The Bubonic Plague (Black Death)

The pandemic of the bubonic plague swept across Europe in 1347 and spread to England in 1348. It is known today as the Black Death. During these years, the plague affected the lives of people all across England and killed over half of England’s population. It’s impact was enormous, not only because of the rapid decrease in the population but because of the pessimism, fear and suspicion. “Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria, Yersinia pestis. Primarily carried by rodents (most notably rats) and spread to humans via fleas” – Wikipedia The plague caused a huge decline in England’s population.
It killed over 5 million people (70% of the population) Some of the first symptoms were vomiting, giddiness, headaches, shivering, tongue turns white, and intolerance to light. Some of the later symptoms are pains in the joints, breaking blood vessels, internal bleeding, and skin turning black (the result of the dried blood from internal bleeding) During the plague peasants left their jobs because they were afraid they would get the Black Death and die. Many also left for other villages to find new jobs, better wages and conditions.
Since there wasn’t many farmers to make food, the price of food went up during the plague. There were not enough people to look after animals and crops, so they died too. Some people in urban areas died, not from Bubonic Plague but from starvation. Some villages became completely abandoned because of the villagers evacuating. Because of the Black Plague villages faced starvation. Town and cities faced food shortages as the villages that surrounded them could not provide them with enough food. A big consequence of the Black Death was inflation – the price of food went up creating more labour for the poor.

In some parts of England, food prices went up by four times. Many Lords were short of desperately needed labour for the land that they owned. After the Black Death, Lords encouraged peasant to leave their villages and come work for them. When peasants did this, the Lord refused to let them return to their original village. The peasants started demanding higher wages as they knew that the Lord was desperate to get his harvest. The Black Death brought great depression that was felt through out England and affected the lives of millions, it is one of the most lethal disease out breaks in history.