Black Plague Cultural Effects

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The Black Plague made a large impact on history, and as said in an article titled Cultural and Economic Effects of The Black Plague, “The Black Death had several consequences including cultural, religious and economic influences.” The most obvious effect of the Black Plague was the immense amount of death it caused. As said in the book Patterns of World History, “It has been estimated that England alone may have lost nearly 1 million from a total population of around 4 million” (Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 334). This text further elucidates that “A reasonable estimate of the number of people who died throughout Europe as a result of the first wave of the plague puts the total loss at about one-third of the entire population” (Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow …show more content…
Jewish people also suffered thanks to the plague, as many blamed them for it, accusing them of poisoning the water. As said by writer Heather Whipps, this is likely “…because their mortality rates were often significantly lower, something historians have since attributed to better hygiene.” Thanks in part to the coinciding Hundred Years’ War, the economy suffered greatly during the time of the Black Plague. Inflation had become rampant thanks to decreased treasuries from war, and trade greatly decreased between towns. There was also a large shortage of farm workers, thanks to both the countless deaths, and to farmers who stopped planting crops, as they thought they would simply die anyway. This shortage only added to the levels of inflation, and caused famine and food shortage to become much more regular. The Black Plague was a catastrophe of massive proportion, and it affected European society greatly; however, it was not the only hardship France and England would have to face, as there would soon be a new issue in the