The plague: One of the worst diseases that shook the Europe
Yujin Lee
I think everybody has experienced some kind of diseases, for instance, cold or flu. Although we may suffer for a few days when we get such diseases, with fine care and medicine, we will recover gradually. The diseases are not very fatal and we can get adequate cure if we need. However, back to 14th century, a disease which struck the Europe was both deadly and cureless; it is called the plague. This disease is also known as the Black Death and was highly contagious. The plague is considered as one of the worst diseases which killed almost one third of the European population and this led series of significant changes in the religious, social, economic aspects of the Europe society.
First, in the religious aspect, since the Catholic Church failed to provide solutions or comforts, the plague resulted in decrease of church's influence over people. It is quite recent that some possible scientific causes of the disease are suggested and still there are many controversies. Needlessly to say, scientific approaches to define exact cause of the plague rarely existed back in 14th century; even though there were a few theories, they were hardly helpful to stop the disease. The predominant explanation of the plague was that it is a form of god's punishment to sinful mankind. To avoid the disease, people believed they have to repent their sins in front of priests. However, the priests also were not free from the plague and a large number of them were killed like the others. Surely, people could not rely on and get comforts from them. Consequently, a lot of superstitions other than Christianity were formed instead and the church's power over people diminished.
In the economic aspect, because of the decrease in labor force, the feudalism broke down and technology to displace labor force was developed. In the middle ages, the main social structure of Europe was feudalism which is based on agricultural economy. In agriculture, the labor force plays a crucial role. However, since an enormous number of people were killed by the plague, the value of the labor force increased and the wage level soared. As consequence, the serfs were not easily available like the time before. This resulted in the decline of the feudalism. Also, due to the shortage of the manpower, the demands for technology in industry came up; this has something to do with the inventions of the printing press or mill.
Next, in the social aspect, because of the short life expectancy, the pessimism and the hedonism spread. At this period of time, the average life expectancy in Europe was extremely short; in the case of Britain, it was around 17 when the plague was at its peak. Unlike today, death was common and a part of everyday life. Because of this instability, the general atmosphere of society that affected the culture was very gloomy. Death was often depicted in the arts, as the pessimism prevailed. Meanwhile, people also had tendency to pursue pleasure or enjoyment rather than stick to the restrained lifestyle encouraged by Catholic Church. This lessened influence of church on people's lifestyle, later helped to enter the Renaissance period.
Without doubt, the plague was one of the biggest disasters. It is estimated that nearly 25-million people were killed by the plague in only five years (1347-1352). There was immense impact on society which led significant changes throughout European countries; in summary, first, in religious aspect, the authority of Catholic Church declined since it failed to provide solutions or comforts. And, in economic aspect, decrease in labor force resulted in the downfall of feudalism as well as the development of technology in industry. Also in the social aspect, shortened life expectancy led to the pessimism and hedonism which later also influenced the Renaissance. From these results that the plague brought, the disease is called as the worst massive killer; but, at the same time, it is also evaluated as a key factor which led Europe society to enter the modern times.
The plague: One of the worst diseases that shook the Europe
ReplyDeleteSecond draft
Yujin Lee
I think everybody has experienced some kind of diseases such as cold or flu. Although we may suffer for a few days when we get such diseases, we will recover gradually with fine care and medicine. The diseases are not very fatal and we can get adequate cure if we need. However, back to 14th century, a disease which struck the Europe was both deadly and cureless; it is called the plague. The plague is considered as one of the worst diseases which killed almost one third of the European population and this led to series of significant changes in the religious, social and economic aspects of the Europe society.
First, in the religious aspect, since the Catholic Church failed to provide solutions or comforts, the plague resulted in decrease of church's influence over people. It is quite recent that some possible scientific explanations of the disease are suggested and still there are many controversies. Needlessly to say, scientific approaches to define exact cause of the plague rarely existed back in 14th century; even though there were a few theories, they were hardly helpful to stop the disease. The predominant explanation of the plague was that it is a form of god's punishment to sinful mankind. To avoid the disease, people believed they have to repent their sins in front of priests. However, the priests also were not free from the plague and a large number of them were killed like the others. Surely, people could not rely on and get comforts from them. Consequently, a lot of superstitions other than Christianity were formed instead and the church's power over people diminished.
In the economic aspect, because of the decrease in labor force, the feudalism broke down and technologies to displace labor force were developed. In the middle ages, the main social structure of Europe was feudalism which is based on agricultural economy. In agriculture, labor force plays a crucial role. However, since an enormous number of people were killed by the plague, the value of the labor force increased as well as the wage level. As a consequence, the serfs were not easily available like the time before. This resulted in the decline of the feudalism. Also, due to the shortage of the manpower, the demands for better technology in industry came up; this has something to do with the invention of the printing press or mill.
(The second part)
ReplyDeleteNext, in the social aspect, because of the short life expectancy, the pessimism and the hedonism spread. At this period of time, the average life expectancy in Europe was extremely short; in the case of Britain, it was around 17 when the plague was at its peak. Unlike today, death was common and a part of everyday life. Because of this instability, the general atmosphere of society that affected the culture was very gloomy. Death was often depicted in the arts, as the pessimism prevailed. Meanwhile, people also had tendency to pursue pleasure or enjoyment rather than stick to the restrained lifestyle encouraged by Catholic Church. This lessened influence of church on people's lifestyle, later helped to enter the Renaissance period.
Without doubt, the plague was one of the biggest disasters. It is estimated that nearly 25-million people were killed by the plague in only five years (1347-1352). There was immense impact on society which led to significant changes throughout European countries; in summary, first, in religious aspect, the authority of Catholic Church declined since it failed to provide solutions or comforts for people. And, in economic aspect, decrease in labor force resulted in the downfall of feudalism as well as the development of technology in industry. Also in the social aspect, shortened life expectancy led people to have the pessimism and hedonism which later also influenced the Renaissance. The plague is called as the worst massive killer; however, at the same time, it is also evaluated as a key factor which led Europe society to enter the modern times from these results that the disease brought.
Assignment 4
ReplyDeleteThe plague: One of the worst killers that shook the Europe
Final draft
Yujin Lee
The plague is considered as one of the worst diseases which killed almost one third of the European population. When we catch a disease such as a cold or flu even though we may suffer for a few days, we will recover gradually with proper care and medicine. The diseases are not fatal and we can get a medicine from hospitals if we need. However, back to 14th century, a disease which struck the Europe was both deadly and cureless; it is called the plague. The plague caused an enormous number of deaths and led to series of significant changes in the religious, social and economic aspects of the Europe society.
First, in the religious aspect, because the Catholic Church failed to provide solutions or comforts, the plague resulted in decrease of church's influence over people. It is quite recent that some possible scientific explanations of the disease instead of religious explanations are suggested and still there are many controversies. Needlessly to say, scientific approaches to define exact cause of the plague rarely existed back in 14th century; even though there were a few theories, they were hardly ever helpful to stop the disease. The predominant religious explanation of the plague was that it is a form of god's punishment to sinful mankind. To avoid the disease, people believed they have to repent their sins in front of priests. However, the priests also were not free from the plague and a large number of them were killed like the others. Surely, people could not rely on and get comforts from them. Consequently, the church's power over people diminished and they started to look for other forms of solutions instead of Christianity such as superstitions.
In the economic aspect, because of the decrease in labor force, the feudalism declined and the demand for better technologies to replace labor force increased. In the middle ages, the main social structure of Europe was feudalism which is based on agricultural economy. In agriculture, labor force plays a crucial role. However, because an enormous number of people were killed by the plague, the value of the labor force increased as well as the wage level. As a consequence, the serfs were not easily available like the time before. This resulted in the decline of the feudalism. Also, due to the shortage of the manpower, the demands for better technology in industry grew; one example is a new form of mechanical mill developed in the middle of 14th century in Milano and it is said that only one young man’s power could operate this mill.
(The second part of the final draft)
ReplyDeleteNext, in the social aspect, because of the short life expectancy, the pessimism and the hedonism spread. At this period of time, the average life expectancy in Europe was extremely short; in the case of Britain, it was around 17 when the plague was at its peak. Unlike today, death was much more common and a part of everyday life. Because of this instability, the general atmosphere of society that affected the culture was very gloomy. Death was often depicted in the arts, as the pessimism prevailed. One of the well-known arts which represents this social atmosphere is ‘Danse Macabre: the dance of death’ which illustrated dancing skeletons. Meanwhile, people also had tendency to pursue pleasure or enjoyment rather than stick to the restrained lifestyle encouraged by Catholic Church. This lessened influence of church on people's lifestyle, later helped to enter the Renaissance period.
Without doubt, the plague was one of the biggest disasters. It is estimated that nearly 25million people were killed by the plague in only five years (1347-1352). There was immense impact on society which led to significant changes throughout European countries; in summary, first, in religious aspect, the authority of Catholic Church declined since it failed to provide solutions or comforts to people. And, in economic aspect, decrease in labor force resulted in the downfall of feudalism as well as the increase of demands for better technology in industry. Also for a social aspect, shortened life expectancy led people to have the pessimism and hedonism which later also influenced the Renaissance. The plague is considered as the worst massive killer; however, at the same time, it is also considered as a key factor which led Europe society to enter the modern times from these results that the disease brought.