The Black Death
One microscopic infection wiped out nearly half of Europe, leaving Genghis Khan's Mongol forces in a state of shock. The same epidemic also left Europe so fragile that it took almost a hundred years to recover, with some historians believing that the continent was never completely rebuilt.
A minor bacterial infection turned into a major epidemic, spawning many apostate Christian groups, indirectly leading to the formation of the Inquisition, leaving the Old World crippled decades later, and possibly leading to the slaughter of many cats. Surprisingly, one small infection can easily be remembered in history as the Black Death.
The Black Death was perhaps the greatest tragedy in Europe since Rome was ousted by the Huns, who were soon followed by the Visigoths. The most persistent impact was apparently the destruction of Europe, with an estimated death rate from a third of the population to more than a third of the continent.
Shocking events have been reported by many sources at the time, presenting a bleak picture of a once-powerful continent being downgraded by “the act of God.” However, in addition to the death toll and the impact of the strategy, one could argue that the Cold War left Europe in a state of panic and anxiety that plagued Europeans for years, especially since small outbreaks occurred centuries later.
The clergy of that time, seen by the people as a failure to live up to their promise to end suffering by God's power, lost their power to Europeans. Moreover, the clergy-laity distinction was easily eroded by the Black Death, forcing the Vatican to adopt an unethical and unscrupulous position.
This act has caused people to lose much of their confidence in the church, with the power going into the hands of apostate groups. As the disease progressed and the ‘rebellion’ of power subsided, Christian authorities instituted the full wrath of the Inquisition.
In what some may see as a good example of dark jokes, the Black Death also shows how quickly a crowd can take irrational action when caught by fear and anxiety. At a time when faith in God was still strong, even though the faith was faltering in His clergy, cats were seen as agents of Satan.
There are hundreds of reports of healthy citizens attacking and biting cats, and their fears and anxieties have led them to suggest that cats carry “miasma,” a poisonous air that carried the disease. Naturally, with the decline in the number of cats, the number of mice increased, and with those mice, viruses became infected.
Perhaps the greatest consequence of this disease was that it was critical to the social changes that were to come in the years to come. The Catholic Church, having lost much of its power because of it, had broken down enough to allow groups to oppose its power.
The people began to be reluctant to follow the orders of the clergy, as well as political officials who were closely associated with the Church. In fact, one could argue that there is little connection between the rise in world power and the onset of the Black Death.
Many historians have gone so far as to say that the basic principles of capitalism were formed while various European officials were forced to compete for the services of surviving farmers and resources.
Finally, countless changes can be attributed to the Black Death. Some, like the general weakness of the European military under Mongol Hordes, are straightforward, while others, such as the Reformation and the Renaissance, are less direct. However, one result is irrefutable.
The horrors and anxieties caused by the Black Death had permanently changed the economic, social, and political climate of Europe, in such a way that Europe could not have evolved differently had it not been for a viral infection.
