History

br Unexpected Benefits of the Black Plague for the Survivors in Medieval Europe In the fourteenth century , the face of Europe was forever changed by a devastating event known as the Black Plague . This plague would rear its ugly head time and again throughout Europe in lesser outbreaks right up through the eighteenth century , when it finally disappeared from the continent for good . However , its initial appearance happened in the fourteenth century , and this debut performance was its most dramatic and destructive . Called the great mortality ' by contemporary 1 , for the

great number of people killed in the outbreak , the term black plague ' or black death ' became more commonly used later on as more outbreaks hit the European continent . Carried by fleas on rats , the Black Plague is now commonly thought to be bubonic plague , a disease characterized by sub-dermal hemorrhages that blacken the skin it is highly contagious and has a high mortality rate . It is thought that Black Plague first entered Europe from Asia , along the silk roads that merchants used to travel between the continents for the purposes of trade .4

1Boccaccio , Giovani . The Decameron . Signet Classics : New York . 2002 (reissue

4Kelly , John . The Great Mortality : An Intimate History of the Black Death , the Most

Devastating Plague of All Time . Harper Collins : New York . 2005

When the Black Plague first hit Europe , the conditions

in Europe were ripe for a devastating outbreak . Warfare and

a widespread famine that lasted nearly a century had weakened the population of Europe to the point that the people were extremely vulnerable to disease . Famine also hurt productivity by weakening workers , thus further reducing the output of food and other necessary goods it was an ugly , self-perpetuating cycle . In a population already suffering and on the brink of disaster , the Black Plague , which first made its European appearance in 1347 , was a final push toward a dramatic re-alignment of society . Over one-third of the population of Europe was killed by the Black Plague (and over half the population in Britain It wiped out entire families , and even entire communities . When it was over , the stunned and decimated population had to face a virtual rebuilding of their entire society from scratch . However , as devastating as the Black Plague was on the inhabitants of Europe , and as hard as things were on the survivors , the Black Plague did have some unexpected benefits for the survivors and their descendants , benefits that would improve the overall quality of life for everyone in Europe peasants included , for generations to come

One of the most immediate benefits to survivors of the Black Plague was an increase in wages . Before the population was decimated by the Black Plague , Europe had been drastically overpopulated for its resources resulting in widespread poverty , especially among the peasants . After the Black Plague , however , labor came at a premium , due to the reduction in the population . There were not nearly as many people available to do much-needed work , and therefore those who were available to...