What Impacts Has The Black Death Had on Today’s Society?

 by Flixy C

Despite occurring 600 years ago, the Black Death remains as one of the most significant events in human history, killing 75 million people, with its impacts having shaped society as a whole today. Nearly 4 years on from the first Covid-19 pandemic, it is interesting to look back at the effects of the global shaping pandemic of the 14th century, to attempt to predict how much of an impact the 2020 pandemic will have on the world. The Black Death had profound impacts on all parts of society, influencing literature and arts, spurring progress in technological developments and medicine, influencing pub culture, shifting religious views and crucially impacting overall societal structure, with many of these impacts still prevalent today. 

One of the key impacts of the Black death was the influence it had on the structure of 14th century society. After the first outbreak of the bubonic plague arrived in Britain in 1348 from infected rats off of ships believed to be from the Mediterranean, people began to flee the cities as they were perceived to be centres of the epidemics due to high population densities. However, by 1352 the pandemic petered out after killing half of Europe’s population and although the disease did re-emerge 5 more times before the end of the century, and carried on remerging up until the 17th century, people began to move back to the cities. Survivors left rural England to reintegrate back into cities, where there were unoccupied houses and a plethora of jobs due to the huge population decline. Very often, these people were peasants and therefore experienced a completely new standard of living and although laws were introduced in 1349 and 1363 to attempt to suppress aspirations of the lower class, these were ineffective leading to the Great Revolt of 1381. For one of the first times in history, there was a shift in the dynamics of society as it was a period where social mobility was accessible, very much similar to today's society. The infiltration of peasants into society after the Black Death has been argued to have brought about the end of feudalism, where peasants worked for lords in exchange for goods and land, and argued to have led to a rise in capitalism in 14th century British society. The number of dead also allowed the middle class to grow but also the rich elitists to become richer, creating a more defined class system which went on to be common for centuries afterwards and is still echoed in society today. This was because of the accumulation of wealth from those who had died. 

Another impact which can be seen today is the effect that the Plague had on religion. The 14th century had already seen the beginning of a shift in attitudes towards religion due to previous famines and devastating rains, however for many it was the initial realisation that religion could do nothing to protect people and their families and would not even protect clergymen. This caused an almost spiritual crisis as people began to question their beliefs and search for some sort of answer. This was impactful because it marked a shift in religious beliefs and as the author Barbara Tuchman said “the end of an age of submission.” Questions on the links of religion to life, suffering and mortality sparked by the plague still remain prevalent in society today as people continue to have this sense of spiritual crisis and continue to search for answers to these questions. Some of the art that came out of this period of time and this existential crisis also continue to influence and educate today’s modern society, for example the genres of art that emerged relating to these questions people were asking, The Danse Macabre and The Triumph of Death.  

The large death counts of the Black Death forced Britain into advancing technology, paving the way for a shift in the way industry worked and forced progressions in medicine and healthcare. Emerging after the pandemic were labour saving devices and techniques created to compensate for the huge loss of manpower, these were particularly prevalent in agriculture, for example the introduction of crop rotation which is still used in modern day farming. This shift also led to the rise in manufacturing industries like clothmaking and textiles as technology developed. The Black Death also sparked the research of infectious diseases and led to developments in the research of immunology. Crucially, it saw the beginning of isolation and quarantine methods which we still use today. 

Finally, the Black Death is viewed by some as “the origin of the pub.” As wages began to rise after the plague, people had more disposable income so could therefore afford more luxuries, including ale. More jobs in the cities due to the pandemic also meant that more people were living in urban areas and therefore had better access to public houses. The Plague also brought people together after the brutality of the losses faced and pubs were a place where all social classes could mix and begin to reform a sense of community which had been lost during the years of the Black Death. This idea of pub culture is still very much alive in today’s society, with pubs being a space for all people to mix and socialise, and for some a refuge from the difficulties of working and everyday life. Although pubs were not directly created because of the Plague, they definitely laid down the foundations for pubs as we know them today. 

Overall, the Black Death has had and will continue to have immense impacts on both modern day society, influencing many different aspects of everyday life. By studying the impacts of this pandemic, it can give us a better understanding as to what the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be and whether they will have the same impacts that one of the most crucial events in human history has had on today’s society, as Tuchman said “the Black Death may have been the unrecognised beginning of modern man.”