The Black Death Plague Essay

Another aspect of life that was highly affected was society. During the plague and after the plague society’s values and faith began to change. When the Black Death began taking the lives of the clergy just as well as everyone else, society began to wonder if the clergy were as powerful and as united to God as they had once believed, because no matter their prayer the plague was still raging. The people lost faith in the clergy and by the end of the plague the Church had lost its authority, not only for the reason

(MIP-1) The black plague swept through the medieval times causing utter chaos and fear. (SIP-A) The thing everyone had on their minds when the plague hit was death, but what truly was the plague that took everyone by storm ? The plague was a disease that was extremely contagious that spread from person to person as quick as wildfire. (STEWE-1) In Europe of 1347 millions of people were in shock by the visit of the black plague (Konstam 118). The black plague all started when it first rose in the early 1300’s in Central Asia. It arrived in Europe when trading ships from Central Asia with people infected with the plague came aboard (“The Black Death").The black plague also called the the black death was spread by a disease causing bacterium named Yersina Pestis

Doctors responded with a series of changes are to thank for the development of modern science. Gottfried succeeded in convincing me that his thesis was truth. The opening chapters gave me a solid background of plague, explaining why he believes it had such an impact on medieval population and culture. Next, it delves into the affect that changing weather had on the plagues, explaining the European environment during 1050-1347; the time of plagues greatest destruction. That complete, Gottfried describes the consequences immediately following the plague. It is said that the disease killed 25% to 40% of Eurasia and part of Africa. By this point, it is more than obvious that plague had a tragic affect on Medieval Europe, but it is unclear as to the causes, and the effect plague had on society, which seemed to be his theses in the opening chapters. But he does not ignore these topics. After giving a full background on plague and European culture and environment, Gottfried gives solid details to support his theses. According to Gottfried, the Medical structure of Medieval Europe, adopted from that of the Romans, was nearly eliminated in the search for ways to cure plague. The spread of plague, successfully stated by Gottfried, directly depends on climate. Plague can only spread under certain climate conditions. In order for Y. Pestis, a series of complex bacterial strains, to survive, it mustn't be too hot nor too cold.

"The Black Death" is known as the worst natural disaster in European history. The plague spread throughout Europe from 1346-1352. Those who survived lived in constant fear of the plague's return and it did not disappear until the 1600s. Not only were the effects devastating at the time of infection, but during the aftermath as well. "The Black Death" of the fourteenth century dramatically altered Europe's social and economic structure.

The word “plague” is defined as a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes, and sometimes infection of the lungs. The article entitled, “On the Progress of the Black Death”, written by Jean de Venette, a French Carmelite friar who was a leading clergyman around Paris at the time of the Black Death, is a well-known account of the spread of the plague in Northern Europe. In this account, Jean de Venette explained the history of the plague, its causes and its consequences.

The carriers of this disease were rats and fleas. It first started off with fleas, then fleas would then jump on rats and the rats would give the disease to humans. The disease didn 't harm the fleas and the rats could only take so much without showing ill effects. Rats would get on ships and make everyone on the ships sick. This is how the Plague traveled.

The plague was a catastrophic time in history, and happened more than once. It took millions and millions of people’s lives. It destroyed cities and countries, and many people suffered from it.

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.

Beginning in the mid-fourteenth century, a plague swept the world like no other. It struck in a series of waves that continued into the eighteenth century. The first wave was estimated to have killed twenty-five million people, about a third of the Western Europe population at that time. Throughout the different outbreaks, the plague, also known as the Bubonic Plague or the Black Death, caused people to react in several ways. Some people believed the plague was a medical problem that can be treated, some found themselves concerned only with their own greed, still others believed there was nothing they could do and reacted in fear, and most people believed it was a form of divine

Just like in source 2, in source 3 Giovanni Boccaccio states that the plague was a punishment signifying God’s righteous anger. “This deadly gavocciolo2 would begin to spread and within a short time it would appear at random all over the body”. When many started to see, it was spreading and started to see dark spots or bruises first on arms, legs, and then other parts of the body. As soon as people saw someone with those bruises they automatically knew they were going to die soon since it was happening so much. It appeared that doctors were powerless to save people and there was no remedy but maybe it could still be treated but those who were ignorant were not prescribing the right cure and many died within three days.

With lacking medical knowledge, people never really grasped the concept or the cause of this epidemic; therefore, they did not know what to do to help cure or stop the spread of it. “In spite of only sketchy medical knowledge, the epidemiology of the plague was fully understood by the 18th century. It took many years of research, after the fact, to finally comprehend all the ins

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

If a cure was found for it, it wouldn't have been as deadly. A doctor said on the New York Times, "If treatment is not received within 24 hours of when the first symptoms occur, death may occur. Antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin are used to treat plague. Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support usually are also needed" (thenewyorktimes.com). The plague doctors in the Middle Ages had no idea how to cure the Black Death, and they would also fall victims to the deadly disease.

The Great Plague was a pandemic that killed many people, and for the people from the olden times the plague equaled painful death; it was torture. As a result, many people categorize ‘the Great Plague’ as a catastrophe that had caused huge damage in Europe, but without this epidemic, we many not have had substantial changes that lead us to the modern day we have now.

This created a panic throughout Europe because no one knew how to prevent it or treat it. Since there was no biological explanation for this people thought that it was a divine punishment from god from all their sins. They also believed that the only way to stop the plague was to win God’s forgiveness. Some people believed that the only way to get God’s forgiveness was to kill of all the trouble makers and doing so massacred thousands of jews. Also during this time doctors refused to see patients, merchants closed down their stores and people tried fleeing to the countryside to avoid the disease, but however this did not work.