The Key Influences of the 14th Century: How the Black Death Paved the Way for the Renaissance

The 14th century was anything but pleasant for the people living In Europe at the time. There were so many factors and conditions that ultimately helped pave the way for the Renaissance. I will focus on the key influences during this period that contributed to the development of this "rebirth". The most significant impact that you must address right off the bat Is, the Black Death. With the plague wiping out nearly one-third of Rupee's population, this catastrophe led to many economic, political, social, ideological, and cultural changes.

Before getting into details of conflicts of the middle ages, I think it is important to know that In the beginning of the 14th century the medieval warm period had ended which resulted in a "little Ice age". The climate had gotten colder and the farmland was becoming less fertile because of soil unrest from generations using the same land. The Malthusian Crisis was a prediction that ultimately became true--the population of Europe had gotten too large and there wasn't enough available resources.

Hunger and famine caused a big spike in the death rate and as things were starting looking pretty grim, then comes the plague.. The Black Death is believed to have arrived in Europe by sea in October 1347 when Genomes trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messing after a long journey at sea (the pathogen Yearly's Pestles supposedly carried In certain Infected rodents had transmitted the disease). People ready to greet the ships were shocked to see a bunch of dead and diseased sailors. It didn't look good whatsoever.

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The victims showed strange black, oozing swellings about the size of an egg or an apple In the armpits and groin, Before anyone could try and quarantine the sick, it was too ate. Merchants and marmots would help spread this deadly disease, making no one have any idea knew where it was coming from or why it was happening. It is believed that since the plague spread so quickly, the infection had to airborne which was the biggest Issue. Once the disease reached the lungs of the malnourished, It was then spread to the wider population through sneezes and coughs.

The sick suffered severe pain and died quickly within five days of the first symptoms. Pneumonia plague which targeted your respiratory system would kill 95% of people within 2 says, and If you were said to have skepticism plague, your bloodstream Is directly Infected leaving you with no chance. Before you know It, graveyards throughout Europe were filling up and towns had to make mass burial pits to help rid the dead bodies. It came to the point where it was basically considered ordinary to be burying a family member quite often.

All these problems along with confusion, led people to start questioning life and what they did to deserve all this. The mall question the plague had everyone asking themselves was, why are we being punished by god? Since the church was always their only answer, citizens needed a new reaction. Before the Black Death hit Europe, almost all things including elements of daily life, were under the Influence of the church. In medieval times the most Important thing was that the church had always told people right from wrong.

Since the afterlife was judged more importantly than ones actual lifetime, it was considered 1 OFF salvation. A result from that were the Flagellants. Flagellants began as a militant pilgrimage for religious extremists who demonstrated their religious passion and ought self-punishment for their sins by vigorously whipping themselves in public as displays of penance. Who in their right mind would even do that? As the Black Death is taking over, the public believed it to be a punishment from God and now they have to pay.

Conditions were so bad that they felt as if turning toward the church for help as they always do, was no hope. How could they find a solution when even the priests and bishops were dropping dead like flies from the plague too!? So it couldn't be that God was mad at the general public, however more specifically mad at the church. In return, the Catholic Church lost a lot of its influence and for many people, their view of the world changed significantly.

The Italian peninsula (mostly Florence at the beginning) was pretty much the center of the newer learning at the time because they had wealth, religion, and many eager people ready to stop living strictly everything by the church. Francesco Patriarch (1304-1374) lived in Avignon, which was an international community of lawyers and churchmen at the papal court, which was where he copied ancient works including Tulips Cicero (106-BOB. C. ). This rediscovery of Latin antiquity began a fascination on reviving and revitalization classical learning.

Cicero ultimately led Patriarch to see in a classical philosophy, a guide to life based on experience. Patriarch's successors found and copied manuscripts including writings from Sophocles, Constantinople, and certain libraries. His use of Roman ideology attracted Giovanni Biostatic, a Florence leader during this time who adopted his ideas and even turned away from writing in the medieval tradition to the classical tradition. This all helped ignite a large focus on humanism, an alternative approach to knowledge and culture.

This helped lean away from Scholasticism, which was narrow-minded insistence on traditional doctrine at the time. Scholar's most respected sources and ideas were being spread throughout Europe as a response to the standard educational program that focused only on logic and linguistics. As citizens of Florence and the surrounding areas in Italy were overcoming the Black Death, they experienced a great awakening in self-awareness. They desired to become closer to God and take pride in their humanity. Writers during this period soused on individualism and artists sought to make their artwork more realistic.

The Medici and the papacy, who became the greatest patron in Rome, gained an interest in art that reflected both human and religious qualities. Painters started creating man in the image of God and helped to humanism religion, and revealed the self- worth and beauty of oneself. With all of the new learning taking place because of conditions that faced Europe in the 14th century, people's lives started to get back together. Instead of only focusing on agriculture for the main source of food, animal husbandry arose which also had a positive health impact.

Since the population had plummeted, there was plenty of food and resources to go around. At this point, the public did not have to spend as much time worrying about where their next meal is coming from, but perhaps more time thinking about creative aspects in life such as painting, acting and inventing. The 1 5th century held Johannes Gutenberg to invent the printing entire world. If it weren't for the harsh realities of the 14th century, the Renaissance may have not had such a lasting impression as we know it to be.

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