Black Plague Causes

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.

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.

Christians and Muslims have some different things, but they’re mostly the same. The 14th century is when the Black Death was more deadly. The Black Death struck Europe and the Middle East in the mid 14th century. Muslims and Christians both got the Plague, and they both mostly had the same symptoms and causes. There were three different types of bacterial strains, they were Bubonic, Pneumonic, and Septicemic.

The people in Dante's second circle of hell all committed crimes regarding sexual desires. Whether it was falling in love for one, when being promised to another or simply cheating. These were all against the code of conduct and looked at as offences that landed them in hell. Another transgression was people who act out of sexual desire rather than doing what's right.

Religion has always been a major theme in history, and even now does not fail to play an important role. The desire to gain more believers and convert people makes up the base of the reason for the differences in Muslim and Christian responses the Black Plague. As Gabriele de Mussis, a Christian chronicler during the Black Death, states, “I am overwhelmed, I can’t go on!...The hand of the Almighty strikes repeatedly to greater and greater effect.” On the contrary, Muhammad al Manbiji, an Islamic scholar, said that “…the plague is a blessing from God; at the least, a Muslim should devoutly accept the divine act.” (doc. 4) These two viewpoints of the plague are complete opposites; Christians are overwhelmed that their population is dying out while Muslims are accepting it as a blessing that their rival religion is suffering. These documents were combined to emphasize the contrast between

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.

In the middle ages people had no idea about how any disease such as the Black Death could spread. The Europeans think “it disseminated by the influence of the celestial bodies, or sent upon them by God in his just wrath” (Boccaccio). In other words, they think the plague came from the sky or sent by God. They think maybe it is God’s way of cleansing the earth or punishing them for their unfair behaviors. Some think that a supernatural origin caused the disease. This disease is a bacterium infection which has a variety of symptoms, such as, nose bleeding, tumors in the groin or armpits and black spots or

The Islamic world had suffered at least five major plague epidemics before the Black Death in the 14th century, yet the Black Death was far more

"Prayer for lifting the epidemic is abhorrent because the plague is a blessing from God; at the least, a Muslim should devoutly accept the divine act," states Muhammad Al-Manbiji in Document 4. Al-Manbiji saw the plague as a blessing from God; he said that praying for the end of the plague was abhorrent. The predominant faith in the Middle-East at that time was Islam which means "Submission to God". (Background Essay) The people in the Middle-East thought that they should accept the plague as the will of Allah (God). They acted in a calm manner. Micheal Dols, a scholar, wrote in the Princeton University Press, "The is no evidence for the appearance of messianic movements in Muslim society at this time that might have associated the Black Death with an apocalypse," which is found in Document 10. They might have even become even more diligent and faithful in accordance to the plague. Document 9 states, "...the people fasted for three successive days...assembled in the Great Mosque until it was overflowing... and spent the night there in prayers... they all went out together... carrying Korans in their hands." All the people of Damascus prayed together. Jews went out with Christians; there was no

Christianity and Islam are two major religions who responded differently to the black plague due to religious beliefs. Christians believed the black plague was a punishment for their sins where the Muslims see the plague as a blessing. While Christians prayed for the plague to end the Muslims were praying to Allah thanking him for the plague. Muslims saw the plague as a quick way to the afterlife if they were infected by it, where Christians seen it as a punishment which ended their life on earth. These are not the only differences between the two religions, there are many more that will leave you flabbergasted.

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

The Black Plague, also known as Black Death, the Great Mortality, and the Pestilence, is the name given to the plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. It is said to be the greatest catastrophe experienced by the western world up to that time. In Medieval England, the Black Death killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. There was no medical knowledge in England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it stroke England another six times by the end of the century.

The church could not save people from this disease, so it led to many people questioning and giving up on their religion. Doctors did not understand the origin of the disease, so most civilians believed the cause of the Black Death was from supernatural powers. They saw the disease as divine punishment, which is god punishing them. Many people thought they could beat themselves to atone for their supposed sins. The church lost power and influence in society because they failed to protect the civilians and the clergy from the horrid diseases. Many civilians lost faith and found a scapegoat to blame for the cause of the plague. The most popular scapegoat in the 14th century plague was the Jews. This religious group was accused of creating and spreading the plague because most Jews were merchants and the diseased rats were carried by the merchants. Persecution of the Jews continued out through the late Middle

The Christians also believed that the disease came from a higher power, but in a different manner. They believed the act was one out of rage… “when the Lord is enraged, embrace acts of penance, so that you do not stray from the right path and perish.” Christians believed that the divine act was “just the reward of our sins.” (Document 4: Gabriele de Mussis) From the different beliefs came different actions, Muslims “fasted for three successive days,” (Document 9) Christians “became more depraved, more prone to every vice and more inclined than before to evil and wickedness.”

In the year 1348 the world changed forever. The Black Death, which is another name for the Bubonic Plague, laid havoc on the entire world. “The plague chases the screaming without pity and does not accept a treasure for a ransom. Its engine is far-reaching. The plague enters into the house and swears it will not leave except with all of its inhabitants…” (Al-Wardi, #29, 113). The plague did not care if the people were rich, poor, white, black, Muslim or Catholic, it would kill whomever it could. The plague brought out the worst in people because people acted selfishly, people were completely inhumane, and there was no peace.