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The Hundred Years War of 1453 A.D

The pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs, was transmitted directly from one infected person to
another. This terrible disease was nearly always fatal to anyone contracting it. It is hard to estimate the
overall number of deaths throughout Europe. They happened so fast that often the survivors could not
stay up with burying the dead. Bodies were loaded on carts and dumped in common graves outside the
town. Entire villages and towns were emptied. Some estimates indicate that as many as one-third of
Europe's population died and as diverse as 75 million people died worldwide. England lost one-third of
the population. These devastating losses disrupted the continent's social, economic, and religious
institutions. Europe was left in a decline from which it did not recover for 100 years. England did not
attempt to enhance the reputation by military and economic means, but rather focused the attention
on improving the deteriorating health of the general public caused by disease. Many people died of the

Black Death, making it impossible for England, in this state, to conquer surrounding nations or to
increase wealth for power. Wars could not be fought because many men were sick and dying with this
disease. In poor health, these men were unable to fight in battles, let alone win them. The wealth of the
country was also unable to increase because many of the victims of the Black Death were merchants.
Those merchants with this disease could not sell their goods and therefore could not make any profit in
order to pay taxes for their country. Europeans learned about other means of performing different

actions. The Hundred Years' War brought important developments. The use of two new weapons—the
longbow and the cannon—weakened feudalism. The English longbow was 5 or 6...