Over two hundred people died each day from 1348 to 1351 in London, leaving homes abandoned, livestock forgotten, and crops left to rot. The impact of the pandemic responsible has been accurately compared to that of the two world wars of the twentieth century. An event so powerful that it would be called one of the major turning points of western civilization. The greatest ecological upheaval, also known as the Black Death, has been studied for centuries, and still has no definite cause. One theory subjects the blame on rats that lived in trade ships that traveled all across the western hemisphere. When fleas sucked the blood from these infected rats, the disease could be easily transmitted into humans. The fleas would bite the humans, and within
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“With the population so low, there were not enough workers to work the land” (Ross Web). The middle class who owned farms found themselves having to overpay laborers due to the immensely increasing shortage of manual labor (Gottfried 61). This meant many crops were left to rot and went completely wasted. In 1349 in England “There was so marked a deficiency of laborers and workmen of every kind at this period that more than a third of the land in the whole realm was left idle” (Marks 86). Uprisings were another aspect of breakdown in London in the wake of the Black Death. Inflated prices “led to discontent in society and provoked uprisings all around the city and country side” (Herlihy 49). Not only did the Black Death cause immense amounts of death directly related to the disease, but also it also indirectly led to violent revolts due to economic …show more content…
Social order, normal everyday life, and people’s outlook on death was abandoned. The citizens of the city of London became very used to death as the plague progressed. “Daily life, such as it had became, was balanced by daily death” (Byrne 3). The sad fact that people started to become used to death and barely fazed by it shows how terrible of an effect it really had and the breakdown that occurred in society. Gaps in society also became even more prevalent than before due to the fear of contracting the plague. The poor either got poorer, or died; and the surviving rich got richer (Black Web). Another gap included the increasing split between the ill and the healthy. A witness – and maybe a victim later on down the road – relates to the gap by saying, “[Sick] relatives were cared for not otherwise than dogs. They threw them their food and drink by the bed, and then they (healthy family members) fled the household.” (Herlihy 62). Even family members were treating their spouses, sons, and parents as a stranger in the street. This shows the pure terror that the Black Death inflicted on
“With the population so low, there were not enough workers to work the land” (Ross Web). The middle class who owned farms found themselves having to overpay laborers due to the immensely increasing shortage of manual labor (Gottfried 61). This meant many crops were left to rot and went completely wasted. In 1349 in England “There was so marked a deficiency of laborers and workmen of every kind at this period that more than a third of the land in the whole realm was left idle” (Marks 86). Uprisings were another aspect of breakdown in London in the wake of the Black Death. Inflated prices “led to discontent in society and provoked uprisings all around the city and country side” (Herlihy 49). Not only did the Black Death cause immense amounts of death directly related to the disease, but also it also indirectly led to violent revolts due to economic …show more content…
Social order, normal everyday life, and people’s outlook on death was abandoned. The citizens of the city of London became very used to death as the plague progressed. “Daily life, such as it had became, was balanced by daily death” (Byrne 3). The sad fact that people started to become used to death and barely fazed by it shows how terrible of an effect it really had and the breakdown that occurred in society. Gaps in society also became even more prevalent than before due to the fear of contracting the plague. The poor either got poorer, or died; and the surviving rich got richer (Black Web). Another gap included the increasing split between the ill and the healthy. A witness – and maybe a victim later on down the road – relates to the gap by saying, “[Sick] relatives were cared for not otherwise than dogs. They threw them their food and drink by the bed, and then they (healthy family members) fled the household.” (Herlihy 62). Even family members were treating their spouses, sons, and parents as a stranger in the street. This shows the pure terror that the Black Death inflicted on