Christians, Jews, and the Black Plague

Christian and Muslim responses to the Black Death. Indeed the Christian and Muslims specifically believed it was a punishment from God. For instance the muslims on the other hand thought if it was from God it has to be good. The christian people believed that God was punishing them for sinning. The plague killed 25 - 45% of the populations it came in contact with. They both had some similarities in trying to prevent the Christians and Muslims from getting the Black Death.

Some people turned to extremism. For example, the Flagellants, based in Central and Northern Europe, believed that the plague was sent upon the people due to their moral corruption disobeying of God’s will. The extremists traveled from village to village, and whipped themselves in hopes of repenting for the sins of those around them. The population, noticing how many people were dying, and believing it to be caused by God’s unhappiness, began to believe that the clergy had failed them in showing citizens how to be pious. They also saw the clergy’s deaths as proof of the failure of the clergy, as God was angry with them as well. This anger and distrust of the clergy carried on to the next great crisis of Europe, the Great Schism.

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.

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.

In the events of the Bubonic Plague, religions took a different response in this therefor Christians and Muslims are the two most researchers thought about during this time. This paper will guide you through what they did, how it affected them, and what they believed. Both religions thought up of some things that could prevent or get rid of the plague. Christianity thought it was a curse and Muslims said it was a blessing. Let's move on to the first point of this paper, Christianity.

The plague, otherwise known as “the Black Death”, brought on much turmoil and suffering for the habitants of Pistoia. Numerous ordinances were put into effect with the primary goal of limiting the spread of the plague as well as to keep the city as healthy as possible. These ordinances typically focused on confinement, i.e. no one goes to Pisa and Luca and no one from Pisa and Luca is allowed to enter Pistoia (ordinance 1), how death and burials are to be processed (ordinances 3-12), and how butchers were to handle their animals and animal carcasses (ordinances 13-19). Essentially, confinement was targeted in hopes of stopping the spread of the infection while keeping the city isolated. Secondly, how the bodies of plague victims and their

Pursell The Black Death Reassessed What really happened to Europe during Black Death? For years, the accepted version of the event has been that a plague from the East, carried by rodents who were infected by fleas, traveled by trade routes and subsequently infected Europeans. The name of this plague is infamously known as the Bubonic Plague; it’s said to have claimed the lives of a third of the continent’s population. Not everyone accepts the prominent version of this event though. In this essay, we will read of two scholars who dispute the official narrative of the Bubonic plague; one scholar will apply this revisionism solely to England, whereas the other will look at Europe as a whole. Moreover, death toll estimates will be scrutinized too. In addition, we will read of a third scholar who offers insight into the aftermath of the Black Death in England in terms of its social and economic development. Clearly, something devastating struck Europe in the 14th century. Whatever it was might not ever be exactly known. However, for the sake of understanding its true impact upon European society, it’s worth reassessing this long-held account. In his writing, The Black Death:

From 1347 to 1352 a string of the bubonic plague lay waste to western Europe, killing millions. In Italy, nearly a third of the population died; in England, half. The plague was a looming presence, always in the back of people’s minds. The symptoms of the Black Death caused great strife for westerners. Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian writer and poet, described the symptoms he saw during the first outbreak of the plague: “Not such were they as in the East, where an issue of blood from the nose was a manifest sign of inevitable death; but in men a women alike it first betrayed itself by the emergence of certain tumors in the groin or the armpits, some of which grew as large as a common apple, others as an egg, some more, some less, which the common folk called gavoccioli.” Both Italy and England desperately searched for answers, claiming that the Black Death was the cause of a higher force, but realising that the squalor of their countries also played a part in spreading the illness. Although Italy and England both had a common explanation for the cause of the plague and they both implemented better public health standards, they adopted different public health practices after the plague.

Diseases have always been a threat to humans, all throughout history. One of the most destructive disease outbreaks in history was the plague outbreak which peaked in 1346 to 1353, in Europe, commonly known as the Black Death. This plague outbreak was extremely deadly and killed 30-60% of the European population at the time of the outbreak. The outbreak is commonly believed to have been caused by the bubonic plague, but modern evidence suggests that the Black Death was caused by pneumonic plague, a much more contagious and deadly infection.

Religiously, the plague affected people’s beliefs in the Catholic Church. During the plague, a self torturing cult known as the Flagellants broke out and traveled from town to town whipping themselves. Hoping that they could recreate the Passion of Christ. They felt as if by doing this, they would absolve themselves from their sins and thus avoid the plague (“The Plague” Documentary). These people would today be known as a cult like group, but were soon outlawed by Pope Clement VI in 1349 (The

Rather than becoming more religious in thanksgiving to God for survival, people began to harbor doubts. They would turn to the church for an answer to the plague, and the church was unable to help.

The third consequence of the black death pandemic was the diminished authority and importance of the church to 14th-century society.Prior to the 14th-century pandemic outburst of the black plague, the Catholic church community was the overpowering religion in Europe.A great amount of the population in Europe maintained and believed in the Catholic church is what they lived their lives by.In the Catholic church 1 out of 10 people belonged to the clergy which was priest readers and writers usually.During the pandemic, the thought of God punishing the people of the Earth from their sins was strongly believed in and was the primary factor towards the creation of a Flagellant.A flagellant is a 14th-century member of the church which goes around

The plague is an infectious disease, which is caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. This bacterium is a rod- or ovoid-shaped microorganism that belongs to the family of enterobacteriaceae, which are usually facultative anaerobes, which means that they can survive in environments, where oxygen is present in large quantities or also in conditions, where O2 is not present. Y. Pestis is typically found in rodents such as rats or marmots.

Michael, a rector, a pillar of the community who was portrayed as a strong man beginning to show signs of braking, before finally he lost his faith. This really puzzled me, how a man who lived through religion could suddenly resort to letting go of faith all together. The further I examined the character of Michael it revealed itself to me that he had a harsh life prior to becoming the village rector. Michael in no way weak, with what had happened in his past. Michael was a man who wanted to change himself for the better, so he turned to religion to focus on living in the way of God. What was once a dark life forced him to turned to the light in the first place, but then he was forced to give it away once and for all.