Influence of the plague
Origin
Some scientists and historians speculate that the Black Death, which began in the 14th century was not discovered until 1894, and rodents infected with the plague that transmitted to humans by flea bites. Therefore, the Europeans in the 14th century were absolutely helpless against the plague.
In 1347, the Great Khan of the Golden Horde, formed by the split of the Mongol Empire, was dissatisfied with the Venetian merchants’ aggressive purchase of slaves, which led to the massive losses of the Chincha Turks on the Russian grasslands, the main source of the Golden Horde, and besieged the Venetian-controlled trade points, Caffa. Unable to break through, the Mongolian army of the Golden Horde decided to throw human corpses infected with the Black Death into the city, and finally broke the city. Without the traditional massacre, Caffa City became the city of death. The plague then entered Europe again, killing two-thirds of the European population.
Citizens of Tournai bury plague victims
Da Khan managed to escape the infection, but he had to see his empire suffered heavy losses. Therefore, one year after the siege of Caffa ended, he was forced to compromise with the Genoese colonists and allow the other side to continue to develop a trading base on the Crimean Peninsula. This is because a large number of people have been killed under the rule, so we still have to rely on trade to help us recover our economy. It will also take another 10 years for the Golden Horde army to regain its large-scale expedition capability.[1]
Population[2]
Genoese sailors have opened a northwest route to bypass the Strait of Gibraltar. So the Black Death smoothly reached the Atlantic coast and spread to those British expeditionary soldiers who were about to return to Britain. As for the farther parts of Northern Europe, they fell one by one in 1-2 years. This unprecedented biological disaster undoubtedly had a huge impact on the history of the entire Middle Ages and even Europe. [3]Even North Africa, which faces each other across the sea, has been succumbed to trade needs.
Golden Horde itself also suffered huge losses. Many large cities with Muslim settlers soon experienced group illnesses similar to those in Western Europe. Moscow, the northern follower who supervised the city of Ross for the Great Khan, also served as the Grand Duke after the arrival of the Black Death. As for the population loss of various military tribes, it is undoubtedly extremely unoptimistic because they are the source of infection.
Perhaps the most significant impact of the Black Death on Asia is that it contributed to the collapse of the powerful Mongol Empire. After all, the pandemic started in the Mongol Empire and destroyed the people of all four khanates.[4]
Although the Mongols allowed the reopening of the Silk Road to increase wealth and cultural exchanges, this deadly spread quickly spread westward from its origin in western China or eastern Central Asia. As a result, the world’s second largest empire collapsed.
The Silk Road was a system of trade routes connecting East and West
Route
Starting from the road of death at the eastern end of the Silk Road, the Black Death rode the trade route westward[5] and stopped at the Central Asian caravan and the Middle East trade center, and then infected the entire Asia[6]. The siege of Caffa [7]by the Golden Horde did indeed prompt refugees to flee to ships bound for Genoa. These refugees are likely to be the main source of the Black Death, which has continued to sweep Europe since.
Culture
Moroccan historian Ibn Khaldun (Ibn Khaldun)’s parents died of the plague, he wrote about how Eastern and Western civilizations have been hit by a devastating plague, which has destroyed many countries and wiped out populations. The beautiful items that swallowed many civilizations were wiped out. Civilization [8]decreased with the reduction of humanity. Pieter Bruegel‘s The Triumph of Death reflects the social upheaval and terror that followed plague, which devastated medieval Europe.
Cities and buildings were wasted, roads and road signs were obliterated, settlements and mansions became empty, dynasties and tribes became Weak[9]. The entire human world has change.
Religion
The Black Death is obviously a major disaster in human history. However, the epidemic inadvertently broke the autocratic status of the European church[10]. Many people began to believe in science rather than in God. European society turned from the dark medieval to the Renaissance[11]. Thus changing the direction of civilization development in Europe and the world.
Jews being burned at the stake in 1349. Miniature from a 14th-century manuscript Antiquitates Flandriae
Economy
It is worth mentioning that the Black Death caused the deaths of many family members in Europe, and their estates were inherited by relatives. A few survivors even inherited the entire inheritance of multiple relatives and families, thus becoming rich men and rich women. Wealth dispersed in the hands of each household can only be regarded as property, but when c
Pieter Bruegel‘s The Triumph of Death reflects the social upheaval and terror that followed plague, which devastated medieval Europe.
Jews being burned at the stake in 1349. Miniature from a 14th-century manuscript Antiquitates Flandriae
[1] Aronson, Ronald. Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). “Albert Camus”. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Summer 2017 Edition.
[2] “Historical Estimates of World Population”. Census.gov. Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
[3] Austin Alchon 2003, p. 21.
[4] Howard, Jenny (6 July 2020). “Plague was one of history’s deadliest diseases—then we found a cure”. National Geographic.
[5] Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2012). Encyclopedia of the Black Death. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-59884-253-1.
[6] Galina Eroshenko et al. (2017) “Yersinia Pestis Strains of Ancient Phylogenetic Branch 0.ANT Are Widely Spread in the High-Mountain Plague Foci of Kyrgyzstan,” PLoS ONE, XII (e0187230); discussed in Philip Slavin, “Death by the Lake: Mortality Crisis in Early Fourteenth-Century Central Asia”, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 50/1 (Summer 2019): 59–90. https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jinh_a_01376
[7] Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2012). “Caffa (Kaffa, Fyodosia), Ukraine”. Encyclopedia of the Black Death. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-59884-253-1.
[8] Antoine, Daniel (2008). “5 The Archaeology of “Plague””. Medical History. 52 (S27): 101–114. doi:10.1017/S0025727300072112. ISSN 0025-7273.
[9] “Europe’s chill linked to disease”. 27 February 2006. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2006.
[10] “Black Death”. history.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
[11] Nirenberg 1998.
[12] “Black Death | Causes, Facts, and Consequences”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
Reference
Howard, Jenny (6 July 2020). “Plague was one of history’s deadliest diseases—then we found a cure”.
Antoine, Daniel (2008). “5 The Archaeology of “Plague””. Medical History.
杨志玖《元史三论》
