries were run using two systems, one political and one economic, referred to as the feudal system and the manorial system respectively. Under these systems, nobles built castles to serve as defenses and gave pieces of land called fiefs to knights as a form of payment for their services and protection, as the rich were in desperate need of warriors to defend them after a series of invasions left them unable to depend on their respective king’s army. Although the feudal system may have been effective, at times it could become excessively complex, as vassals, those who accepted fiefs from lords, could be in the service of multiple lords at once; not only could vassals
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It was not uncommon for people to act standoffish and abandon their families and friends for fear of catching the disease themselves, and due to this, empty houses and manors abounded. Due to the deaths of nobles and lords, various expensive items were left without owners, and wealth was redistributed or passed on to others, leading to the poor sometimes finding themselves with an astonishingly larger amount of wealth than ever before. The economy suffered greatly, due to a lull in trade, and businesses often closed early, if not permanently. Although the majority of industries and merchants suffered, herb sellers, pharmacists, and those who removed bodies from homes found themselves with shocking amounts of business due to the extremely high mortality rate of the Black Plague. Because of the rapid pace at which the disease killed and was transmitted, many people began to think that the Black Plague was a form of divine retribution, and thus took to harming themselves or using witchcraft in a desperate attempt to ward off the disease. This religious standpoint would also have an extremely important effect on the growth of Europe after the Black Plague passed, as people would begin to refute religion upon the idea that God would not allow such a tragedy to
It was not uncommon for people to act standoffish and abandon their families and friends for fear of catching the disease themselves, and due to this, empty houses and manors abounded. Due to the deaths of nobles and lords, various expensive items were left without owners, and wealth was redistributed or passed on to others, leading to the poor sometimes finding themselves with an astonishingly larger amount of wealth than ever before. The economy suffered greatly, due to a lull in trade, and businesses often closed early, if not permanently. Although the majority of industries and merchants suffered, herb sellers, pharmacists, and those who removed bodies from homes found themselves with shocking amounts of business due to the extremely high mortality rate of the Black Plague. Because of the rapid pace at which the disease killed and was transmitted, many people began to think that the Black Plague was a form of divine retribution, and thus took to harming themselves or using witchcraft in a desperate attempt to ward off the disease. This religious standpoint would also have an extremely important effect on the growth of Europe after the Black Plague passed, as people would begin to refute religion upon the idea that God would not allow such a tragedy to