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The Black Death changed Europe in many different ways. Some of its biggest effects were on religion, art, and class.

New religious sects sprang up because of the Black Death. The Flagellants, for instance arose out of the misery of the Black Death. The Flagellants believed that the Plague was a punishment from God, and that the only way to return to His good graces was to imitate Jesus' suffering. So they want from town to town, whipping themselves, and praying for mercy. Other people abandoned religion altogethe, since God had not intervened to save the faithful, while others embraced faith even more deeply, believing that piousness would eventually save them.

European art also drastically changed. Before the Plague, art had largely centered on religious themes, depicting Jesus and the saints. During and after the Plague, topics shifted to more worldly things, and were largely much darker and dealt with the death that surrounded people. Personifications of Death became popular, and decay was an abundantly portrayed theme.

Class structure in Europe also underwent a heavy change due to the Black Death. A majority of the population died out, resulting in a labor shortage. As people sought to fill that shortage, they could no longer be as selective, so after being hired, people could demand higher wages, because there was no one else left to fill the job if they got fire. This resulted in a shift away from serfdom in most of Europe, as well as upwards mobility among the surviving lower classes of Europe.

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14y ago

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