In the beginning of the Middle Ages, fleas with disease infected rats in parts of the Far East. These rats got onto ships that were sailing from China to Europe. Also travelers on the Silk Road were infected and carried the disease to Europe. Once the disease of the Black Death was spread in 1347 it could not be stopped. Black and blue egg sized lumps would appear on the skin of a victim. They became very sick with coughing, sneezing, and vomiting. If a person contracted the plague, they would have a fifty-fifty chance of survival. This epidemic spread through all of Europe killing over twenty four million people! As a result of this, important knowledge was lost because many scholars and educated citizens had died.  The plague lasted from 1347 to 1351.

The disease returned to Europe about every decade into the fifteenth century. Although the impacts of this disease were mostly negative, it did have some positive outcomes. As millions of people died, there was less demand for goods. With less demand for goods, the prices of many items went down which was positive for the everyday person. Also, peasants gained more power because they could demand more money for their labor. The reason they could do this is because if a peasant was turned away from a job, then the other person would have a hard time finding someone else to work for them because so many peasants had died from the plague. So now peasants wouldn’t be turned away for asking for more money. This eventually led to the collapse of the feudal system. Overall, the Black Death was a devastating event that took countless lives.