Describe the Black Death and it outline its impact on Latin Europe

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER:
The Black Death reversed the population growth. This terrible plague originated in Inner Asia and spread westward with the Mongol armies. In 1346, the Mongols attacked the city of Kaffa on the Black Sea; a year later, Genoese traders in Kaffa carried the disease to Italy and southern France. For two years, the Black Death spread across Europe, in some places carrying off two-thirds of the population. Average losses in western Europe amounted to one in three. Victims developed boils the size of eggs in their groins and armpits, black blotches on their skin, foul body odors, and severe pain. In most cases, death came within a few days. Town officials closed their gates to people from infected areas and burned the victims’ possessions. Such measures helped to spare some communities but could not halt the advance of the disease. Bubonic plague, the primary form of the Black Death, spreads from person to person and through the bites of f leas infesting the fur of certain rats. Even if the medieval doctors had understood the source of the disease, eliminating the rats that thrived on urban refuse would have been difficult. The plague brought home to people how sudden and unexpected death could be. Some people became more religious, giving money to the church or lashing themselves with iron-tipped whips to atone for their sins. Others chose reckless enjoyment, spending their money on fancy clothes, feasts, and drinking. Periodic returns of plague made recovery from population losses slow and uneven. Europe’s population in 1400 equaled that in 1200. Not until after 1500 did it rise above its pre-plague level.