One event that changed the world:
The Black Death (1346-53)
a) What was the event? What happened?
The Black Death was a bubonic plague that spread across Africa, Asia, and Europe, and is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history. It killed an estimate of 75 to 200 million people. The world population did not recover until the 17th century.
b) How were things different before and after this happened?
Before the Black Death, Europe was controlled by the Catholic Church and the continent was considered a feudalistic society. The pandemic caused the power dynamics of the fiefs and city-states to crumble, which helped break the absolute authority of the Catholic Church. Christians accused Jews of poisoning public water supplies in an effort to ruin European civilization, which led to complete destruction of entire Jewish towns. Malnutrition, poverty, disease and hunger, along with war, made life in Europe painfully grim. Due to the massive death toll there was an extreme labor shortage. This resulted in higher wages for peasants, and more freedom with who they wanted to work for. Reforestation occured after land was freed up. Due to the plentiful land, lords were forced to try and make conditions more attractive to the peasants, so that they would work for them. This led to the eventual end of Serfdom, which resulted in a “golden age” of prosperity. When feudal lords tried bringing back Serfdom and return to the old ways, there were widespread peasant revolts. The plague led to positive change in the field of medicine.