Causes Of The Black Death

The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in history. The disease ravaged Europe, Western Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa between 1346 and 1353 (Horrox 1994). It is difficult to understand the reality of such a devastating event, especially given the fact that science during the middle ages was severely underdeveloped. No one knew about bacteria, viruses, or other microbial agents of disease (Benedictow 2004). They had no way of protecting themselves during that time and no one was safe from the effects of the plague. Those who wrote chronicles claimed that only a tenth of the population had survived, while others claimed that half to a third of the population was left alive (Horrox 1994). In 1351, agents for Pope Clement VI predicted the number of deaths in Europe to be 23,840,000 (Gottfried 1983). Obviously, not all regions experienced the same mortality rates, but modern estimates of the death rate in England give the first outbreak a mortality rate of about forty-eight percent (Horrox 1994). That is, England lost half of its population in about a year and a half. Clearly the chroniclers ' who claimed that ninety percent of the population had died were overstating the magnitude of the plague, but this overemphasis demonstrates how terrifying the pandemic was to those who experienced it (Horrox 1994). The Black Death had huge consequences on the lives of those who were impacted directly, as well as major religious and cultural effects that came afterward.

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 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.

“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

During the 13th centuries all the way to the mid-15th century, the European nation experiences tough moments, which defined their history and the nations. The Black Death was among the many distressing pandemics in the human history, which was contributing to the death of 75 to 200 million people with the most in Europe. There are different theories, which have been developed since then to explain the deaths. The most reliable, which is based on the DNA from the victims in northern and southern Europe is the existence of the pathogen known as Yersinia Pestis, which was responsible for the plague. From there Oriental rat fleas that were popular on merchant ships and then spread in Mediterranean and Europe carried it. The death and depopulation of many places in Europe were the main changes by the Black Death. Hundred Years War was a conflict between the kings and kingdoms of France and England during these time. These were wars that took place in three stages, and the war was between the Roman Empire and the Carthage. The battle took place at around 264 BC to 146 BC. The Roman nation had wanted to expand because at that time Carthage was powerful than the Roman Empire. As the war began, in the first stage of the war, the Carthage was mighty than Roman Empire, but at the end of the third stage, the Roman Empire had defeated Carthage and expanded its Empire. There was a transformation in Rome regarding the population. Many people decided to go to the cities and abandoned the

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 was a plague carried by fleas on rats and it was very deadly. It started in the mid-14th century. The Black Death did not discriminate, anyone could get it. Religion was at its all time high during the time the Plague arrived in Europe. Two major religions that got the Black Death were Christians and Muslims. Muslims got the Plague in 1333 and Christians got the Plague in 1348 but their responses to the Black Death were greatly different but sometimes they were the same.

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

Doc 5 shows how they thought this disease was from God’s punishment and how even the historian didn’t want to record such tragic events. Doc 5 was specifically written to influence the future to fear such disease. Doc 7 indicates that many people claimed divine intervention in their dreams prior to contracting the disease and that people even isolated themselves in fear that spirits were coming for them when they had the disease. This reflected the extreme revere they held for religion in the Roman Empire. However, due to the severity of the Black Plague any isolation in a village could not stop the spread of it and the results were catastrophic. The certain conviction that disease was a punishment from God will later be seen in Western

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 pandemic known to history as the Black Death was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in history. It was a critical time for many as the plague hit Europe and “devastated the Western world from 1347 to 1351, killing 25%-50% of Europe’s population and causing or accelerating marked political, economic, social, and cultural changes.” The plague made an unforgettable impact on the history of the West. It is believed to have originated somewhere in the steppes of central Asia in the 1330s and then spread westwards along the caravan routes. It spread over Europe like a wildfire and left a devastating mark wherever it passed. In its first few weeks in Europe, it killed between 100 and 200 people per day. Furthermore, as the weather became colder, the plague worsened, escalating the mortality rate to as high as 750 deaths per day. By the spring of 1348, the death toll may have reached 1000 a day. One of the main reasons the plague spread so quickly and had such a devastating effect on Europe was ultimately due to the lack of medical knowledge during the medieval time period.

Sometimes, like most explanations back then, it was the work of God and punishment afflicted upon Europe for whatever reasons of the time. For these people, the only cure was to be somehow forgiven by God. This was usually done by people carving or painting the symbol of the cross on the front doors of their house with the words “Lord have mercy on us” either near it or on it. Another great contributor to the destruction of the Black Death was the Great Fire of London which helped eradicate most of the rats that carried the disease and wiping out most of the people with the disease. The plague actually repeatedly continued to remain in Europe and the Mediterranean throughout the centuries. The major occurences of the plague happened around the year 1346 and 1671. The Second Pandemic Black Death was pretty active in the years 1360 and 1667. All of Europe was ravaged and it impacted Europe so devastatingly that it took 150 years for the population of Europe to be fully recovered. Quarantining people was another way of combating the plague in ancient times. Taking anti-bio tics was advised was advised in case you came into contact with a victim of the disease. In early 2011 it was discovered that the bacteria Yersinia Pestis was actually the culprit for one of the most devastating pandemics ever to surface in the world. While

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 legacy that the Black Death left in China and in Europe was mixed, for different people decided it had a certain meaning. Many believed that this was punishment, or some even believer it was the end of the world. This was a dark age, with little hope for anyone. It was life or death, surviving as best you could. Many decided to live a life of pleasure before they passed. While others tried to put their own lives in order before they were taken, a turning back to God moment before they passed. Some aided those you were sick, including many men of the church, this eventually lead to their own