The economy of the fourteenth century was in a state of decline. The population boom along with the shortage of food was leading Europe down a road to starvation. The climate in western Europe also was beginning to change at the turn of the fourteenth century. This caused a very wet climate and greatly adversely affected …show more content…
In the 12th century the population grew in staggering leaps. The population boom caused Europe to reach the brink of its food supply levels. Improvements in agriculture helped increase the amount of food available but the food levels couldn 't keep up with the population increase. During the Great famine there were many deaths but this still didn 't curb population growth. Europe was looking forward to many more widespread famines unless the population declined …show more content…
With the population boom in the beginning of the fourteenth century, Europe couldn 't handle the population because of the limits of the food supply. "The plough was forced to take over poor, marginal soils which after a while brought diminishing returns; and as the very limits of cultivation were reached, the colonization of new land more or less petered out." Overworked fields were a severe detriment to the food supply and caused poor harvests in Europe. If the population had kept increasing in Europe starvation would have been rampant. The Black Death devastated Europe 's labor force so hard it was crippled well into the eighteenth century. The Black Death also eliminated unemployment in most of Europe. In many areas of Europe peasants were packing into cities to try to find work. The amount of jobs couldn 't accommodate the influx of workers so there were many peasants that were jobless and starving. After the Black Death struck unemployment was virtually gone because of the huge need for laborers all throughout Europe.
The Black Death severely devastated Europe 's demographics and almost crippled it 's economy. The devastation caused by the Plague had far reaching consequences that hindered Europe 's growth for several centuries. The Black Death did however prevent Europeans from suffering prolonged starvation due to the