What was the impact of the Black Death?
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Michelle Cao10FZK Essay question: What was the impact of the Black Death?The Black Death had a big impact in both short and long term effects such as the disastrous death toll. The revolutionary impact on the peasants influenced all long term effects such as living conditions, education and trading opportunities. The Black Death destroyed feudalism, which lead to the Renaissance. The tragic short term effect of the Black Death was an incredibly high death toll. The death toll wiped out many peasants which meant there weren’t enough to do labour work. The peasants’ mindset changed as they realized their value, freedom and their newly raised position in the social hierarchy. As a result, they can ask for an increase in pay from the landowners or move out of town to get more money for the same amount of labour. Since there weren’t as many people and the landowners couldn’t farm their land themselves or didn’t have enough money to hire a lot of peasants, there was a surplus of land that the peasants could buy. Many more peasants paid for land in
cash instead of working. Money also meant houses were gradually becoming stronger, weatherproof, safe and comfortable. The development of commutation and an increase of money as well as land as a result of the Black Death also lead to other opportunities. One of these opportunities is animal farming which became very popular mainly with sheep and cattle. The land that was previously used to grow crops was then turned into grazing fields. There are many advantages to this; there’s meat introduced into the diet so it’s healthier, there’s wool for the winter and it’s easier than manual labour. Archaeologists have ...
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cash instead of working. Money also meant houses were gradually becoming stronger, weatherproof, safe and comfortable. The development of commutation and an increase of money as well as land as a result of the Black Death also lead to other opportunities. One of these opportunities is animal farming which became very popular mainly with sheep and cattle. The land that was previously used to grow crops was then turned into grazing fields. There are many advantages to this; there’s meat introduced into the diet so it’s healthier, there’s wool for the winter and it’s easier than manual labour. Archaeologists have found many articles made from animal bones from the middle ages in villages. Finds from Wharram Percy, a village in Yorkshire, were from sheep and cattle. The meat from these animals have different nutrients that are beneficial to the human body, thus providing the peasants with a healthier and varied diet, leading to long life expectancies. A source shows that as the years go by, the intake of meat and beer has been built up which not only shows the effect of animal farming but the more joyous life they lead with money to spend on beer and things to celebrate. The longer life expectancy leads to increased fertility because women are healthier and have more time to have children. Those children are then able to have a better education because of the money as well as moving into a town. As a result of better education, children no longer have to follow in their parents’ footsteps with farming. Also, technology develops as printing is introduced to England and increases literacy. Increased literacy also means increased scientific knowledge as people begin to read and understand the concepts. Some may become less religious and question the church as they learn more science which explains the unknown much more logically and rationally, although the majority of the people were still religious it was the beginning of the reformation of the church. Class begins to emerge as the more educated or intelligent get better jobs and more money. Trading opportunities came about, along with markets and fairs. The improved education and increased population created a division of labour – not everyone had to be farmers. There were jewelers, fishermen, blacksmiths, artists, carvers and so on. A fair was held in a town once or twice a year to promote these along with entertainers. Local people were given the opportunity to sell their goods to foreigners who were looking to spend money. Markets were similar in the selling aspect; however they were much more frequent and much less elaborate. They were held each week to sell food and household goods: many people could afford these items because of the money as a result from the Black Death, they can also expand their diet with different fruits and vegetables. Trade for art was also in high demand now that educated people started to appreciate it more and show interest, also the desire for luxuries could be afforded. An example would be the development of wool and cloth in England. In the beginning, English exported raw wool which would be turned into cloth in the Netherlands; English merchants would then buy them again and sell them back in England. However, in the 15th century it changed drastically as English merchants used the wool themselves to make cloth, so cloth was exported instead. People started to get employed for jobs such as weaving and dying as appearance in clothing was getting more and more attention. Also, peasants at home could spin or weave wool to add to their income. These merchants became incredibly rich, adding to the class already forming. Through this example, income/trade opportunities, creative thinking and local businesses are emphasized. Trading, markets and fairs portray how money has brought in class and developments. These developments are all long term impacts from the Black Death. The Black Death had a horrendous short term impact in terms of the death rate and grief it caused but however, the long term impacts of money, living conditions, education, health and trade developed society immensely. Although the massive amount of deaths that occurred is horrific, the big developments in society were thanks to the Black Death.
