The Black Death : The Bubonic Plague Of The Thirteen Thousands Swept Through Europe Essay

"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.

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.

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

The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, was a disease that devastated Medieval Europe, between 1346 and 1352 it killed 45 million people, wiping out a third of Europe's population. Today, we know that there were many causes of the Black Death. Medieval towns had no system of drains, sewers or trash collections. In such slovenly conditions, germs could grow, and diseased rats could call these medieval towns their homes and infect the people who lived there. Many historians believed the plague originated in china and spread to other countries by trade routes. Infected people and/or infected rodents such as mice or black rats. The Black Death was caused by strains of the bubonic plague. The plague lived in fleas, and fleas lived on

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.

In a time of political failure, economic disintegration, and constant religious disagreement, Europe was already entering the Dark Ages. Then, in the 14th century, the Black Death struck. A disease transmitted through infected flea carrying rats, the Bubonic Plague was devastating to European society not only because it was highly contagious and very lethal, but also because it had unknown origins.

In the early 14th century, a terrible catastrophe fell upon Asia and Europe, the middle east and north Africa, that would change the course of history. The Black Death or Bubonic Plague was an outbreak of disease that killed one third of the European population in the period 1347-1350. It had a similarly devastating effect on nearby regions. The epidemic was caused by rats, which carried a bacterium. They in turn carried fleas which fed from their blood. When this source died, the fleas would jump onto a person and feed from their

In the 1300s a disease spread through Europe devastating villages, towns, and cities ultimately wiping out nearly 50% of all population in Europe. This disease became known as the black death. In addition to wiping out vast populations, this plague also brought about many changes to the European society.

Plague, was a term that was applied in the Middle Ages to all fatal epidemic diseases, but now it is only applied to an acute, infectious, contagious disease of rodents and humans, caused by a short, thin, gram-negative bacillus. In humans, plague occurs in three forms: bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague. The best known form is the bubonic plague and it is named after buboes, or enlarged, inflamed lymph nodes, which are characteristics of the plague in the groin or neck or armpit. Bubonic plague can only be transmitted by the bite of any of numerous insects that are normally parasitic on rodents and that seek new hosts when the original host dies. If the plague is left untreated

Some people may not realize that the plague to abolish about one third of Europe's population, is still infecting humans. In the 2000s, over 20,000 people became infected by the bubonic plague, but now because of the medical advancements since the medieval times, it doesn't take as many lives. During the 13th through 14th century, when the pandemic had reached its all time high, it had came through fleas biting humans and many had to suffer through the agonizing symptoms. Then it had finally simmered down, but there were long lasting effects from the plague.

Giovanni Boccaccio gives the readers a description of the onset of the Black Death that offers a clear understanding of the events as they unfolded during that particular period. This essay will focus on how the Black Death came about, some of the key aspects of the plague as described by the writer in addition to the immediate and long-term political, economic and social consequences of the Black Death.

The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague had huge effects and implications on the social, political and economic lives of people living in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. Beginning in Asia, the plague quickly spread throughout Europe, following trade routes, devastating all who came in it's path. Symptoms of the Black Death included a fever, large swollen glands called buboes and general weakness [Brittanica, 2016] . Animals such as rats and fleas spread the disease through the streets of Europe, killing an estimated 25 million people. The Black Death caused an economic breakdown, disrupting trade and manufacturing, resulting in a massive increase in wages for workers or peasants. The construct of medieval

The Black death was a tragic epidemic that affected much of Europe and Asia in the 14th century. Ships that were infested with rats and fleas would travel all over different countries for trade. The rodents would carry a certain bacteria called “Yersinia Pestis”. Fleas bit rats and then carried the bacteria in their system. They would then feed on humans and that was how the Black Death was created and spread. People that got bitten had a variety of lethal symptoms such as fever, weakness, abdominal pain, chills, shock, and eventually death. It was named the Black Death due to the fact that bleeding of tissues caused people to have dark patches all over their skin. Many people believed this was God’s way of punishing them for committing sins. 75-200 million people died because of this disease.

Norman F. Cantor, the author of In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made, is a professor of history, sociology and comparative literature at New York University who has a profound knowledge of the history of Europe during the Middle Ages. Many readers would say that Norman Cantor is an extremely credible scholar of the Black Death. Cantor published In the Wake of the Plague in New York in 2001 to show the effects of the Bubonic Plague in Europe. Cantor says, "This book...show[s] how the great biomedical devastation affected particular individuals...institutions, cultures and social groups" (p.10).

The Great Plague killed nearly half of the European population during the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The Illness was also known as the “Black Death”. Most of the European people believed the plague was the beginning of the end of the world. They were scarcely equipped and unready for what was to be entailed. It was by far one of the worst epidemics yet to be seen in those times.