The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe :: European Europe History

The Effects of The Black devastation on the Economic and Social Life of atomic number 63The Black death is the name later given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The disaster abnormal all aspects of life. Depopulation and shortage of travail hastened changes already inherent in the rural economy the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Psychological morbidity affected the arts in religion, the lack of educated personnel among the clergy gravely cut down the intellectual vigor of the church.In less than four years the infirmity carved a path of death through Asia, Italy, France, North Africa, Spain and Normandy, make its way over the Alps into Switzer worldly concern, and continued eastward into Hungary (Microsoft Bookshelf, page 1). after(prenominal) a brief respite, the plague resumed, crossing the channel into England, Scotland, and Ireland, and last make its way into the no rthern countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and even as far north as Greenland. In other words, the plague touched almost the entire cognise world.So much death could not help but rake economic and social structures apart. Lack of peasants and laborers sent wages soaring, and the value of land plummeted. For the first time in history the scales tipped against wealthy landlords as peasants and serfs gained more bargaining power. Without architects, masons and artisans, great cathedrals and castles remained unfinished for hundreds of years. Governments, lacking officials, floundered in their attempts to work order out of chaos. The living lost all sense of ethics and justice, and a new attitude toward the church emerged. Medieval people could become no Divine reason for the four-year nightmare, and dissatisfaction with the church gave impetus to reform movements that eventually broke apart the unity of the Catholic perform.The plague itself was disastrous enough, speci ally in the appearance of more than one form during the same epidemic. simply coming when it did was as catastrophic as its form. The middle 14th ascorbic acid was not a good time for Europe. The European economy was already in difficulties. It was approaching the limits of expansion, both on its frontiers and in reclaiming land from woodwind and swamp. The arrival of the Mongols and the Ottomans had disrupted trade routes, and certain areas of Europe were edging into depression. The Church was in poor shape as well. The popes resided at Avignon, not at Rome, to the scandal of many.