[[Writing]] # [[On The Plague]] > [!STAR]+ SUMMARY > 1. **Written as an essay in [[AP European History]].** > 2. > 3. The [[History]] of [[Europe]] is a nonstop, seemingly infinite series of horrific events, taking place one after another without relent to the people forced to endure them. With this in mind, few events were so influential, so feared, and had such an impact on [[Europe]], and the [[Earth|World]] as a whole, as the _[[Yersinia Pestis|Black Death]]_. The _[[Yersinia Pestis|Black Death]]_, also known as the _[[Yersinia Pestis|Black Plague]]_, was an extremely contagious and deadly [[Pandemic]] that took over [[Europe]] and [[Asia]] in the Fourteenth Century. The [[Disease]] was caused by the [[Bacteria]] _[[Yersinia Pestis]]_, which is still around in our world today, treatable as it may be. In stark contrast, Fourteenth Century [[Europe]] had no cure. As such, the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] swept through [[Europe]] with a ferocity never before seen, heavily relying on the abhorrent conditions in which [[Europe]]’s peasantry lived, and killing close to sixty percent of its [[Population]] alone, forever changing the continent, and by extension, the [[Earth|World]]. It would not be until decades after that [[Europe]] would see any tangible benefits of the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]], as revolutionary as they may have been. After the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] had begun ravaging [[Europe]], the continent was in search of a scapegoat to pin their misfortunes upon. As a result, when faced with no one to blame for the scourge hitting their lands and soil, the European populous turned to its most frequent scape-goat, the [[Judaism|Jews]]. For many, this meant simply citing and chastising local [[Judaism|Jewish]] citizens as the source of the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] itself. For others, it drove them to go so far as to kill as a means of exacting [[Revenge]]. Nonetheless, across the board, Europeans looked to old charges, claiming [[Judaism|Jews]] had poisoned wells and springs in an effort to both wipe out those who did not share their beliefs and claim the land and its wealth for themselves. By the time the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] had run its course, thousands of [[Judaism|Jews]] throughout [[Europe]] had been exiled, beaten, stripped of their land, and slaughtered. The [[Black Death]] caused a rise in [[Antisemitism]] and [[Religion|Religious]] [[Violence]] that had been relatively dormant before this period, while the [[Catholic Church]] was itself going through [[Crisis]] as the era of the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] saw the introduction of new [[Religion|Religious]] groups such as the [[Flagellants]], a group of highly devout [[Christianity|Christians]] who in an effort to correct the sins of [[Europe]], took to whipping themselves as a means of [[Penance]]. Overall, the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] era was marked in large part by its secularity, as both [[Religion|Religions]]’ followers began to doubt how any [[God]] could ever let such horrors upon His disciples. However, not everything related to the [[Yersinia Pestis|Black Death]] was as bad as it could be. After the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] had swept through [[Europe]], many [[Economics|Economic]] and [[Sociology|Sociological]] changes took hold, one of the most important being the introduction of new universities in the major cities of [[Europe]]. Examples of these universities include the historic scholarly centres of [[Prague]], [[Cracow]], and [[Vienna]]. Perhaps as a means to fill these new empty seats in [[Europe]]’s new-found Universities, the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] also brought large spikes in [[Population]] size after it had run its course. The [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] also caused an improvement in the [[Quality]] and [[Variety]] in crops after an extreme majority of [[Europe]]’s agricultural workers had been wiped out. This gave the working class lots of room for [[Negotiation]] of higher, more fair wages with their landowners, leading to a much more just [[System]] of [[Feudalism]] in [[Europe]]. From any angle you look at it, however, the [[Yersinia Pestis|Black Death]] was massively influential in the course of human [[History]]. After wiping out a vast majority of its citizens, the [[Yersinia Pestis|Plague]] almost immediately propelled [[Europe]] into a much more devout [[Society]], shifted the [[Population Distribution]] of the continent, and proceeded to lead the continent to a boom that would push it into the limelight as both the first true global superpower, and a [[Colonialism|Colonial]] force to be reckoned with. As far as European, as well as human [[History]], are considered, the Black Death was the early nemesis that had to be beaten in order to see [[Success]]. # Links - The companion to [[On The Hundred Years' War]]