Cause And Effects 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).

The Black Death or “The Plague” was one of the most deadliest diseases to be known. It originated in Italy and spread rapidly killing more than 137 million people. Most people didn't know how the disease got its name but the most popular reason was because of the blackish, purplish spots the disease would leave on the skin. Along with being one of the worst diseases ever, it was in effect during one of the longest wars in history. As in the name, the war of “The Hundred Years War” lasted over a hundred years. It was a series of off and on problems but in the end, England was defeated. Of course with a war lasting that long there had to be some changes made to the nation afterwards.

Imagine a swelling the size of an apple in the groin or armpit. The causes behind these swellings are unknown, and though they look harmless, the pain is apparent. This swelling would painfully progress from the regions and spawn black or purple spots on any part of the body where it spreads. These lesions were the first signs of the Black Death, and for too many Europeans of the 1300s, the sign of imminent death. The Black Death ravaged the Old World and killed off nine-tenths of the population (Beaumont). The pandemic struck fast and hard and as the masses tried to make sense of this sickness, they came to the conclusion that God was punishing them. Groups started to hate each other as the plague killed with no prejudice. The economy saw inflation due to rising production costs and dangerous trading circumstances. This plague not only affected the mortality of the

The Black Death (also known as The Bubonic Plague) surfaced in Europe in October of 1347, when twelve Genoese ships arrived in the Sicilian port of Messina. The people awaiting the ships at the port were greeted with a most unpleasant surprise; many of the people aboard the ship had died and those who were alive were greatly ill. One of the most noticeable symptoms of their illness were the black boils covering the sailors skin, hence the name “The Black Death”. Despite the people of Sicilians effort’s they could not stop the plague spreading and it continued to kill millions of people over the next five years. The plague continued to return every couple of

Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer who lived during the plague in 1348, located in the city of Florence. In his book The Decameron, Boccaccio describes what he had seen during the outfall of his city and how these deaths paved the way for social and cultural changes in Europe during the fourteenth century. Boccaccio described the physical aspects on death as well as their mental state. This plague not only caused them to become sick but mentally ill. Nobody in Europe saw it coming, nor could they stop it. Hopelessness was something that had taken a part of their lives.

The black death has broken out three times in the world that has ever been recorded. It only stays into certain area, from cities to full regions. If it wasn’t stopped then it would spread throughout the globe. It’s usually not noticeable, but once it starts it’s hard to stop once it goes. Back when it first started there was no way to stop it or help it, so it ended up killing millions of people. No One knew how to explain what the disease was and what it was doing to the people. Nearly half of the population in the world had died because of it. They finally identified it whenever it hit hong kong, they had found the bacterium that has been causing it

Death, Pain and an 80 percent death rate (History.com staff). The plague destroyed people's lives and their countries health. The devastation of the country, the effects it had on the people, and the deadly symptoms.

In the fourteenth century the Black Death transpired, killing millions. It is hard to believe that the gruesome plague was only seven hundred years ago and the outcome is still efficacious today, with other plagues, cousins to the epidemic. The Black Death was the worst plague that has ever hit Europe due to its mysterious origins, its devastating effects, rapid escalation, as well as how it was treated, which was very poorly.

The states of California, Arizona, and Florida have a combined population of about 65 million people. Imagine all three of those states being completely wiped out, that doesn't even compare to the devastation Europe suffered because of the Black Death, which lasted for 7 years. It took a staggering 200 years before Europe would be able to build back up their population again. On top of the large amount of losses, the rest of the world suffered from the large monumental setbacks including labour, art culture, and the economy as a whole. (“The Week UK”). The Black Death, from 1346-1353, was one of the most catastrophic events in human history, which can be seen by the fact that between 75-200 million people who were killed in Europe due to the plague.

How did people react to the plague? First, the plague or the “ Black Death,” was introduced to Europe by water when the Genoese ships brought fleas and rats which then spread it by biting humans. The plague broke out in Western Europe killing about twenty-five million people. During this time in the middle of the fourteenth century, people miscalculated the effects of this disease and started to treat affected people like how they would handle any other illness which was by using materials found nearby and making homemade medicines. However, people began to figure out that the disease was not curing and that is was spreading like wildfire all around the continent. The plague devastated many a vast majority of the people in Europe, and many people responded to the plague by using it as a way to earn money and make a profit, running from it to protect themselves, or, gave religious explanations for it.

“The violence of the Black Death was such that the sick communicated it to the healthy who came near them, just as a fire catches anything dry or oily near it” (Boccaccio). In the Golden Age of bacteria, there was a large increase in epidemic diseases caused by increases in Europe’s population density. The Black Death, or bubonic plague, has been labeled with a negative connotation since its arrival, but by withstanding the natural selector, Europe striked great progress in post-epidemic times and improved several characteristics in it’s civilizations. Although the Black Death killed twentyfive million Europeans, it actually improved economic conditions in Europe by breaking the power of feudalism, fostering urbanization, and confirming the immense importance of illness prevention/hygiene.

Another common response twas to quarantine themselves and/or others or stay home to help slow the spread of the disease. A schoolmaster in the Netherlands said that the plague kept some from coming to school. As a schoolmaster, he knew

European civilizations developed most of their foundations during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. During this time, the Catholic Church reached its climax. By the fourteenth century however, a devastating number of catastrophes resulted in the destruction of medieval civilization. The Black Death, a devastating plague, was the most destructive natural disaster in European history. Following in its wake were numerous economic and social crises, including political unrest during the Hundred Years’ War. The Catholic Church also experienced its own crisis. All of these economic, social and political issues shook Europe to its core, but not enough to crumble its resilient foundation.

During the middle of the 14th century, a plague hit Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and parts of North Africa in a fashion that obliterated upwards of half of the population of these areas. According to Katherine Park, this plague was known as the “Great Mortality” and the “Great Pestilence” by people of the time but came to be known as the “Black Death” by modern historians (Park 612). It was not just one disease that spread widely, but multiple. There was one sort, however, that was more prominent than others: the bubonic plague. This disease caused lesions to form under armpits and around genital areas and usually resulted in death after a few days of symptoms. Another rarer, yet still deadly, sort that spread was that of a pneumonic plague that affected the respiratory system. Many of the people of the time believed this disastrous event to be the wrath of God (Boccaccio) while others believed it was simply a natural phenomenon. Medieval Europeans integrated both Christian theology and natural philosophy into their understanding of the Black Death by using their knowledge of the natural world from Ancients and applying it to the impact that they knew God had on their lives and the world around them.

The origins of the Black Death can be traced back to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia in the 1320s. The cause of this sudden eruption of the plague is not exactly known. From the desert, it spread out in all directions. Of most importance was the spread eastward to China. China suffered an emergence of bubonic plague during the early 1330s. During the expansion of trade during the Early and High Middle ages, trade routes with China were strengthened and ventured greatly. European traders, particularly those from the Italian city states, traveled the Black Sea region regularly. Surviving documents show that one group of traders from Genoa arrived in Sicily In October of 1347, fresh from a voyage to China. This was most likely the introduction of the plague to European lands. Along with the Chinese goods on board, the traders carried the bacterium yersinia pestis in the rats on board as well as in some of the sailors themselves. The Black Death had arrived in Europe.