The Plague or The Black Death Essay example

(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

The plague was spread by fleas, which were not effected by the disease. Fleas first infected the rats, which lived off garbage and sewage. The rats then spread the infection to the humans. Rats were a common sight in the cities, due to the poor sanitary conditions, so no one

The Black Death was one of the most life-changing pandemics in history. It was first discovered 550 years later in the 1800s by Alexandre Yersin, a french biologist. In his honor, the plague was named Yersinia Pestis. The plague traveled in two major ways. Yersin discovered that it traveled by infected fleas; the flea would attempt to feed on a human or animal and would then regurgitate the disease into the new host, further spreading the illness. Urban areas across Europe were populous with rats, which were one of the main hosts of the plague. These rodents spread the Black Death throughout cities in days. The unaffected still were not safe if they did not come in contact with an infected flea or rat. The plague also traveled pneumonically, or through the air. It caused large boils full of blood and pus, which would pop and spread. Another symptom was coughing, which was one of the many ways of proliferation. The disease eventually spread throughout Europe and killed a third of it’s population. It’s wrath caused many shortages, loss in hope, riots, and even some good things, such as many changes in art, science, and education. Therefore, the Black Death was one of the most life-changing pandemics in history.

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.

What is the plague? The plague or referred to as the Black Death, according to the CDC (2015), “is a disease that affects humans and other mammals and caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria. Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague”. There are three categories of a plague. There is the bubonic plague, which is the most common form. With this form bacteria infects the lymph system and causes it to become inflamed. Symptoms of this type of plague are fever, headache, chills, and swollen and tender lymph nodes, which are called buboes. Then there is the Septicemic, which occurs when the bacteria multiply in the blood. Symptoms of this type of plague are fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and possibly bleeding into the skin and other organs. Also, skin and other tissues may turn black and die, especially fingers, toes and the nose (CDC, 2015). Then there is the Pneumonic Plague, which is the most serious form of plague and occurs when Y. pestis bacteria infect the lungs and cause pneumonia (NIH, 2015). This is the only form of the plague that can be transmitted human to human. Symptoms of this form of the plague are ever, headache, weakness, and a rapidly

Norman F. Cantor, In the Wake of the Plague (New York: Harper Collins First Perennial edition, 2001) examines how the bubonic plague, or Black Death, affected Europe in the fourteenth century. Cantor recounts specific events in the time leading up to the plague, during the plague, and in the aftermath of the plague. He wrote the book to relate the experiences of victims and survivors and to illustrate the impact that the plague had on the government, families, religion, the social structure, and art.

When the plague first infected a person, it began with swellings in the groin and armpit (Document 2). Some of the swellings could be the size of an apple or an egg (ibid.)! After the first swellings appeared, the whole body would soon be covered in dark and bluish grey spots (ibid.). Soon after these spots covered the body, death would be upon the infected person within days (ibid.). Many doctors tried to cure people of these symptoms, but many failed (ibid.) This was because of the nature of the illness or the ignorance of the doctors’ (ibid.). The doctors didn’t know enough about the disease to be able to effectively treat their patients’

In document 2 it states, “To cure these infirmities neither the advice of the physicians nor the power of medicine appeared to have any value or profit; perhaps either the nature of the disease did not allow for any cure or the ignorance of the physicians . . . did not know how to cure it; as a consequence, very few were ever cured; all died three days after the appearance of the first outward signs, some lasted a little bit longer, some died a little bit more quickly, and some without fever or other symptoms.” This shows that many people died quickly because the physicians did not understand how to deal with the rapid spreading of this disease and how to treat it. Also, document 6 states “Medieval physicians wore outfits made of cloth or leather to protect themselves from the plague. The bird-like beak contained spices and vinegar-soaked cloth to mask the stench of death and decay.” This indicates the common belief back then that the smell of the dead bodies was spreading the disease. This also demonstrates the ignorance physicians had about germs which was a big part of why the plague affected so many people in such a short amount of

Bubonic Plague/ Black Death Topic Questions: ( The stuff in colors isn’t plagiarism) What was the Bubonic Plague? The bubonic Plague is a plague spread by infected fleas. The poisoned fleas feed on their hosts, then spit the blood back onto the wound on the animal (such as the rats that spread the Plague during the London Elizabethan Era).

The most common symptom of this disease was the occurrence of tumors around the groin, armpits, and neck. When opened, these tumors oozed and bled. The tumors would soon be followed by fever and the vomiting of blood. Victims would usually die between two to seven days after catching the disease. After dying, the armies would collect the bodies and throw them over the walls of the city. Other symptoms of the plague was a lung condition, which caused difficulty breathing, horrible infections to the respiratory system, and coughing up

Imagine living in a time filled with nothing but fear. The thing you fear cannot be touched or seen but will put you to a slow miserable death. In the 1300s people were struck with a great plague, which has now been named “The Black Death”. The Black Death killed off populations with just one sweep. Historians call this the biggest tragedy of all time. The question is what caused this plague and how does something like this happen? Overtime historians have boiled it down to 2 and some may say 3 explanations, which are religion, science, and humans. With the help of a book The Black Death by Rosemary Horrox I was able to find explanations of them all. Who may know which is the correct reason for such a thing but what your think caused it

Plague is a very deadly bacterial disease. It has been a recurring force that has wiped out much of the world’s population during it’s outbreaks. The bacteria that is responsible for one of history’s most deadly diseases is Yersinia pestis. Yersinia pestis first infectes a rat. The rat is then the host for a flea. The flea feeds on the blood of the rat which is infected by the bacteria. For a reason still unknown today the bacteria started multiplying in the flea blocking it 's stomach. This caused the flea to throw up the infected rats blood into the human when it feeds on it.

The Bubonic Plague or ‘Black Death’ is a highly infectious and potentially fatal disease that spread rapidly throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The disease carrying Bacterium, Yersinia pestis, caused millions of deaths in the 1300s due to its highly contagious nature. Many people contracted the Bubonic Plague from bacteria carrying fleas, which carried the plague bacteria from an infected rodent (A.D.A.M, 2015). This particular disease isn’t usually spread from person to person, but instead through small rodents and animals that carry infected fleas, many people became infected from flea bites or direct contact with the infected skin or fluids of an animal, (Rare Diseases, 2014) However, according to some credible scientists, it is believed

The great plague came in three different forms. The types of illness differed in symptoms, spread and sufferings. The bubonic plague was the diseases most common form. It was named this due to swelling called “buboes” of the victim’s lymph nodes. “These tumors could range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple” (The Black Death). The longest expectancy with this form of illness didn’t often exceed one week. The second variation of plague was known as the “pneumatic

The Bubonic Plague and a variation called the septicemic plague was spread throughout Europe by oriental rats that carried infected fleas. Little is known to why the infection never seemed to affect the carrier rats. Infected fleas were being starved by the infection, so they began feasting upon the people they came into contact with. These fleas coming into contact with any human being would infect the human with the disease. These people were now carriers of the Bubonic plague or Black Death. These infected people would then spread the disease by coughing or coming into direct contact with another human being. However, this disease, since not being transmitted via rat would now be called the Pneumonic Plague. (www.insecta-inspecta.com).