burden of death and disease. Europe had prospered readily for about 300 years prior to

the beginning of the 1300s, but a series of natural disasters occurred. Poor harvests and

famine were common and as the prosperous years came to a close, economies were in

recession at the onset of the Black Death. Europe, on a whole, would take a step

There have been plagues throughout recorded history, but none were of the

magnitude nor had the far reaching effects that the Black Plague had. Its namesake came

from symptomatic hemorrhages that turned black. Though most people associate the

Black Death with the middle ages, forms of the Bubonic Plague have been known in China

as early as 224 BC. The Black Death embarked on a journey as an epidemic in the Gobi

Desert in the 1320s. By 1400, China's population of 125 million had been reduced to 90

million. Southwest Asia and Europe followed suite with strikingly similar losses in their

population base. In 1347, the Kipchaks who were nomads from the Euro-Asian Steppe,

were thought to deliberately infect a European city with the disease. The Kipchaks had

and positive. Negative in meaning that the depiction of death became more morbid after

Starting in Sicily in 1347, it began a four year reign of terror traveling as far as

was referenced, but was not available. Undoubtedly, there were effects that were negative

what we recognize today. One of the most gruesome replications were the resurgence of

of centuries. A higher standard of living resulted for the lower class. Higher wages and a

four short years of history was immense. A plague of the proportions that struck Europe

Consequently, religious purity for the dying was hard to come by. This was not only a

ranged from the blaming of Jews who were thought to be ritually poisoning wells to the

Some topics in this essay:
Starting Sicily, Protestant Church, Clement VI, America Mortality, Flagellants Flagellants, English Parliament, Catholic Church, , Gothic Art, Publishing Company, black death, triumph death, medical knowledge, lower class,