The Bubonic Plague, was a natural form of population control. Before the plague, life in
Europe was getting worse by the day. Europe was overpopulated and in a great
economic depression. Most of the land that could be farmed on had been harmed. This
made it difficult to grow food. Overpopulation is the condition of having a population so
dense that it causes environmental decay, and a damaged quality of life. There was
a great gap 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 parts of life in the 13th and 14th century in
Europe at a stand still killing 25% of Europe's population. The declining 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 Caffa 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 shooting 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
richest 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
weakened, many towns were left without a priest. Those priests who had not fled but
cared for the dying during the plague were constantly exposed to the disease and
many died. Consequently, new priests were often ordered without good training, and the...