Social And Economic Consequences Of Black Death

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Social and economic consequences of Black Death
Black Death is among the most devastating pandemics in the history of humanity. This plague caused the death of many people estimated to be about 30-60% of the total population in Europe. Other people were forced to flee in a bid to avoid being infected. The significant reduction of population disrupted the social structure of the society at that time. Moreover, it reduced the available population to work on the vast agricultural land. This made the masters desperate, and they were forced to increase wages so that serfs could work on their land. It is these peasants who benefited most since they had an opportunity to work for many masters and earn better wages than before. Consequently, Black Death resulted in social and economic alterations of the medieval society where the peasants benefited most.
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
Black Death resulted in the significant reduction of population in Eurasia. This is because an estimated 75-200 million people had been killed, causing a reduction of about 45% in Europe. Individuals who were not affected abandoned their family and friends while others fled the cities to avoid being affected. There was isolation as people in the affected areas shut themselves from the outside world. As a result, work ceased to be done since the effects of the plague had overpowered the people. Accordingly, people performing funeral rites with little efforts and others completely ceased to do so (Ziegler). Additionally, most people subscribed to the maxim of eating, drinking and making merry since death could occur anytime. In this regard, they began perceiving death as a familiar situation that could occur at any point and victimize anyone. In response, some individuals increased their efforts in prayer as they perceived Black Death to be a punishment from God. Conversely, there was a decrease in faith in religion given that prayers made had failed to prevent the sickness or resulting death. Moreover, the decrease in faith was because most of the clergy had been victims of the disease and had died. Later on, an increase in the wages of peasants brought about financial distinctions. To overcome this, social distinctions sharpened as the noble class dressed extravagantly to differentiate themselves from the peasants. The increased wages of the peasants slightly empowered them such that they were able to revolt when there were attempts to resist changes c...