OH MY GOSH
...ilverman). The time frame between time of infection and death was less than one week. The disease stunned China then swept south and west to devastate any countries interrupting its path. It reached Eastern Europe and continued as far west as northern Africa. In Europe alone, over the short period of only five years between 1347 and 1352, the death toll was twenty-five million (Mike Dowling). The plague killed an average of two million victims a year at its worst. The Bubonic Plague spread a blanket of death over medieval countries, ending with a total of 137 million deaths (Steve Silverman). Page 2 Along with an extravagant number of deaths, the plague set off an upheaval among the economy and church. The death of a large portion of the work force effected those that remained living. Serious labor shortages occurred throughout Europe. This led workers to demand higher wages and better conditions, but landlords refused their requests. These denials eventually led to peasant revolts. As Europe gradually began to emerge from the “dark ages” of feudalism, the plague was a catalyst for that change. The strain on society helped bring down the strict social structure. This force, along with the emergence of a merchant class, enabled an economic mobility that was absent from the feudal system (Brody Burks). The plague took its toll on the church as well. People throughout the Christian kingdom had prayed for deliverance from the plague. Many did not understand why these prayers had not been answered. A period of philosophical questioning began within the church (Aaron Rice). As the plague effected the lives of the people infected by it, it damaged the lives of those who weren’t as well, by negatively impacting the economy and church. An eyewitness recounts the site of her town during the times of the Bubonic Plague: "Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them, the people quickly drove… from their city. But the disease remained, and soon death was everywhere. Fathers abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to come and make out wills for the dying. Friars and nuns were left to care for the sick, and monasteries and convents were soon deserted, as they were stricken, too. Bodies were left in empty houses, and there was no one to give them a Christian burial” (Aaron Rice). Although there were hardships to face, many people were able to survive the plague. It was indeed quite difficult, and sometimes was considered to be only by chance that one could avoid bein...