The “Age of Adversity”, Essay Example

Over the course of time, humanity has undergone some very harsh periods of time that have deteriorated the world, but have been overcome leading to the world we have today. These adversities often came from factors such as diseases, ignorance, and wars as a result of difference in point of views. Without a doubt, the closest century that has seen the most of these struggles is the fourteenth century. The fourteenth century has come to be known as “age of adversity” because it was faced with tremendous adversities that include: the black plague, the great schism, and the merciless expansion of the Ottoman Empire. The Black Death has moved into history as one of the most devastating pandemics that humanity has ever faced. The fourteenth century experienced the peak of this cruel disease which, over a period of seven years, caused about two hundred million deaths. After this event it would take Europe an estimated 150 years in order to fully recover its population after about half of the entire population had become slain as a result of this disease.

Disease was extremely chaotic during the fourteenth century but it was not the only event that would make it the “age of adversity.” During this time, a problem that had never been seen before arrived and has come to be known as the great schism. During this western schism two men claimed themselves as the bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the pope, and would cause a major division between nations. This struggle within the Roman Church would begin late in the fourteenth century and conclude early in the fifteenth century. The final event that marked the fourteenth century was the rising control of the Ottoman Empire over the Western world. Throughout the fourteenth century this spread would cause problems in the Western world that eventually led to the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans a couple of decades later.