[Tonchi]

Speaking of the Plague, historians now agree that in the long run the Plagues of the mid 14th Century were what brought Europe out of the Middle Ages. With no serfs to slave for them, the landlords who remained were forced to pay wages for the first time in order to work their land, and many who fled the plague or survived it became free to move to someplace else for the first time in their lives. They could even take over land which had previously been denied to them under the feudal system. Entire villages completely disappeared after a few years of weather, because they were built of scraps, and only the churches and manor houses remained, standing alone in the countrysides. Trade came back with a strength previously unknown, because now there were people who could buy things other than the nobility: people could now be paid for the trades they were previously forced to perform for free. Maps were redrawn, old political alliances were gone because the parties no longer existed, and a middle class slowly began to form. Unfortunately, nobody learned any lessons about having filth and vermin surrounding you being bad for your health. Yes, millions of people all over the known world died from these plagues, but not all the outcomes were bad.