Food Before The Plague example essay topic

The Bubonic Plague, was a natural form of population control. Before the plague, life in Europe was getting worse by the day. Europe was severely overpopulated and in a great economic depression. Most of the land that could be farmed on had been abused.

This made it difficult to grow food. Overpopulation is the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, and an impaired quality of life. There was a great rift between the social classes. The poor were treated very badly before the plague. The rich always managed to have enough food, while the poor didn't. After the plague, things changed.

The rich and the poor were both dying of this terrible disease. The social classes that survived the plague, rich and poor, had to come together and find new ways to survive. This left all social and economic aspects of life in the 13th and 14th century in Europe at a stand still killing 25% of Europe's population. The dwindling population stopped invading armies of the time.

For example, in 1346 a Tarter Army had been attacking the Genovese Cathedral City and trading ports of Caff a on the black sea for a year. The deadly plague hit the invaders and was killing off soldiers at an unstoppable rate. The only problem was that the invaders were catapulting the dead bodies over the walls of the defenders' towns, causing the spread of the plague to infect them. During all this confusion the church's leadership in the lives of the people weakened.

Before the arrival of the Black Death, the church was seen as one of the wealthiest and most powerful landlords in all of Europe. The people felt that the church was abandoning them at this time, but the priests were dying too. When the plague declined, many towns were left without a priest. Those priests who had not fled but ministered to the dying during the plague were constantly exposed to the disease and many died. Consequently, new priests were often ordered without adequate training, and the selection of priestly candidates was ill-advised, this reduced the esteem people had for the church. The plague thus broke the stronghold the church had over the people.

A lot of people thought that God was punishing the people. People were left alone and in fear to live life without a powerful God. Religion was affected and a new period of philosophical questioning laid ahead. My reaction to the Black Death is that humanity was changed forever. I agree that the Black Death is one of the worst tragedies of all time, but I believe that it may have also been an act from God. Extreme overcrowding was common in Europe at this time.

People were also living in filthy and unsanitary living conditions. These conditions were perfect conditions for the plague to spread. Fleas and body lice were universal. One more bite did not cause alarm, until they found out that they may have been bitten with the plague. The fallen population gave the land a chance to heal. People were overworking the land, because there was not enough food to feed all of the people in Europe.

The plague cut the population short which helped feed the people who were starving. I feel that it is a shame that people lived in these unsanitary conditions, and felt that it was okay to be doing so. There was human and animal feces all around. People breathed in these wastes and lived in them. Rats surrounded the towns, and people lived in this because they didn't know any other way of living. Little did they know that these rats were carrying a deadly disease that would kill off 25% of the population.

It is a shame that they did not know about antibiotics back in the time of the plague, because in today's age, it would take a simple antibiotic to kill of the disease. If the Bubonic Plague did not occur, there would have been continuous overpopulation. Population would have exploded. The land that was not producing enough food before the plague, would have been producing even less. This would have caused more famine amongst all the social classes, especially the poor people. Some people may have even resorted to cannibalism.

Before the plague, drinking water was contaminated. Human wastes were put into the rivers, which was eventually drank by the people. Other diseases would have occurred if the plague did not exist. Such water born diseases as Cholera, and Typhoid would have broke out. War would have increased, because more people would have been fighting for food and other necessities. More people would have died during war.

The rift between the poor and rich people would have increased. The poor people always would end up on the bottom. If the plague did not occur, the church would have continued to control the people's lives, and continue to be obsessed with money. The church controlled part of the people's every day lives and decision making process. I'm sure that the church became a better place, and it's teachings changed for the better. Everyone was now interested in the actual teachings of the church and of God.

They were interested in God's teachings so that they would find.