Consequences of the Black Death in 14th-Century Europe

Introduction

If a series of nuclear strikes on the United States today killed more than 76,000,000 Americans, everyone would be horrified — but such a catastrophe would be comparable to the impact that the plague had on the nations of Europe during the 14th century, when the Black Death ravaged rich and poor alike. Sweeping into Europe from the steppes of Mongolia, the Black Death struck without warning, and to many observers of the era it seemed as though the end of the world was at hand — and for millions of Europeans, it was. Entire families died as a result of the Black Death; only a few families escaped its ravages entirely. Indeed, many people today may not fully appreciate the enormity of this event and its impact on the people of Europe during the 14th century. To help shed some light on this momentous historical event, this paper reviews relevant scholarly literature to determine how and where the Black Death began and what its consequences were in Europe. A summary of the research and important findings is presented in the conclusion.

Background and Origins of the Black Death

The 14th century witnessed a convergence of population densities, events, and technologies that contributed to the spread of the Black Death from Asia to Europe. Although its precise origins may never be known, most authorities agree that the Black Death originated in Asia and subsequently spread to the European continent and beyond. According to Swenson, "The origins of the Black Death were in Mongolia, where an increasingly inhospitable dry climate forced animal herders (whose animals had been infected by plague-ridden marmots) to go south, where they exposed migrating Mongol warriors to the disease" (2007, p. 59). While its precise origins remain unclear beyond these generalities, the people of the 14th century were unable to make the connection between the unseen world of bacteria and the plague that swept the countryside and devastated the European population. It would be several centuries before the cause of the Black Death was identified with any degree of specificity, and even today authorities disagree on what actually caused it.

Most of the authorities reviewed agree that the Black Death was caused by bubonic plague. Strocchia emphasizes that "the nature and causes of this devastating contagion, which killed one-third of the European population, remained a scientific mystery for centuries. With the discovery of the modern plague bacillus, Yersinia pestis, in 1894, the issue seemed resolved: the Black Death was the disease now known as bubonic plague" (2004, p. 543).

Not all authorities share this view, however. The hardy — and lucky — Europeans who were exposed to the plague and survived managed to acquire an immunity to the disease, which undoubtedly helped to eventually stem its spread. Strocchia notes that "unlike modern plague, the Black Death killed in household clusters, with humans exposed to the disease later developing immunity — a trait not seen in modern plague" (2004, p. 544). Likewise, McNeil argues that "histories of the Black Death and the epidemics which followed must be revised, for they have been attributed incorrectly to the Yersinia pestis bacillus and mislabeled 'bubonic.' Modern researchers — historians and medical writers alike — systematically ignored or misconstrued evidence, damaging our understanding of epidemic disease and perhaps even of the Renaissance itself" (2004, p. 312).

There were other discrepancies between the Black Death and what is known today about bubonic plague that cause some researchers to doubt the Yersinia pestis attribution. McNeil adds that "epidemics are defined by pathogens, but more especially by how they spread. Plague's 'universal' scope and terrible mortality were its main features, and it was called 'great' (later historians labeled it 'Black') because of its horrendous mortality. It was also distinguished by the speed at which it spread and by its extremely contagious nature" (2004, p. 312). Other scholars suggest the term "Black Death" itself likely arose from a mistranslation. Benedictow writes: "The disastrous mortal disease known as the Black Death spread across Europe in the years 1346–53. The frightening name, however, only came several centuries after its visitation (and was probably a mistranslation of the Latin word 'atra,' meaning both 'terrible' and 'black')" (2005, p. 42).

Superlatives abound in the literature concerning the Black Death, with most authorities citing plague as the cause. Marriott emphasizes that "no disease in recorded history has carried the totemic power of plague. No disease has erupted with such violence and with such brutal efficiency, nor remained so poorly understood for so long. It was plague that destroyed one-third of Europe's population during the Black Death of the Middle Ages" (2002, p. 42). Although the Black Death was a pandemic by any definition, McNeil and like-minded colleagues note that the type of plague that swept through Europe in the 14th century differed in important ways from documented cases of bubonic plague that occurred afterward. McNeil states that "none of these are features of modern rat-based bubonic plague, even in its pneumonic form" (2004, p. 312).

Spread Across Europe

Whatever its exact origins and cause, innovations in transportation and international commerce contributed to the rapid spread of the Black Death throughout the European continent and beyond. While the Silk Road provided one avenue of introduction, there were other, more direct means by which the disease reached Europe. Swenson notes that "as the Golden Horde expanded its influence throughout China and India, and eventually to Kaffa in the Black Sea region, the plague followed. Owing to recent developments in improving ship design and speed, the Genoese traders escaping from Kaffa spread it to Southern Europe when they reached Italian ports" (2007, p. 60). Chapman similarly reports that, "carried by infected fleas that infested black rats, clothing, bedding, or human body hair, the plague appeared first in Europe and the Middle East in ports. Then it progressed quickly along rivers and roads into towns and cities, progressing more slowly into rural areas inland" (2007, p. 5).

Even though the spread of the Black Death was slower in rural areas than in the overcrowded urban regions of Europe, its path was inexorable. The disease ultimately spread everywhere in the Western world over the course of the period from 1346 to 1353. Following its introduction from Asia, the Black Death spread rapidly from Genoa and other port cities to all points throughout Europe, eventually crossing the English Channel to affect Britain as well.

Europe was, in many respects, ripe for a pandemic of some kind during this period. Increases in population had continued to erode the standard of living for most people, and overcrowded conditions in urban areas made it easier for the plague to spread. According to Prestwich, "The Black Death of 1348–1349 saw a level of mortality unprecedented in the historical record. Population grew in the thirteenth century, reached a plateau in the early fourteenth century, and fell dramatically with the great epidemic that reached England in 1348" (2005, p. 529). While a reduction in population was the most immediate and apparent consequence of the Black Death, there were other significant impacts as well, discussed further below.

Conclusion

The research showed that the Black Death is the term applied to the plague that originated in Asia and swept through Europe during the 14th century, resulting in millions of deaths that may have reached as high as 60% of the population according to some estimates, though most authorities agree that roughly 25% of the population died as a result. Although most historians attribute the cause of the Black Death to the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis, modern researchers increasingly question this attribution and suggest that a number of anomalies between the symptoms and course of the Black Death indicate that other disease processes may have been involved.

The research also showed that, regardless of its precise origins or causes, the consequences of the Black Death were significant and far-reaching, affecting the status of less affluent members of society in general and women in particular in ways that would contribute to the revolutions of the 18th century. By providing women in Europe with new working opportunities and some degree of social mobility, women would no longer be content with the status quo — much as the millions of women who entered the workforce during World War II helped drive the women's rights movement of the 20th century.

The Black Death also fueled technological innovation, spurring the introduction of improved methods for accomplishing tasks that had previously been performed strictly by human labor, simply because there were fewer people available to do the work at the low wages offered before the pandemic. The plague also enabled poor people to acquire land and an improved standard of living. Notwithstanding these positive outcomes, it is reasonable to conclude that scarcely a family in Europe escaped the loss of life as a result of the Black Death, and in some cases entire families were wiped out because the disease tended to strike in household clusters.

In the final analysis, the Black Death has rightly been described as one of the most important turning points in world history — and perhaps the most significant single event in the Western world to date.

References

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Chapman, Anne. (2007). Coping with catastrophe: The Black Death of the 14th century. National Center for History in the Schools.

Gottlieb, Beatrice. (1994). The family in the Western world from the Black Death to the industrial age. Oxford University Press.

Levine, David. (2001). At the dawn of modernity: Biology, culture, and material life in Europe after the year 1000. University of California Press.

Marriott, Edward. (2002, September). Return of the Black Death. Geographical, 74(9), 42–43.

McNeil, David O. (2004). The Black Death transformed: Disease and culture in Early Renaissance Europe. Renaissance Quarterly, 57(1), 312–313.

Naphy, William, & Spicer, Andrew. (2000). The Black Death: A history of plagues. Tempus.

Platt, Colin. (1994). Medieval England: A social history and archaeology from the Conquest to 1600 A.D. Routledge.

Prestwich, Michael. (2005). Plantagenet England, 1225–1360. Clarendon Press.

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Swenson, David. (2007). Teaching the Black Death with systems thinking. Teaching History: A Journal of Methods, 32(2), 59–60.