Black Death In English Society

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The Black Death Sean Kelly HIS 103 Mr. Durr The Black Death and English Society The Black Death resulted not only in the widespread panic and death that we usually associate with it, but it also created tremendous changes in English society. This was especially noticeable among the peasantry not just because it caused widespread starvation and a massive disruption in agriculture, but also because it changed the entire medieval economy resulting in higher wages despite government edicts and regulations meant to prevent such. The Black Death is a phrase, and name, that brings to mind pain, panic, human suffering, and death. It raced across Europe killing thousands if not millions. It crossed all age and affluence boundaries it…show more content…
Many animals also died from lack of care when the owners left or died of the disease, sheep and cattle roamed about, wandering in fields and through the growing harvest, and there was no one to drive them off or collect them; but in ditches and thickets they die in innumerable quantities in every part, for lack of guardians; for so great a dearth of servants and labourers existed that no one knew what to do. As there was no one to remove the sick or dead animals from the herd, diseases would have run rampant killing as much as the plague killed humans (Gasquet, 1908, pp. 163). Both of these things together, the loss of crops and cattle, eventually led to an increase in malnutrition and starvation on a large scale. Starvation is not where it stops though. The starvation and high death toll had a major impact on the economy as well. As the population dwindled there were more jobs and demands for skilled labor, and unskilled labor, than people to do…show more content…
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