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The Causes and Effects of The Black Death
The Bubonic Plague or the Black Death has been in the history books since the medieval times. This deadly disease has claimed nearly 1.5 million lives in Europe (Gottfried). The Black Death hit Europe in October of 1347 and quickly spread through most of Europe by the end of 1349 and continued on to Scandinavia and Russia in the 1350s. Not only did the plague effect the European population by killing one-third to two-thirds (Gottfried), it also hurt the social and economic structures of every European society.
How it spread
The Black Death actually first appeared in the Himalayan region around 1250 AD. There are several theories as to how the disease made its way to
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Almost all who contracted either the pneumonic or septicemic plague died from the infection (Boeckl).
Causes of the Black Death
The causes of the Black Death – the flea, the rat, and the bacillus Yersinia pestis– have been labeled the “unholy trinity” (Boeckl). The flea is able to live in environmental conditions of about 74° Fahrenheit and 60% humidity (Ibid). Before the Black Death reached Europe, they were experiencing those same types of weather conditions. The rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis and the human flea, Pulex irritans, are both capable of transmitting plague (Boeckl). Sometimes, an infected flea cannot ingest blood because Yersinia pestis obstructs its digestive tract. The blockage causes a flea to regurgitate into a bitten host rather than ingest the host’s blood, thereby infecting the host with plague (Boeckl). Unable to eat, the famished flea will bite with more frequency, accelerating the spread of plague. A flea can be carrying Yersinia pestis without it blocking the flea’s digestive tract, in which case the flea does not transmit plague when it bites a host. Also, Yersinia pestis can only enter a victim through a bite, as the bacilli cannot pass through intact skin (Gottfried).
Social Changes
The disease took a major toll on the population of Europe but as it wiped out communities it also caused changes in the social structure of European society. Europe was run by a feudal
Black death was a bubonic plague, which took the lives of millions of people in the mid 1300s. This plague was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, which lived in fleas. Therefore, transmitting the bacteria to its rodent hosts every time they would feed. The bacteria then killed the rodents leaving the fleas without hosts to feed on and in result they would feed on the humans. (Bailey 7-12) Most people who were infected would last two to three days before they died, no longer than two to three weeks. The plague moved rapidly, medical researchers believe it could have moved as fast as eight to twelve miles a day. The plague was first encountered in China and it spread through Asia and into Europe in a
The black plague, also known as the bubonic plague, swept its way across Europe beginning in 1346 A.D. , killing an estimated thirty to fifty percent of the total population. The plague was spread by fleas infected with Yersinia pestis, and was carried over oceans by hitchhiking rats and pet gerbils. The plague outbreak that decimated the population was transported by infected Christian merchants
In the 14th century the Black Death engulfed Europe killing an estimated 50 million people. The pandemic is considered extraordinary because it did so in a matter of months. This disease was carried by fleas, the Bubonic Plague is caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis, found mainly in rodents, in this case in rats, and the fleas that feed on them.
The Black Death changed European history in many significant ways. Its fatal symptoms took many human lives, and its influence carried over into many areas of society. Economically, Europe flourished because
The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, devastated the world between 1347 and 1351. Due to the plague being transmitted through fleas, many people were susceptible to the disease that wiped out much of the population. The plague caused much throughout Europe because of the number of lives lost, the number of people affected, and the limited amount of medical research that came from this period in time. The number of lives lost caused devastation in Europe.
Europe was hit with the Bubonic Plague, also known as The Black Death, in 1347 devastating the European Society. The Bubonic Plague was hard to get away from due to the conditions in Europe and took many lives. The Bubonic Plague also influenced religion and started changing the normal European society into a new one.
The people weren’t sure how they were catching the quickly spreading disease, and the doctors of this age couldn’t find a cure. This disease is estimated to have killed thirty to sixty percent of Europe’s population. The total world population is believed to have dropped from four-hundred and fifty million down to three-hundred and fifty million, which is a hundred million people or possibly more. The plague resulted in a series of religious, social, and economic outburst, which had great effects on European history.
One of the most devastating pandemics in history during the 14th century caused turmoil and massive death amongst Europe. The disastrous disease known as the Black Death ultimately wrenched society in melancholia and disseverment. As a result, a series of social and economic upheavals had a profound effect on society; creating lack of optimism of better days. The people suffered religiously because the pandemic displayed a darker side of life leaving them to question their beliefs. Eventually, such upheavals relinquished and a sanguine time befitted Europe. Although the black plague claimed the lives of millions and placed kingdoms in turmoil, the plague actually improved economic conditions for its survivors. Depopulation allowed wealth for many people and Europe was on its way into a new age of prosperity.
Geography plays an important part in history no matter the circumstances. The Black Death is only one of many events in history where geography has an important role. Geography allows us to pinpoint the different locations and environments the Black Death occurred in. It is believed that the Black Death originated in Central Asia (China). The first outbreak was with the Yuan Empire in 1331, which may have advanced the end of the Mongol rule over China ( “How The Black Death Started In Asia”). The disease had killed more than 90 percent of the Hebei Province’s populations, as recorded in 1334, with the number of deaths adding to be greater than 5 million people (“How The Black Death Started In Asia”). By 1393 a record showed a total of only 65 million chinese surviving. A series of trade routes from Central Asia (China) lead to the spread of this devastating
With all people coming in and out of European continent, the Bubonic Plague was brought to Europe. It’s a disease that was brought about by rats from cargo ships and by trade. It causes the capillaries to be clogged with bacilli and rupture, that creates black splotches on the skin which gave it the name the “Black Death.” The Bubonic Plague spread immensely and caused a major decrease in the population. The outbreak caused Europe’s population to decrease by half the amount of people, disrupted trade, and caused violence. The plague caused one of the most advanced empires to go into utter chaos.
The Black Plague also known as The Bubonic Plague was a huge widespread plague that went through Asia and Europe. It reached Europe in the late 1340s and then carried on for centuries. It is estimated that 25 million people were dead; one in 5 residents was died. Many people were killed by the plague if not injured and barely living. The Black Plague affected many people.
Black Death was easily cured by antibiotics but the lack of development in science was devastating. It is spread by bacteria called bacillus Pasteurella pestis (Yersinia pestis). The disease was transmitted to the person through fleas in the black rat. Since the disease was spread through
During the plague the mortality rate for humans who caught the Bubonic plague was 30-75% which means a lot of people die. Devastating right? Many people also thought the plague was caused by pockets of bad air released by earthquakes. Many doctors believed that certain smells could drive out the plague. Dung and urine were tested but didn’t do anything. People also tried to drone out the sickness by drinking wine and only thinking positive things. The traditional view that the Black Death started in Norway in the late summer of 1349, and lasted well into 1350. Which means the little country had to suffer a whole year with a fatal disease with absolutely no cure by their side. It was them against death. Due to so many people dying the exact death toll from the Black Death is difficult to measure from medieval
The origins of the Black Death were unknown during the late 1340’s and were debated among the observers of the time. Some witnesses believed that the sickness began in the East and was spread to Europe by boat. Louis Sanctus a musician for one of the Pope’s cardinals (who died because of the plague) wrote “For on December 31, in the year of our Lord 1348 [1347], three galleys horribly infected and heavily laden with the spices and other goods landed at the port of Genoa, after having been forcibly expelled from the eastern parts.” (The Black Death pg. 22) It is implied by this that these galleys contained the plague and it began to affect the Genoese quickly. However, others believed that that the plague had to originate somewhere else and was spread to the east. Abū Hafs Umar Ibn Alwardī a religious judge and writer said “It [the plague] began in the land of darkness… China was not preserved from it nor could the strongest fortress hinder it. The plague afflicted the
The moniker ‘The Black Death’ came from a symptom where skin becomes black and begins to die. However there were dozens of other symptoms which appeared, the most famous being swelling of the lymph nodes, called buboes. There were three actual types of plague, all with different symptoms. Buboes appeared with cases of the Bubonic type of plague, leading physicians to a fast diagnosis. Septicemic plague was often a second stage to the untreated bubonic plague, but not always. The skin turned black and rotted away, and there was often internal bleeding. Lastly there was pneumonic plague, which lead to internal bleeding, especially in the lungs, respiratory failure and pneumonia, and came from untreated bubonic forms of the disease. Septicemic and bubonic forms were only contagious from the bite of infected fleas or handling an infected animal, blood borne transmission. Pneumonic plague was the only type which could be spread person-to-person, by inhaling droplets coughed up