When the Black Death reached Europe in 1347 no one was spared by the burden of death and pestilence. The population prior to the plague in England had already shrunk. This was due to famine as a result of poor harvests. The prosperous years by this time had already come to an end and the economies of Europe where in recession at the onset of the Black Death.

Most people think the Black Death was a phenomenon of the Middle Ages. A few cases of the plague had been known in Asia long before it reached Europe during the middle of the 14th century. The plague today can be divided into three major outbreaks. The first pandemic is known as the plague of Justinian. It happened in Egypt between 558 A.D. and 590 A.D. The second pandemic occurred in Europe in the 14th century and the final pandemic took place in Asia in the late 19th century. It was the second outbreak that had the most effect on English society and economy.

The European Black Death originated in the Far East in the Gobi desert. During the rampage of the bubonic plague in the 1320s in Asia the population was decimated by up to a third. Later in 1347 Kipchak Mongols who w

By 1350 the plague had gone and left a devastated country. More than one third of the population had died in a very short time. People's views on life and religion had changed, but they tried nonetheless to return to normality. But with the population so low there was a lack of workers. What followed was an increase in wages. Peasants who were freed before the Black Death could demand more money and peasants who were still un-free demanded their freedom. On other occasions peasants took over the wealth of the lord, because the entire family had been killed during the rampage of the plague. In 1349 the Ordinances of Labourers tried to put a stop to the increased wage levels, but failed because of the overwhelming shortage of workers. Land that had been farmed before the plague was lying in pasture, because it was less labour intensive. The landowners were no longer able to pay the high wages and had to offer extra goods in addition to money. This benefited the peasants. Within short time the standard of living for the workers rose. Other significant changes were that the people started to question the church. The church had not been able to explain nor stop the outbreak of the plague. People begun to believe that they did not need the church to lead them and concentrated on a more personal relationship with God. The change in belief and the shortage of qualified priests can be seen as the first step to the later Reformation of the church. Since the Norman Conquest the official language in England was French, but since most members of the government did not survive the plague; the new official language was English as there were no teachers left to teach French. The most impor

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1135
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)