Middle Ages Research Project

Josue Prudencio 

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

March 24, 2022

The Black Death & Halloween in the Middle Ages 

Introduction

Ever wondered what happened in the medieval ages? Like if they ever celebrated “All Hallows Even?” If so, in this text you will see events that happened in the middle ages. Alls Hallow Even was actually its original name for Halloween, The Black Death was a disease spread around europe. Finally, Feudalism and how it worked, and how their feudal system worked.

Feudalism

Feudalism was the basic government and society in Europe during the Middle Ages. “The basic government and society in Europe during the middle ages was based around the feudal system.” Feudalism started in the Middle Ages/ 700’s C.E, the lord owned the land and everything in it. He would also keep the peasants safe in return for their great service. In return, the king would provide the soldiers with taxes.The reason feudalism happened was because in 700 C.E huge numbers of invaders raided villages throughout europe. The king would also have knights, they would be able to battle anytime they were called, in the text it states, “The lords ran the local manors. They also were the king's knights and could be called into battle at any moment by their Baron. The lords owned everything on their land including the peasants, crops, and village.” Most of the people in the middle ages were peasants, in the text it states, “Most of the people living in the Middle Ages were peasants. They had a hard, rough life. Some peasants were considered free and could own their own businesses like carpenters, bakers, and blacksmiths. Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive.”

In the middle ages it worked with a feudal system, land would be granted to people for service. In the story it states, “The top leader in the land was the king. The king could not control all of the land by himself, so he divided it up among the Barons. In return, the Barons pledged their loyalty and soldiers to the king. When a king died, his firstborn son would inherit the throne. When one family stayed in power for a long time, this was called a dynasty.”

Who benefited were the kings since they were the ones who were able to do anything they wanted in the middle ages. And the one who suffered were the peasants since they were mistreated but sometimes were sent land. But kings were not all that benefited, because sometimes they would have to stress when having to do or schedule battles.

Feudalism ended because the kings had gun ammo, the ammo was made with a powder called gunpowder and they were too powerful. In the text it states, “The use of gun-powder made the King more powerful and the feudal Lords could not be a match to them. The invention of the printing machine and the progress of education changed the outlook of the people who relegated feudalism to distant backgrounds. For these reasons, feudalism in Europe came to an end.

The Black Death

The Black Death was a kind of disease that would kill people when had in their system, the black death was formed by infected fleas that travel on rodents. The Black Death was named due to Manifestation. In the text it states, “The Black Death was so named due to its physical manifestation and its effect on society.” The black death was traveling fast to people in Asia and Europe, and since Asia is pretty big and so is Europe, there were many death cases from the black death. In the text it states “The total number of deaths attributable to this devastating pandemic was 75 million people.” When having this disease, your skin would be covered in dark spots or dark blotches due to the disease being able to damage skin. In the text it states, “Victims of the disease were covered with dark blotches due to damage to the underlying skin and tissue.”

The Black Death happened in 1346/ The Middle Ages, and The Black Death ended in 1352. The reason The Black Death happened was because of a plague, or an infectious fever caused by bacteria. The Black Death had a replica disease, called the septicaemic plague, this disease almost had a 100% chance of killing you when u had this disease. In the text it states, “The Black Death had a third manifestation known as septicaemic plague. This form of the disease had an almost one hundred percent mortality rate.”

It worked that if someone coughs and you breathe the air from the cough from the infected person, you could get it. Another way you could get it is from getting bit from an infected rat, which produces a bacteria which goes to your system called bacterium Yersinia pestis. It's not only with rats though, many cases have also been caused by fleas, or infected fleas. 

The disease and plague itself died out, this happened long ago, apparently the explanation for its disappearance is  that The Black Death was too deadly to persist. It killed so many people, that people started not getting the disease. Which caused the disease, fleas, rats, and other objects that could cause The Black Death, to lead to extinction.

What would happen if you got The Black Death, first you would get a really bad fever, which would then cause the chills, then would go to big chunk of vomiting for a while, then after vomiting you would get diarrhea, after diarrhea you could die from dehydration, but if you don't then the last part before you die would be terrible aches and pains. Which would be so bad it would lead to your death.

Halloween in the Middle Ages

Halloween is a christian tradition that began in the early middle ages. Some people permitted religious beliefs to survive, which was genius. In the text it states, “Permitting pagan traditions to survive was a stroke of genius by the early christian Church.” If a pagan community would have worshiped a sacred tree, they would be able to form a power from christ, in the text it states “Pope Gregory the Great, in fact, sent his missionaries abroad with the advice that if a pagan community worshiped a sacred tree, for example, Christians were to attribute its mystical power to Christ - and allow the tree to stand.”

 In the winter, some people would celebrate something in the middle ages, in the text it states “The winter solstice celebration centering around pagan sun gods now celebrates the Son of God's birth at Christmas.”

Halloween was called something else, until it was changed to the name we all know, in the text it states “Owing to the medieval custom of beginning observances the night before, the collective holiday began on All Hallows Evening, or Halloween.”

Originally, it was called All Hallows Even, until they shortened it to Hallowe’en. And then a few years later, renamed to Halloween. Which means it didn't really change, it was just shortened to a different name.

Conclusion 

And that's why Halloween used to be named “All Hallows Even” How the feudal system works, and how The Black Death was spread around Europe. Halloween’s original name was actually changed just because they wanted it shortened. This time period was important, because we get to learn what people had to go through, some major events that happened, and learn about other things.

Works Cited 

“Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal _system.php  

Accessed 22 February 2023. 

Ross, David. “Feudalism and Medieval Life.” Britain Express. www.britainexpress.com 

/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm Accessed 7 February 2023.

“History Of Black Death”. Historylearningsite. www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval-england/ 

black-death-1348-1350/. Accessed 8 February 2023.

“Halloween In The Middle Ages.” The Virtual Medieval Abbey - Monastery Life in the Middle Ages. 

http://newyorkcarver.com/halloween.htm. Accessed 8 February 2023