Quote:
Originally Posted by xyzde69
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–1353.
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And yet, the modern world owes a huge debt of thanks to the bacteria.
The death of so many people caused the price of labour to sky rocket. Also, populations that usually stayed in one place started to move around.
This led to the creation of a wealthy merchant class, who were neither nobility nor peasants - i.e., the middle class.
The end result of this was the Renaissance - a period of profound change in economics, science, art and Western thought. For example, the concept of individuality largely comes from this period.
Without the Black Death, our civilisation would be vastly different.