Changes

The fatality rate was even higher in China, where an estimated 25 million died from it.  It took 100 years for Europe and China to recover, and a longer period of time for Islamic countries and the Middle East.  Egypt was hit particularly hard, with some areas not recovering for 500 years.

The fatality rate was even higher in China, where an estimated 25 million died from it.  It took 100 years for Europe and China to recover, and a longer period of time for Islamic countries and the Middle East.  Egypt was hit particularly hard, with some areas not recovering for 500 years.

==Impact on economy==

==Impact on economy==

The era of the Black Death witnessed a series of important long-term changes in demographic behavior, agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and technology. Real wage series reflect the productivity increases from these changes and suggest that the Low Countries and England were able to resist to a greater extent the general tendency for wages to decline during the second leg of the demographic cycle that began with the Black Death. A wage gap thus began to emerge between the northwest and the rest of the continent after 1450.<ref>Sevket Pamuk, "The Black Death and the Origins of the 'Great Divergence' Across Europe, 1300-1600," ''European Review of Economic History'' 2007 11(3): 289-317, </ref>  

The era of the Black Death witnessed a series of important long-term changes in demographic behavior, agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and technology. Real wage series reflect the productivity increases from these changes and suggest that the Low Countries and England were able to resist to a greater extent the general tendency for wages to decline during the second leg of the demographic cycle that began with the Black Death. A wage gap thus began to emerge between the northwest and the rest of the continent after 1450.<ref>Sevket Pamuk, "The Black Death and the Origins of the 'Great Divergence' Across Europe, 1300-1600," ''European Review of Economic History'' 2007 11(3): 289-317,</ref>  

The devastation of the serfs, who made up the vast majority of the population, also strengthened their socio-economic position. The scarcity of labor meant that, through proto-strikes, they could bargain with land-owners to improve their conditions of life. This led to the beginning of the end of [[feudalism]] in [[Europe]], as it weakened the force behind the success of the manors. The plague also created a demand for more [[big government|centralized government]] that could respond effectively to disease.

The devastation of the serfs, who made up the vast majority of the population, also strengthened their socio-economic position. The scarcity of labor meant that, through proto-strikes, they could bargain with land-owners to improve their conditions of life. This led to the beginning of the end of [[feudalism]] in [[Europe]], as it weakened the force behind the success of the manors. The plague also created a demand for more [[big government|centralized government]] that could respond effectively to disease.

The Black Death spurred [[monarchies]] and city-states across much of medieval Europe to formulate new wage and price legislation. These legislative acts splintered in a multitude of directions that to date defy any obvious patterns of economic or political rationality. A comparison of labor laws in England, France, Provence, Aragon, Castile, the Low Countries, and the city-states of Italy shows that these laws did not flow logically from new post-plague demographics and economics - the realities of the supply and demand for labor. Instead, the new municipal and royal efforts to control labor and artisans' prices emerged from fears of the greed and supposed new powers of subaltern classes and are better understood in the contexts of anxiety that sprung forth from the Black Death's new horrors of mass mortality and destruction.<ref> Samuel Cohn, "After the Black Death: Labour Legislation and Attitudes Towards Labour in Late-Medieval Western Europe," ''Economic History Review'' 2007 60(3): 457-485, </ref>  

The Black Death spurred [[monarchies]] and city-states across much of medieval Europe to formulate new wage and price legislation. These legislative acts splintered in a multitude of directions that to date defy any obvious patterns of economic or political rationality. A comparison of labor laws in England, France, Provence, Aragon, Castile, the Low Countries, and the city-states of Italy shows that these laws did not flow logically from new post-plague demographics and economics - the realities of the supply and demand for labor. Instead, the new municipal and royal efforts to control labor and artisans' prices emerged from fears of the greed and supposed new powers of subaltern classes and are better understood in the contexts of anxiety that sprung forth from the Black Death's new horrors of mass mortality and destruction.<ref>Samuel Cohn, "After the Black Death: Labour Legislation and Attitudes Towards Labour in Late-Medieval Western Europe," ''Economic History Review'' 2007 60(3): 457-485,</ref>  

==Popular response==

==Popular response==

Anxiety levels were very high--death was at hand for everyone. One result was social behavior such as the flagellant movement and the persecution of Jews, Catalans, and beggars.  In some regions such as Alsace the Jews were blamed and were driven from the main cities.  

Anxiety levels were very high—death was at hand for everyone. One result was social behavior such as the flagellant movement and the persecution of Jews, Catalans, and beggars.  In some regions such as Alsace the Jews were blamed and were driven from the main cities.  

[[File:Sebastian.jpg|thumb|280px|St Sebastian by [[Sandro Botticelli]] (1445-1510)]]

[[File:Sebastian.jpg|thumb|280px|St Sebastian by [[Sandro Botticelli]] (1445-1510)]]

==Public health==

==Public health==

Modern methods of disease control originated in response to the Plague. Cities such as Venice created public health boards to use sanitation, quarantine, and isolation to slow the spread of the plague. Gradually these early boards became permanent fixtures and often employed elaborate inspectorates to identify possible disease sources. These boards spread slowly to northern Europe, with the first health boards appearing in France only in 1580. Soon northern Europe began to implement health measures on a national scale, such as the 1709 Prussian regulations on dealing with the plague. Such measures culminated in the Habsburg 'cordon sanitaire,' a thousand-mile, guarded border in the Balkans in effect from 1770 to 1871 to insulate the empire from epidemics common in the Ottoman Empire. These national endeavors tended to be more effective in dealing with large outbreaks of plague and other such diseases, but local measures retained their effectiveness against other endemic diseases.<ref> Gary B. Magee, "Disease Management in Pre-industrial Europe: A Reconsideration of the Efficacy of the Local Response to Epidemics," ''Journal of European Economic History'' 1997 26(3): 605-623, </ref>  

Modern methods of disease control originated in response to the Plague. Cities such as Venice created public health boards to use sanitation, quarantine, and isolation to slow the spread of the plague. Gradually these early boards became permanent fixtures and often employed elaborate inspectorates to identify possible disease sources. These boards spread slowly to northern Europe, with the first health boards appearing in France only in 1580. Soon northern Europe began to implement health measures on a national scale, such as the 1709 Prussian regulations on dealing with the plague. Such measures culminated in the Habsburg 'cordon sanitaire,' a thousand-mile, guarded border in the Balkans in effect from 1770 to 1871 to insulate the empire from epidemics common in the Ottoman Empire. These national endeavors tended to be more effective in dealing with large outbreaks of plague and other such diseases, but local measures retained their effectiveness against other endemic diseases.<ref>Gary B. Magee, "Disease Management in Pre-industrial Europe: A Reconsideration of the Efficacy of the Local Response to Epidemics," ''Journal of European Economic History'' 1997 26(3): 605-623,</ref>  

==Today==

==Today==