Throughout history, many unforgettable events have affected the literature of the time: wars, revolutions, industrialization, and disease. Although many critics very quickly point out the changes in literature that the industrial revolution caused, not many of those critics are willing to dig any deeper into the past. However, the fourteenth century contained changes in literature that were just as dramatic. The repeated outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague in that century led to many significant changes in European society that therefore deeply enhanced the content, quantity, and the moral values of the audience of medieval literature.

The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, killed one third of the population of Europe during its reign in the 13th and 14th centuries. The impact of this mass killer caused enormous havoc to the medieval society because of its unknown origin, the unknown causes and preventions, and most significantly its deathly results. Changes in the

Printing Presses became contemporaries of the darkest of the plague years (Herrlihy, 50). Johannes Gutenberg was the first to prove this, and his alloy is still the basis of the printer's art (Chambers et al, 321). These new presses allowed for cheaper, faster, and more accurate duplication of books (Herrlihy, 50). "Also the introduction of paper from the East was a major step in reducing costs, for paper is far cheaper than parchment to produce." (Chambers et al, 321). This was significant to the society because the supply of books more than doubled, and the price of books greatly decreased (Tuchman, 476). The plague allowed a huge number of new experiences, privileges, and abilities to become available to classes that had previously enjoyed nothing of the sort.

Thus, the Bubonic Plagues during the 14th century led to numerous significant changes in European society, which deeply enhanced the content, quantity, and the moral values of the audience of medieval literature. The Bubonic Plagues spurred a craving for something more, o

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