The Black Death was a catastrophic event, it caused many innocent people to lose their lives. The people had different responses to the Plague. In this specific DBQ the topic will be “How Different Were Christian and Muslim Responses” (The Black Death: How Different Were Christian and Muslim Responses, 2010). The Christian and Muslims had somewhat different and the same responses. They would either turn to religion or they divert their own path away from religion. Both Christians and Muslims had different theories on why the Black Death came to be. Either it had something to do with their religion or it was a punishment for their sins or they would blame people such as the Jews.
The plague first started in the east. When it reached Europe
The infamous plague, known as the Black Death, was a deadly disease which managed to spread throughout Europe and the Middle East in the 14th century. Although both the Europeans and the Empires of Islam experienced the Black Death, each region had different responses and reasons for the causes of the disease. Empires of Islam viewed the plague as a blessing from God while Europeans believed it was a punishment from Him. As a result of the Black Death, Europeans rebelled whereas Empires of Islam respected authority. Europeans used other religions as an explanation for the start of the Black Death while Islamic empires did not blame other religions, but rather had other explanations that caused the disease.
From past noted information, it is clear that Europe was in a dark age throughout 500-1500 A.D. This is evident when you look at the events that took place during this time period. For example, there was the Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death and the Crusades which in together killed about 52 million people. The Black Death alone killed 50 million, one third of Europe's total population. Many people during that time thought that the world was going to end and that God did not care about them anymore.
Before the Black Death arose, Churches throughout Europe had nearly absolute power. However, as disease swept across Europe, devastated citizens once reliant on God for survival, began to abandon Canon law. As the citizens looked for answers as to why the plague was affecting Christians, the priests and bishops could not give them the answers they wanted, resulting in the Church losing spiritual authority over its people. As such, people turned to astrological forces, earthquakes and the poisoning of wells by Jews as potential explanations for the plague. In addition, many of the churches finest leaders fled to safer areas and as the Monks, nuns and friars continued to disappear, the standards for their replacements lowered. Monasteries were
Muslims believed that Allah gave the plague and that they should devoutly accept it. Christians and Muslims had different responses to the Black Death, and I will support reasons on my essay. I will also explain the how the Black Death impacted our future and the scientific inquiry on it. First, I will talk about the Christian responses to the Black Death. As I said in my introduction paragraph, Christians thought that whatever they suffer from the Black Death, it was due to their sins from God and Jesus.
A common discussion going on today is was Europe in a dark age or in a growth period. Europe was in a dark age because of what was going on in Europe during the medieval period, 500 AD to 1500 AD. In this time The Black Death happened, many crusades and how they had to resort to primitive ways of living and not live on their own. Europe was in a dark age because of these reasons. To start during early 1300 the black death started infesting Europe.
The Black Death and Great Famine of 14th century Europe were major crises, so when the Church, who was suppose to have an answer to everything, could not stop such occurrences, the people’s relationship with the Church was completely altered. Many scholars of the church died due to wide spread diseases and hunger ravaging Europe, leaving less adequate people behind to run the church. At the same time, those scholars that where alive did not give the people much hope or security because they were unable to give answers as to how to diminish these disasters. In return, the people slowly began to explore elsewhere for such answers, weakening the Church’s monopoly over the people’s every move. This expansion of thought brought about the emergence
There were many types of plague but this was the most common one. This particular devastating plague wiped out at least one third of the European population. Because of this some escaped into crimes, sex, and alcohol. Others believed that the Black Death was a punishment sent from god for peoples sins. Followed by the Black Death occurs economic crises, social upheavals, decline in trade and industry, and bank failures.
From the depths of the Middle East during the Post-Classical period, two of the most powerful world religions emerged. Islam and Christianity, although sharing many similarities, also had their fair share of disagreements, one being their responses to the Black Death. The religion, demography, and interactions all contributed to the differentiation of Muslim and Christian reactions. Christians thought that the Black Death was sent from God as a punishment and blamed the Jews, while Muslims considered it a blessing and did not accuse any minority of initiating the outbreak.
The Black Death was one of the most devastating outbreaks in the history of mankind. In Europe alone, approximately 38 million people succumbed to the diseases. The high number of victims was due to ill prepared masses and lack of necessary measures to curb the diseases. As the leader of the town of Toledo, I endeavored to enable protection for the town from the spread of the plague. In order to control the outbreak, I led the town by administering health measures as well as necessary actions, maintaining the stability and security of the town.
In the Later Middle Ages, from 1300 to 1450, a plague is seen spreading and killing mass amounts of people in Europe, this plague would later be named the Black Death. Starting in China in 1331 and then spreading to Europe by cargo ships in 1347. During the Later Middle Ages the climate also changed, dropping the temperature, killing crops, and freezing water supplies. During this period there were also multiple crisis that began to pop up, and not many can be attributed to the Black Death. One must take each event and look for causation case-by-case rather they labeling all with the same brush stroke.
The Bubonic Plague, known more commonly as the Black Death, was a fatal disease that ravaged Asia and Europe during the mid-14th century. Although the destruction the Plague brought upon Europe in terms of deaths was enormous, the Islamic world arguably suffered more due to the fact that plague epidemics continually returned to the Islamic world up until the 19th century. The recurrence of the disease caused Muslim populations to never recover from the losses suffered and a resulting demographic shift that arguably helped Europe to surpass the Islamic world's previous superiority in scholarship.
Christian and Muslim Responses to the Black Death Even though the Black Death hit both the Muslims and the Christians, their responses to the Black death were quite different. The Christians blamed God, but not just him. They blamed people as well. The Jewish people, to be precise. The Muslims blamed mostly God with the exception of very little other accusations.
In the fourteenth century, a destructive plague would appear and kill between 25% to 45% of the populations it encountered. It would later be known as the Black Death. During these times, there were multiple responses coming from all types of people such as Muslims and Christians. However, Christian and Muslim people responses toward the Black Death were immensely different because of how they treated the bodies of the Black Death victims, the violent behavior Christian people responded with compared to the nonviolent one of Muslims, and Christian people blaming the Black Death as a divine act compared to Muslim people not blaming anyone. To begin, Muslim and Christian people responded to the Black Death differently because they treated the
In 1346 European traders began to hear reports about earthquakes, floods, locusts, famine, and plague in faraway China. They knew very little then that the plague they were hearing about would follow the same trade routes to the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe that they themselves used. (doc. 1) In five short years, the plague killed between 25 and 45% of the populations it encountered. (doc 2) So how different were the Christian and Muslim responses? In 1348 Christianity and Islam came face to face with the Black Death. (doc. 3A) In truth, Muslims and Christians responded in many different ways. Their ideas for what caused the Black Death were somewhat different from each other also. Even the way they thought they could cure the
Muslims and christians responded several different ways. Christians believed the black death was a punishment sent from god and muslims believed it was a gift from god. They all had several explanations for why they believed this disease was brought upon them. How different were Christian and Muslim responses? Muslims reacted to this illness peacefully.