The Bubonic Plague

The inescapable Black Death of the Late Middle Ages arrived to Europe by 1347. Genoese trading ships reached the ports of Messina, whose sailors aboard appeared severely ill; with black blotches and growths under their armpits(boils), they unintentionally brought this deadly disease to millions of Europeans. The disease was indiscriminately contagious, "the mere touching of the clothes," wrote Boccaccio, "appeared to itself to communicate the malady to the toucher." Thus, the pneumonic and septicemic bubonic plague, caused by bacillus(fleas), Yesinia pestis, killed approximately one-third(1.4 million) of the population.
            The Black Death was far beyond an epidemic disease, ultimately it was the beginning of an economic, religious, and cultural European revelation. Many people believed that the Black Death was a divine punishment, because of their inability to scientifically understand the biology of the disease. The "punishment" was believed to be a retribution for sins against God such as heresy, greed, and other wrong doings of the people. Thus, the belief that the only way to overcome the plague was God's forgiveness. Groups such as the flagellants, believed that the only way to secure God's forgiveness is by flagellating(whipping) themselves. Other groups only found relief by purging their communities of heretics, such as the known Jews. Thus, thousands of Jews were massacred in this era, and many more hundreds fled to other regions of Eastern Europe where they could find safety from the angry mobs in the cities. While few other groups believed that astrology and planetary conciliation, along with miasma(toxic air) was the cause.
            The population decrease which was caused by the daunting plague led to an economic depressions shortly after. Workers such as merchants had fewer people to whom they could sell their goods, thus products became more accumulated and the traders experienced a great loss in income. Fortunately, overpopulation in the early fourteenth century was a growing issue and in surprisingly great contrast, there was an increase in wealth between 1427-1430. As the plague slowly eased to spread in the late fifteenth century, populations began to bloom and create new demand for goods and community services. A new middle class began to form, bringing the general European inflation; rise of currency and goods, as well as religion, art, and ultimately the very thing which contributed the way to the high Renaissance.