Essay on the Impact of the Black Death on Society

The Black Death, one of the most catastrophic global epidemics in history. It came and went for centuries but the 14th-century outbreak was one of the worst. It killed millions of people and wiped out over 30%-60% of Europe's population at the time, this was bound to have a major influence on medieval life. Two of the main impacts were the changes in how people lived their life and the feudal system.  

The impact of the Black Death on medieval society is evident in sources 1,2 and 3. Source 1 is written between the years of 1348 and 1351 in Siena, Italy by Agnolo di Tura giving a firsthand account of what was happening. It states that no one could be found to bury the dead and that in someplace there was such a massive dying rate that they would dig great pits and pile bodies in them to keep them off the streets. It also explains what the living conditions were like and emphasized how filthy the streets were and how there were dead bodies covered with dirt and animals playing and eating them. The impact is also demonstrated in source 2 written by the Italian Poet Boccaccio in 1351. The streets that once would have been full of people are now illustrated as deserted, families abandoned each other, and parents refused to nurse their sick children. This source shows the fear that the people were facing, making them too afraid to even go near family whom they lived with. The thought of catching this sickness after watching people around them fall ill and die a very painful death would have terrified them. Parents abandoned their children because they feared catching the disease which was almost unheard of as stated in source 2 explaining what life was like. The Black Death was wiping out thousands of people wherever it went, many would have been afraid they might become one of them. Most of Europe’s population was Catholic causing many to think that the sickness was caused by the Jews and that torturing and burning them would stop the spread. This is presented in source 3, The burning of the Jews was painted in 1493, Germany by the painter Michael Wolgemut. However, this painting was painted 142 years after therefore it is not an eye-witness account and was painted to explain what happened during the black death in the Christan world. 

The Black Death impacted society but the feudal system that everyone followed too. The church was under the monarch in the social order/feudal system making it an important factor of medieval life. The black death caused many to lose faith which led them to rebel against the church’s rules. One of many rules was to not look further into the human body and medicine. Source 4, Dissection painted in the 15th hundreds by Barthelemy I’Anglais demonstrates the desire of doctors wanting to find out more about the human body. Doctors carrying out human dissections help improve the knowledge of human anatomy, but it negatively impacted the church, as they were going against one of the churches top rules. After the Black Death there was a large decrease in the population, people from all levels of the social hierarchy got sick with the plague and died. Meaning there were fewer people to work because of this, peasants could ask for higher pay and women had a wider choice of job opportunities as stated in source 5, which talks about the changes in the feudal system. Consequently, the feudal economy was starting to change. Landowners now were required to offer a range of extras for example free food, bonus payments and clothing to attract and keep employees. Peasants were now able to rise in the social order. Source 5 was written by Anderson, Keese and Lowe in Brisbane, Australia and was written 659 years after. 

In Conclusion, the Black Death had a major impact on medieval society and the feudal system. The Black Death impacted medieval life in such a massive way that it would have been unlikely to return to the way of life before the outbreak, as presented above they were unable to due to the loss of most of the population.