The Black Death
Imagine, swollen painful red lymph nodes on the neck, legs, and armpits, but the red did not last long and before the victim knew it the swollen glands were turning black and then busting open causing lesions. Then comes the fever, vomiting, muscle pains and bleeding of the lungs. Yet people had no clue why this is happening or what caused it. The Black Death swept through Europe claiming lives left and right.
It took physicians of the middle ages many years to figure out what was actually causing this horrific plague. At the time there was no cure, but the doctors would use many herbs to relieve the victims of pain. “Headaches were relieved by rose, lavender, sage and bay. Sickness or nausea was treated with wormwood, mint, and balm. Lung problems were treated with liquorice and comfrey”(Black Death). Since, the doctors could not pinpoint the disease’s origin it was often believed that it was “transmitted through a physical contact, via clothes and bed linen” (Sudakov). The physicians often wore attire, which scared a person more than the disease, that contained a beak like mask, a leather hat and, a thick coat, the purpose of “the bird beak and the leather hat - was supposed to make a person look like an Egyptian divinity to scare off the disease. The beak, however, was actually a protective device to save the doctor from the unbearable infected stench. The beak was filled with medical herbs to ease the breathing process. The mask had two vent holes and
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 death came through Western Europe from 1348-1949. The black death is a deadly disease that killed huge amounts of people. Some names that the black death is known as are the “Bubonic Plague”, “Black Plague”, and “The Plague”. The Black Death is a disease that was spreaded quickly and that is how it killed so many people. It spreaded through cough and touching and thats why it spread so quickly everywhere. The black death was deadly because it caused the skin to die, swelling, pain then death. The black death was a powerful disease and caused many changes to take place in the society.
The black death shocked most of Europe in the 1300’s, a disease like no other swept the streets form central Asia to northern Europe leaving only a few to tell the story of its monstrosities. It is estimated that 75-200 million people fell victim to the black death which at the time was 30%-60% of the world’s total population. It is unimaginable the kinds of repercussions that would occur if more than half of the population were to vanish. The biggest problem that would arise would be the risk to one’s health, also factors that we do not associate with the black death would be affected such as the economy and society. Aberth is correct in stating that the black death affected production, wages, and labor in the economy and also created
The book When Plague Strikes, is about 3 deadly diseases. It 's about the Black Death, Smallpox, and AIDS. Each of these diseases can cause a serious outrage of death. The book also tells about how doctors try to come up with treatments, medicines, and antibiotics to try and cure these diseases. All these diseases got the best out of everyone. Some people reacted differently than others with these diseases. All the diseases came in play in A. D. 1347, when the Black Death broke out for the first time in what’s today is know. As southern Ukraine.
The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a rapid infectious outbreak that swept over Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s resulting in the death of millions of people. Tentatively, this disease started in the Eastern parts of Asia, and it eventually made its way over to Europe by way of trade routes. Fever and “dark despair” characterized this plague. The highly contagious sickness displayed many flu-like symptoms, and the victim’s lymph nodes would quickly become infected. The contamination resulted in a colossal and rapid spread of the disease within one person’s body. Due to the lack of medical knowledge and physicians, there was little that people could do to save those dying all around them. Now that a better understanding of
“The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350” presents an entirely different kind of trial than the one provided by Einhard and Notker. Where Charlemagne’s struggle was often glorious combat with his fellow man, the battle against the plague had none of the nobility and prestige of conquest, and while Charles strove for power, humanity during the plague fought only for survival. The world was well familiarized with violent ambitions of powerful men, but a disease that ended roughly half of the lives in Europe (Aberth, 269) was a trial in unfamiliar terrain. A chronicler, Agnolo di Tura recounted that “So many have died that everyone believes it is the end of the World” (Aberth, 278). The now clichéd phrase of the “enemy of my enemy
As was we all know that The Black Death is one of the tragic events in world history and it has effected many civilizations in early 1300s. This has made many devastating trends within Europe’s borders and raged with many diseases, and other infections. Not only this pandemic event has effected many people, but it has transform Europe’ political, religious, and cultural practices. The Black Death became an outbreak and painful change to western civilization in which it marked history
The Black Death was one of the most devastating worldwide diseases in human history. The plague originated in central Asia and was brought to China by traders and Mongols from 1334-1347. Mongol protection of the trade may have caused the disease to spread along the “Silk Road” to Crimea. During a Mongol siege against Caffa in 1347, the Mongolian army began to die. The Mongols catapulted the dead bodies into the city where the fleas on the corpses were released into Caffa. In the year 1347, October, Genoese traders escaped from the city and sailed to Messina, an Italian port, unaware that they were infected by the disease. Eventually, everyone on the ship died and a “ghost ship” made it to port. Seeing no activity on board, the ship was
The general health and wellbeing of the Middle Ages was very poor, mostly as a result of the Black Death. The Black Death, also commonly known as the Black Plague or the Plague, was a widespread disease that killed an estimated 17 to 30 million people between the years of 1346 through 1353. It is widely thought to have originated in Central Asia and eventually made its way to Europe. The symptoms of the Plague appeared in the first few days of infection. At first it starts with flu-like symptoms, such as headache, a fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting. Also, the victim may experience back pain,muscle soreness, and sensitivity to light. After the second or third day, buboes appear. Buboes are swollen lymph nodes which look similar to a large
The Black death was able to drastically change many countries and regions. The black death was able to topple political regimes and religious regimes that had been in power for many years. The populations of countries shrunk due to the Black Death. The epidemic left a third of Europe’s population dead. In China the population went from 120 million to 80 million over the course of a century because of the death. Farmers were affected which led to famine because of the inability to produce food. Without food it led to rising prices, work stoppages and unrest. Because of the issues that the Black Death was causing countries needed to be able to make drastic changes in order to revive their nations. In China, the families that were ruling started to claim that their power was coming from the divine calling. Many other countries tried similar things to attempt to regain confidence in their country. In Europe, the struggles that the death was causing gave rise to new models and new forms of governance that attempted to turn around the country. Some of the changes that were caused because of the death were able to help the countries. The Black Death was able to bring radical political change to many countries while forcing governments to asses all of their policies and make sure that they are the right ones for their country. Therefore, the Black Death could be seen as having a mixed legacy as it did kill an unbelievable amount of people but it also forced countries to reexamine
The spread of the plague was understood by people in terms of its transmission through air and through contact with the ill. During the course of the Black Death it was well known that those who came into contact with those stricken with the illness soon became the likeness. This posed a problem for those within the same household, if one became afflicted, all were taken with the same form of the disease. As advised by medieval physicians the most effective way of avoiding the plague was to flee the affected
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).
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 Black Death arrived in England in 1347 AD. Three causes of the Black Death are the disease cycle of the Bubonic Plague, the plagues arrival in Europe and living conditions. Three consequences of the Black Death are social, economic and political.
The Black Death, according to Joseph P Byrne, was “a deadly epidemic that spread across Asia and Europe beginning in mid 1300’s.” It did not take long for the plague to make a big impact on the world. “By the spring of 1348, the Black Death, also known as Black Plague, spread to france, The Alberium Peninsula, and England, following trade routes and hitting big cities first before spreading to the countryside,” states Gail Cengage. In the 19th century, Europe was devastatingly hit with this epidemic that affected them greatly then and now. The Black Death in Europe affected 19th centuries economics, population, and literature. Its effect on Europe is an interesting topic that shaped history and our lives today. This topic is widely covered as Molly Edmonds writes her findings from other sources. These sources will be used to describe the effect the Black Death had on Europe.