The Legend of the Fifth Sun

The Legend of the Fifth Sun The Aztec creation fantasy which depicts how the world started is known as the Legend of the Fifth Sun. A few distinct renditions of this fantasy exist on the grounds that the tales were initially passed somewhere near oral convention, and furthermore in light of the fact that the Aztecs received and changed divine beings and legends from different clans that they met and won. As indicated by the Aztec creation legend, the universe of the Aztecs at the hour of the Spanish colonization was the fifth period of a pattern of creation and decimation. They accepted their reality had been made and decimated multiple times previously. During every one of the four past cycles, various divine beings initially administered the earth through a prevailing component and afterward crushed it. These universes were called suns. During the sixteenth century-and the period wherein we despite everything live today-the Aztecs accepted that they were living in the fifth sun, and it would likewise end in savagery toward the finish of the calendrical cycle. In the Beginning To start with, as per Aztec folklore, the maker couple Tonacacihuatl and Tonacateuctli (otherwise called the god Ometeotl, who was both male and female) brought forth four children, the Tezcatlipocas of the East, North, South, and West. Following 600 years, the children started to make the universe, including the production of enormous time, called suns. These divine beings in the end made the world and the various gods. After the world was made, the divine beings offered light to people, however to do this, one of the divine beings needed to forfeit himself by jumping into a fire. Each resulting sun was made by the a disregard for one's own needs of in any event one of the divine beings, and a key component of the story, similar to that of all Aztec culture, is that penance is required to start reestablishment. Four Cycles The main god to forfeit himself was Tezcatlipoca, who jumped into the fire and began the First Sun, called 4 Tiger. This period was possessed by mammoths who ate just oak seeds, and it reached a conclusion when the monsters were eaten up by pumas. The world kept going 676 years, or 13 52-year cycles as per the dish Mesoamerican calendar.The Second Sun, or 4-Wind sun, was administered by Quetzalcoatl (otherwise called the White Tezcatlipoca), and the earth was populated by people who ate just piã ±on nuts. Tezcatlipoca needed to be Sun, and transformed himself into a tiger and lost Quetzalcoatl his seat. This world reached a conclusion through disastrous typhoons and floods. The couple of survivors fled to the highest point of the trees and were changed into monkeys. This world likewise kept going 676 years.The Third Sun, or 4-Rain Sun, was ruled by water: its decision god was the downpour god Tlaloc and its kin ate seeds that developed in the water. This world reached a conclusion w hen the god Quetzalcoatl made it downpour fire and remains. The survivors became turkeys, butterflies or pooches. Turkeys are called pipil-pipil in the Aztec language, which means youngster or ruler. This world finished in 7 cycles or 364 years. The Fourth Sun, the 4-Water sun, was represented by the goddess Chalchiuthlicue, sister and spouse of Tlaloc. The individuals ate maize. An incredible flood denoted the finish of this world, and all the individuals were changed into fish. The 4 Water Sun went on for a long time. Making the Fifth Sun Toward the finish of the fourth sun, the divine beings assembled at Teotihuacan to choose who needed to forfeit him/herself for the new world to start. The god Huehuetã ©otl, the old fire god, began a conciliatory blaze, however none of the most significant divine beings needed to bounce into the flares. The rich and glad god Tecuciztecatl Lord of the Snails dithered and during that wavering, the unassuming and poor Nanahuatzin the Pimply or Scabby One jumped into the flares and turned into the new sun. Tecuciztecatl bounced in after him and turned into a subsequent sun. The divine beings understood that two suns would overpower the world, so they tossed a bunny at Tecuciztecal, and it turned into the moon-that is the reason you can in any case observe the hare in the moon today. The two divine bodies were gotten under way by Ehecatl, the lord of the breeze, who savagely and fiercely blew the sun into movement. The Fifth Sun The Fifth Sun (called 4-Movement) is controlled by Tonatiuh, the sun god. This fifth sun is portrayed by the sign Ollin, which implies development. As per Aztec convictions, this demonstrated this world would reach a conclusion through seismic tremors, and all the individuals will be eaten by sky beasts. The Aztecs viewed themselves as â€Å"the People of the Sun† and along these lines their obligation was to sustain the Sun god through blood contributions and penances. Inability to do this would cause the finish of their reality and the vanishing of the sun from the sky. A form of this legend is recorded on the acclaimed Aztec Calendar Stone, an enormous stone figure whose pictures alluded to one rendition of this creation story connected to Aztec history. The New Fire Ceremony Toward the finish of each 52-year cycle, the Aztec ministers completed the New Fire service, or official of the years. The legend of the Five Suns anticipated the finish of a schedule cycle, however it was not realized which cycle would be the last one. The Aztec individuals would clean their homes, disposing of all family unit icons, cooking pots, garments, and tangles. During the most recent five days, fires were stifled, and the individuals hopped on their rooftops to anticipate the destiny of the world. On the most recent day of the schedule cycle, the ministers would ascend the Star Mountain, today referred to in Spanish as Cerro de la Estrella, and watch the ascent of the Pleiades to guarantee it followed its ordinary way. A fire drill was put on the core of a conciliatory casualty: if the fire couldn't be lit, the fantasy stated, the sun would be wrecked until the end of time. The fruitful fire was then brought to Tenochtitlan to relight hearths all through the city. As per the Spanish writer Bernardo Sahagun, the New Fire function was led at regular intervals in towns all through the Aztec world. Refreshed by K. Kris Hirst Sources: Adams REW. 1991. Ancient Mesoamerica. Third Edition. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.Berdan FF. 2014. Aztec Archeology and Ethnohistory. New York: Cambridge University Press.Read KA. 1986. The Fleeting Moment: Cosmogony, Eschatology, and Ethics in Aztec Religion and Society. The Journal of Religious Ethics 14(1):113-138.Smith ME. 2013. The Aztecs. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Taube KA. 1993. Aztec and Maya Myths. Fourth Edition. Austin: University of Texas Press.Van Tuerenhout DR. 2005. The Aztecs. New Perspectives. Santa Clause Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO Inc.

Analyze iPhone in the context of broader Corporate Design concept Essay - 1

Examine iPhone with regards to more extensive Corporate Design idea - Essay Example The rule point of Augustine was to build up a diocese supervisor in the territory of London yet this couldn’t happen in light of the fact that around then London was following agnosticism. Because of this they pick the capital of the realm of Kent to situate the ecclesiastical overseer. The congregation of the Romans just as the Celtic had contrasts in supposition and were very extraordinary, the association of the Celtic Church was ineffectively sorted out and then again the Celtic Church was very control and composed. These two holy places even didn't concur on the day on which they used to observe Easter, in this way they used to commend the occasion independently on isolated days. Later during the time of 664 both held gatherings together at Synod to settle their disparities and in this gathering the Roman Church stood successful (Bracher 107). The congregation assumed a significant job in the Anglo-Saxon society and was the main not that keep various realms of the Anglo Saxons attached to one another. The religious communities made in the early period turned into the main accessible learning territories yet later they were threatened by the Vikings during the time of the ninth Century. The most prestigious researcher of the period the Anglo-Saxons was priest Bede who spent his significant segment of life at a religious community situated in Northumbria (Foot 23). Another acclaimed bit of workmanship and religion of that time was the book of scriptures which was shown at the religious community of Lindisfarne. During that period, the main sort of instruction accessible to the normal man originated from the congregation. During this period a few works written in Latin language were converted into English and schools were being made inside houses of worship. A significant job was played by the individuals who held most elevated situations in the congregation; they took interest in legislative issues and used to deal with the congregation and the property of the congregation, and even gave counsel to lords on different subjects. Religious communities filled the role of spreading Christianity and the expression of gospel on their

The Death Of A Drunk Car Accident Essay Example For Students

The Death Of A Drunk Car Accident Essay Xitclalli Vasquez, Sean Carter, Jacqueline Saburido, and Aaron Pennywell, are only four of the thousands who have been engaged with a tanked driving mishap here in Texas. Out of the four, Aaron Pennywell was the just one to bite the dust at the area of the accident. Presently in light of the fact that Saburido, Carter and Vasquez didn’t pass on in their mishaps doesn't imply that they didn't endure. Vasquez arrived in a wheelchair, incapacitated starting from the breast only three days before her birthday. Carter, who had been drinking and chosen not to drive rather had a companion drive who had additionally been drinking, endured mind wounds that left him safe intellectually yet truly not, at this point ready to talk or stroll, truly a PC represents him and he even alludes to himself as his very own detainee body. We will compose a custom article on The Death Of A Drunk Car Accident explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now Saburido was hit simply up the interstate in Austin, Texas by a secondary school senior who was flushed. She endured severe singeing on 60% of her body. Texas drives the country in alcoholic driving passings with 1,213 individuals fatalities in 2011. Sean Carter’s story is critical to this paper. As I said he chose not to drive since he was inebriated yet his companion who was likewise inebriated did. Driving drunk is an immense issue in America however could be forestalled by having an assigned driver. The serious issue is that there are relatively few individuals who consider utilizing of an assigned driver, yet with two straightforward arrangements, for example, giving greater ad advancements and making it obligatory to have an assigned driver, this issue could be settled making the world a more secure place. The serious issue with alcoholic driving is that it is one of the main sources of death and injury on our roadways. Expressed in an article by the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis. . little as well however this isn't simply to secure everybody one else yet the individual who is inebriated also. On the off chance that this is the thing that kills a colossal number of alcoholic drivers from entering the street than this arrangement will be carried on. Driving drunk mishaps could be forestalled by the utilization of assigned drivers. Be that as it may, a difficult today is numerous individuals are neglecting to utilize this asset because of absence of recognition. By utilizing two basic arrangements, for example, giving greater notice advancements and making it compulsory to have an assigned driver, numerous individuals won't disregard this asset and its significance. We should keep on making this world a more secure spot for our own and our children’s future. We should do this with extra special care. So why not start with settling one issue that has come about in such a large number of fatalities. After everything you could spare an actual existence in the event that you don’t drive under the influence.

The Effect Of Different Flyers Psychology Research - 1650 Words

The Effect Of Different Flyers Psychology Research (Research Paper Sample) Content: Two Flyers Design with the Title Earn Up and the Other Turn UpNameInstitutionDateAnnotated BibliographyCristina Ziliani Marco Leva, (2015) "Retail shopper marketing: the future of promotional flyers," Journal of Distribution Retail , Vol. 43 Iss: 6, pp.488 502The book explains the recent evolution of flyers and describes how tools of traditional marketing are applied to generate insight to customers. Cristina and Marco (2015) find out that some changes are taking course in flyer based promotions due to fertilization of loyalty data. Retailers are using metrics as a way of improving negotiations with stake holders. As the authors endeavor to support an innovative shopper markets approach, three themes come out clearly, and they are one, the revolution of flyers which the customer incorporation insight drives and brings about flyer digitalization. Two, an increase in the number of online aggregators of flyers, and three the evolution of flyer management processes. Th e research points out four areas for future researchers to explore, and they are electronic intermediaries, competition, marketing organization, and promotion innovation.Shiller, R. J. (2013). Financial capitalism innovation. Financial Analysts Journal, 69(1).Robert Shiller discusses his opinion on capitalism in the CFA Institute where the Financial Analysts Seminar took place in Chicago. Shiller, a finance professor at Yale University, argues that for one to enjoy success and achieve society goals, he or she should update capitalism constantly. Financiers are contributing towards attaining capitalism through some recent innovations that include crowd funding, benefit corporations, and social impact bond.Garcia, M. J. R. (2013). Financial behavioral and education finance: new insights into the role of information in financial decisions. Journal of Economic Surveys, 27(2), 297-315.According to Garcia's research, recent evidence on experimental activities and surveys offers economist s some new insights on how people use information to make financial decisions in financial education and behavioral finance fields. Psychological aspects of an individual at times eliminate or reduce the significance of information in making financial decisions like individual overconfidence, or an individuals failure to process abundant or complex information.Jensen, B. B., Orquin, J., Bech-Larsen, T. (2014). Distinguishing passive recipients from active decliners of flyers?. Journal of Retailing and Consuming , 21(1), 1-8.As much as sales are increasing due to flyer advertisements, scores of customers decline to receive the flyers while others dispose them after a quick scan. Jensen, Orquin, Bech-Larsen examine behavioral and attitudinal factors differentiating active and passive recipients of flyers. The outcome is that decliners are less conscious when it comes to price, so most of them consider flyers less useful and more convenient. Decliners mostly use other forms of media less to search deals as compared to receivers and are inclined to searching grocery deals on internet platforms. Retailers must focus on using the internet to advertise because addressing the lack of use and inconvenience of flyers may prove a hard nut to crack.Martnez-Lpez, F. J., Barrales-Molina, V. Gzquez-Abad, J. C., (2014). Profiling the flyer-prone consumer. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(6), 966-975.Martinez, Barrales-Molina Gazquez, (2014) predict the likelihood of less prone consumers and highly prone ones to retain flyers in terms of demographic, economic, and shopping-related variables. The empirical findings indicate that including price discounts support is not necessarily important if a retailer or manufacturer intends to elevate the probability of a customer storing the flyer. However, the reliability of flyers depends on the consumers perception of its importance.Kashyap, A. K. Diamond, D. W., (2016). Liquidity choice, requirement, and financial st ability (No. w22053). National Economic Research.In the study, Kashyap and Diamond discuss how people are inclined to spend a lot of money to enjoy today without preparing for the future. One in every ten people would rather live in the moment, while more than five out of ten people treat themselves without planning for it. Most people think about short term happiness and disregard the consequences that may come later on in life. Even when people save, they do not save with an intention of investing, but they save so that they can visit extravagant places during the holidays or attend famed events.AbstractThis research finds out why people are more inclined to have fun rather than have financial stability, and the research topic is Two flyers design with the title EARN UP and the other TURN UP.' The research intends to find out how many people would respond to the flyer with the title EARN UP as compared to the one titled TURN UP. In the research, the youth of between eighteen and t hirty-five years are going to be the participants because in most cases they are the targets of financial seminars. The results determine that two hundred people call in response to the TURN UP seminar while only twenty-five people call in the reaction to the EARN UP seminar. According to the research, it is evident that many of the participants do not read the entire flyer and so they called to find out about the TURN UP not knowing it was a finance seminar. Since many prefer enjoying the moment while it lasts, they forget to invest so that they do not need to worry about the inability of taking care of their expenses. Many of the participants do not understand the need to save for future financial goals as well as emergencies. In conclusion, most people are interested in merry making as opposed to working hard for financial security.MethodsThe first method used is the observation of the participants given the Flyers where the immediate reaction of all participants was noted.The se cond method is waiting for feedback from all who got the Flyers regardless of thee title.ParticipantsThe participants in the study are a number of youth aged from eighteen to thirty-five years. The research dubbed Two flyers design with the title EARN UP and the other TURN UP' uses people in this age because they are the targets of EARN UP and TURN UP seminars, as well as many other financial seminars held in our daily lives. Another reason why the youth is used as the participants is that they understand the words TURN UP, hence it quickly draws their attention to the flyer. Using an elderly group as the subject of the research may not aid in producing the desired results.

The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde - 1186 Words

Split Reality Writers of the Victorian age took an interest in psychology, particularly regarding the dual nature most people exercise. Sometimes Victorian writers use their stories of self-discovery and individuality to provoke new views of social norms. Three authors stick out as the pioneers of dualism: Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde and Charlotte Brontë. Stevenson wrote a story to tell his audience that having a secondary life strictly for pleasure can destroy both of your lives. Wilde disagreed with Stevenson and believed that the second persona can be safe, and not affect anyone else. Brontë used her story to shed light on the secret desires of women by producing characters with dual identities. These dual identity characters consisted of a personality embodying how women want to act, and the other one represented how women were expected to act. In principle, all of these authors agreed on the basic concepts of dualism, however, they all had separate ideas of their effects. Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, depicts the constant struggle between virtue and desire with a man by the name of Dr. Jekyll, and his counterpart, Mr. Hyde. The story of these two sides of the same coin shed light on the internal battle between right and wrong. While Dr. Jekyll represents the acceptable, lighter side of humanity, Hyde portrays the selfish side with no concern for any consequence of his actions. Dr. Jekyll is the crà ¨me of the cropShow MoreRelatedThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1675 Words   |  7 PagesThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,† is a type of Gothic literature. In the beginning of the story when Stevenson is describing the lawyer, one â€Å"Mr. Utterson,† the mood is a bit dull. At first glance the reader may think that this story would be a bit boring and drab. Stevenson’s story is far from being another dull piece of British English literature. The setting and mood of this novella are more complexRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde Essay975 Words   |  4 PagesStevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella that follows the basic outline established by Mary Shelley in Frankenstein. However, Stevenson’s monster is not created from body parts but comes from the dark side of the human personality. In both novels, a man conducts a secret experiment that gets out of control. The result of these experiments is the release of a double, or doppelgan ger, which causes damage to their creator. While most people think that The Strange Case of Dr. JekyllRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1440 Words   |  6 Pagescomplexity of human nature in his books, especially in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Kidnapped. The former is about a lawyer named Mr. Utterson seeking out the truth of Dr. Jekyll’s very strange will. He finds out that Jekyll was transforming himself into Mr. Hyde so that he could have the freedom to do whatever he wanted no matter how evil. By the time Utterson finds all this out and findsJekyll, he is too late and Jekyll has already killed himself. The latter is about David BalfourRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1196 Words   |  5 Pageswhich do let control you? The good or evil? This was a question that Dr. Jekyll from the book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, could not answer. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a book about a man who cannot control the two sides of himself, causing him to do terrible things and not even be aware of it. The theme of this book is good versus evil. Dr. Jekyll is fighting his evil side, known as Mr. Hyde, throughout the book. Some people believe that the book’s theme hasRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde938 Words   |  4 PagesVictorian Hopes and Fears Involving Science as Found in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde During the Victorian Era there was a great race to use science to alleviate the suffering of the ill, specifically for those patients who were suffering from ailments of the mind. While some of the methods used to diagnose and treat such afflictions would be considered barbaric in nature by today’s standards, they were considered cutting edge medical science during the time of the Victorian Era. It was also consideredRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde964 Words   |  4 PagesThe Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson was published in 1886. The story is published during the Victorian era, the Victorian era was an age of repression, there was no violence, no sexual appetite, and there was no great expression or emotion. In the story, Dr. Jekyll creates a potion that turns him into Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde is the complete opposite of what people are in the Victorian era. At first, Dr. Jekyll is in control of Mr. Hyde, but towards t he end MrRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1505 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the latter portion of the nineteenth century, Robert Louis Stevenson published his novella, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The fin de sià ¨cle saw the rise of different thoughts and ideas surrounding science and society. These concepts and interpretations sparked the discourse surrounding the theory of degeneration; which was the concern that civilization would fall to a lower state of being. This chapter will be reading multiplex personality as a manifestation of this broader culturalRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1739 Words   |  7 Pagesnovel â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde† by Robert Louis Stevenson, the novel â€Å"Frankenstein† by Mary Shelley, the short story â€Å"The Monkey’s Paw† by W.W Jacobs and the short story â€Å"Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These four texts convey this theme through the use of gothic conventions such as death, madness and darkness. In the novels The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll are wronglyRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1351 Words   |  6 PagesThe Personas of Henry Jekyll Every person is born with bright and dark personas that people moderate due to the standards of society. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jekyll and Hyde battle for the power to stay alive in the story. As Jekyll continues to try and take over his evil persona, Hyde tries to stay alive and cause evil in the world. In our society, many people will struggle with self control and Dr. Jekyll has trouble controlling his alter ego by performing his evil pleasuresRead MoreThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1326 Words   |  6 Pages The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was published during the late Victorian era, but he clearly brings into question the acceptance of Victorian philosophies, especially the belief that one truth exists and that we can identify good and evil as separate entities. The names Jekyll and Hyde have become synonymous with multiple personality disorder. This novel can be examined from the natural dualism and Freud’s structural th eory of the mind. In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr

Nonverbal Communication Excercise Essay - 700 Words

What is it about human behavior that intrigue or influence us? I am going to share with you a nonverbal exercise I engaged in to determine how my nonverbal communication could, or possibly have, effected how I am perceived by others. For this self evaluated exercise I carefully choose two people, my sister Laura, who I am very close to and Wally, a colleague who I feel comfortable with. Laura’s observation took place in her home and lasted approximately thirty minutes; Wally on the other hand, took place at work and lasted approximately fifteen minutes. I began the first exercise with Laura who was providing me with details of a family function that was to take place in the near future. I felt relaxed and comfortable when†¦show more content†¦I spontaneously got up to help myself to another cup of coffee leaving her talking to me from a distance which required her to raise her voice so I could hear what she was saying. I realized at that moment, how inappropriate my behavior was when interacting with my sister. I was disappointed in myself for not extending the same courtesy as I would another individual who I may not be as close to. My second self evaluation took place at work with a colleague named Wally. I was standing in the hallway when Wally approached wanting to explain a new filing system being implemented. I showed interest in what Wally had to say and stopped to listen. During our conversation, I observed my eye contact was consistent, my posture was erect and I was very attentive. My head was bobbing acknowledging her every word. It was important to me that Wally knew she had my undivided attention while communicating with me. The phone rang just as she was finished her explanation of our filing system. I thanked her for sharing the updated information and politely excused myself to answer the phone. I felt confident about the way I used my nonverbal communication skills and I felt I gave her the respect she deserved. Dur ing both of the above mentioned self evaluated exercises, I recognized strengths and weaknesses about my nonverbal behavior. I compared the same skills used in both situations and realized how differently I applied them to

The Long-Term Impact of the Black Death on the Medieval Agriculture free essay sample

As one of the most severe plagues in human history, the Black Death was unprecedented in two ways: on one hand, it was undoubtedly a terrible nightmare, which swept the entire Europe and killed so many people; however, on the other hand, it was also a unique event that accelerated the process of European agricultural history. In years before the Black Death, the European agriculture was already in trouble. Agriculture has long been the foundation of economy and society, especially during the time as early as in the Middle Ages. As the foundation of agriculture, corn production was the most important agricultural activity at the time. However, corn production faced several problems, which severely cumbered the development of agriculture. We will write a custom essay sample on The Long-Term Impact of the Black Death on the Medieval Agriculture or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The shortage of livestock was one of the obstacles, which led to both a lack of manure and low efficiency in culturing. Other reasons such as over-cultivation and lack of water conservancy facilities also encumbered the development of agriculture. At the same time, population was growing rapidly. Although the estimations of the growth rate were not exactly the same, there was a consensus among historians that the gross population in Europe almost doubled between 11th and 14th century. In year 1000 and year 1300, the population in France was 5 million and 15 million respectively; it was 3 million and 12 million in Germany respectively; in Italy the population was 5 million and 10 million respectively; and in the British Isles, it was 2 and 5 million. (1) A problem with a rapid population growth is that the population may gradually outgrow agriculture production. The poor balance between the rapid growing population and relatively slow growing agriculture once collapses, there would certainly be a severe disaster. As some historians pointed out, â€Å"output continued to rise but not as quickly as populations. High famine- and disease-related mortality led to demographic collapse and the circle started again. † (2) Though this was probably not the main reason of the eruption of the Black Death, the unbalance of population and productivity did contribute to the severity of the plague. The Black Death led first to short-term impacts. The most severe and direct impact of the Black Death to the European society was its threat and damage to the population. The epidemic was unrelenting at that time, as it carried with it a high mortality and the ability to infect fast, and joint with the undeveloped medicine system in the Middle Ages. The Black Death first attacked the area of Mediterranean, and the area along the Atlantic Ocean, where the trade centers and crowed harbors were. Then it marched all the way into the inland, virus carried by people and rats both through waterways and in-land traffic. In urban areas, the plague was especially menacing, since a higher population ensity offered the virus more opportunities to spread through contact between people. What’s more, the poor condition of public health facilities contributed to the severity of the plague. It is hard to assert an exact average mortality rate caused by the Black Death, because the severity of the plague varied in different parts of Europe and it also differed in urban and rural areas. There were places highly struck by the epidemic with mortality rates higher than 50%, such as the eastern area in England; and there were also places, such as the region of Bohemia, with a relatively low mortality rate of under 15%. There is another problem with the available statistics however, as most of these statistics only record the death of people who had a stable income and could afford tax or rent. This meant that the lower class of poor workers and peasants were not covered by most of the records. Thus we can only draw an estimated conclusion that, in general, the average mortality in Europe during the Black Death was between 30~50% (3). The Black Death also had another short-term impact, as it deeply damaged the agriculture in many ways. The first and most direct impact was that it led to a serious shortage of agricultural labor. Human labor was one of the most important elements in agriculture, especially in the Middle Ages, when agricultural technique and devices hadn’t been well developed. The high mortality and the lasting depopulation during the Black Death â€Å"led to an acute shortage of labor in the countryside† (4) thus impairing the productivity. The depopulation was accompanied by a reduction of output. In Leicester in England, there was severe shortage of servants and laborers, and â€Å"many crops rotted unharvested in the fields† (5). In the village of Elkington in Northamptonshire, the number of taxpayers seems to have decreased due to epopulation during the period between 1377 and 1412(6); and â€Å"by the first decade of the fifteenth century, grain production levels between the Tyne and Tees appear to have been less than one-third their level of a century earlier. Other parts in Europe suffered just as much. In Spain, depopulated villages and rising wages suggested that the area cultivated with cereals and vines fell in the aftermath of the Black Death; in the area around Cambrai in France, grain productivity fell up to 50 percent between 1320 to 1370 and witnessed a further drop of 25 percent by the mid fifteen century. 8) The Black Death added to the misery of the human society in Medieval Europe, which had already suffered great losses during the Great Famine. â€Å"Just over thirty years later (after the great famine), the Black Death swept through Europe, leaving few areas untouched, and was accompanied by a collapse in output levels. †(9) The Black Death disturbed the normal operation of the economy, as it was accompanied by an agricultural crisis. It seemed that the Black Death was an evil disaster which made the entire continent into a hell. But actually it was not the complete story. In addition to the immediate influences of depopulation and agricultural recession, the Black Death caused some deeper and long-term effects: it accelerated the decline of the serfdom and manorial system and thus, to some extent, altered the course of the European economy. As mentioned before, the Black Death caused a high mortality rate of approximately 30%~50%. With less labor, land lords had no choice but to reduce the rent in order to keep the peasants on their lands. As a result, the wages of those peasants increased. After the Black Death, the lucky survived peasants couldn’t bear the same burden as before the plague, and since labor turned out to be a scarce resource after the Black Death, the peasants had advantages when negotiating. Because of this, peasants started to demand more benefits for themselves. Though â€Å"this rising aspirations of workers prompted a variety of public and private strategies on the part of the employing classes to control them more tightly† , and some efforts were taken to control wages, but as â€Å" Landlords had no incentive to maintain a landless class simply for the sake of keeping wages low. They could not individually influence the prevailing wage rate, but they could improve their incomes by taking new tenants onto their land†, so they finally â€Å"negotiated wages upwards† â€Å"to get the labor they needed. † (10) At the same time, the mobility of serfs greatly increased and some peasants were able to flee from one manor to another. The main condition which made this mobility possible was the fact that labor was so scarce that serfs were usually welcomed by the manors they moved to. â€Å"Sturdy young men and women, hard workers, at a time that labor was scarce, could leave home and find employment elsewhere, no questions asked. While if lords didn’t allow their freedom, they could say that â€Å"they were determined to go and live somewhere else where they could be free—they and their descendants. † (12) And some of the serfs, though not many, even tried to migrate to towns where serfs were free, with the restriction that only if they managed to survive in the town for more than one year, could they be granted freedom. After the Black Death, the serfdom and manorial system were about to collapse, but this system had already begun to decline as early as the 13th century. Part of the cause of the decline was a change in the economic environment. Before the Black Death, as the economy grew, many of the areas in Europe began to commercialize. The original type of labor rents began to fail and there was instead an emergence of money rents. For example, in Cambridgeshire, the percentage relation of the money rent of free tenants, the money rent of villein, and labor rent was 32-28-40 per cent, according to the Hundred Rolls; in Bedfordshire, villein rent accounts for 61 per cent of the total, and the corresponding figure was 76 per cent in Buckinghamshire. The transformation of labor rent into money rent required the peasants to sell their harvest in the market, thus it helped peasants to expand their market involvement and to save some properties. Some of the serfs were able to buy partial or even complete freedom with the money they got from the market. And the manorial system itself had inner problems. â€Å"Manorial production had long been a dubious form of production† since â€Å"the yield from this type of production was so poor that even a slight change in the circumstances which surrounded it would wholly alter its method. (14) And here, the Black Death to some extent acted as the â€Å"slight† change that accelerated the process of collapse. So, as we can see, the decline of serfdom and manorial system had already begun before the Black Death, and though the Black Death wasn’t the original cause of the erosion of serfdom, it did accelerate the process as a big turning point. â€Å"The manorial system is broken up from within; but the process was accelerated under the influence of a factor exogenous to society—that is, the Black Death and its demographic consequences. (15) After the plague, the western European world changed greatly. In 15th century, servile obligations disappeared in many areas; in some regions in Italy and France appeared another system. In this system, lords were responsible to supply seeds and tools in addition to lands to the peasants; the products were allocated to lords and peasants at a prearranged proportion, regardless of the gross harvest amount; the peasants were free of any servile obligations. And in 16th century, serfdom was replaced by a new type of contract in most areas in Western Europe. According to this contract, peasants had access to the land while lords own the lands; after paying a certain amount of rent, peasants were free to sell the rest of the harvest in market; peasants were also free to leave the land, and lord had no right to force them back; peasants also had the right to allocate and dispose their properties. (16) However, this wasn’t the end of the story. The Black Death somehow led to a reappearance of serfdom in Eastern Europe. In order to increase their benefits, lords in Eastern Europe needed cheap labor whose freedoms they could restrict. So after the Black Death, the lords tried harder to force the peasants to stay in their lands, and increased their servile labor. In addition, as local monarchs were weak in Eastern Europe, it was even more difficult for peasants to escape from their lords without the support of monarchs. The Black Death also, to some extent, promoted a restructure of the economy in the Middle Ages. In a new economic environment when the prices of most products sky-rocked while the price of grain decreased, it could be costly for those lords who only produced grain. With the intention to earn more profit, many lords and peasants began to diversify their products and planted more commercial crops. For example, many cultivators began to cultivate saffron, a commercial crop with high value, in the mid-fifteen century in Cambridge shire in England. (17) As living standards improved, the demand for products such as wine, sugar and fruits also increased, so did the productivity of these crops. Productivity of some crops related to textile, one of the most developed industries in medieval Europe, also increased. And as the price of wool increased with a growing demand for it, combined with the scarcity of labor and the fact that sheep required little labor, many areas in Europe, such as Central Italy, the Roman Campagna, the Castiles and England, witnessed an â€Å"extraordinary development in one form of pasture-farming, that of sheep-rearing†. (18) Thus, in conclusion, rarely in history did a single epidemic ever so greatly impact an entire population and society across a continent as the Black Death did. It was a living hell for European people at that time, not only because of the high mortality rate but also the turbulence it created in the entire human society. But in the long-term, it accelerated the process of European agricultural transformation, and thus its long-term effects included the liberation of labor after the Black Death which helped the European economy to develop further.