The Unstoppable Virus of the Black Plague

The black plague, also known as the bubonic plague, swept its way across Europe beginning in 1346 A.D. , killing an estimated thirty to fifty percent of the total population. The plague was spread by fleas infected with Yersinia pestis, and was carried over oceans by hitchhiking rats and pet gerbils. The plague outbreak that decimated the population was transported by infected Christian merchants

"The Black Death" alone was not the only factor that was responsible for the social and economic change although it was the most important (Ziegler 234). Even without "The Black Death" continued deterioration in Europe would have been likely. The social and economic change had already set in well before 1346. For at least twenty-five years before "The Black Death," exports, agricultural production, and the area of cultivated land had all been shrinking. "The Black Death" contributed a large part to all of this destruction and led to important changes in the social and economic structure of the country (Ziegler 234-235). The plague touched every aspect of social life (Herlihy 19). There was hardly a generation that was not affected by the plague (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). Families were set against each other - the well rejecting the sick (www.byu.edu). Families left each other in fear. Many people died without anyone looking after them. When the plague appeared in a house, frightened people abandoned the house and fled to another (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). Due to this, the plague spread more rapidly because people were not aware that being in the same house with the infected person had already exposed them to it. Physicians could not be found because they had also died. Physicians who could be found wanted large sums of money before they entered the house (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). When the

The Black Death, the most severe epidemic in human history, ravaged Europe from 1347-1351. This plague killed entire families at a time and destroyed at least 1,000 villages. Greatly contributing to the Crisis of the Fourteenth Century, the Black Death had many effects beyond its immediate symptoms. Not only did the Black Death take a devastating toll on human life, but it also played a major role in shaping European life in the years following.

In fourteenth-century Europe, the Black Plague disrupted most of European society devastating many. The Black Plague was devastating to European society economically, demographically, and morally. The plague spread as devastatingly as it did because of the continuous spread via trade, and inadequate medical knowledge. One of the major consequences of the plague was anti-Semitism.

The black death first appeared in the Middle East and Europe in 1348. The black death swept through Asia and continued west and northwest through North Africa, Europe and the Middle East (Document 1). The black death was transmitted via fleas living in the fur of the black rat. The black death actually refers to the bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic plagues. The most common of these three strains was bubonic. Some symptoms

The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, devastated the world between 1347 and 1351. Due to the plague being transmitted through fleas, many people were susceptible to the disease that wiped out much of the population. The plague caused much throughout Europe because of the number of lives lost, the number of people affected, and the limited amount of medical research that came from this period in time. The number of lives lost caused devastation in Europe.

Europe was hit with the Bubonic Plague, also known as The Black Death, in 1347 devastating the European Society. The Bubonic Plague was hard to get away from due to the conditions in Europe and took many lives. The Bubonic Plague also influenced religion and started changing the normal European society into a new one.

By 1352 it had really loosened its hold Europe’s population had been a massive hit, which had a financial impact. The work had been damaged especially for farms. The Black Death also was one of the worst pandemics in human history. Around about in the 14th century, about 75 million people on 3 countries rotten due to the painful pains, high contagious illness. Also in Europe hundreds died daily and their bodies was usually thrown into mass graves.

The Bubonic Plague or the Black Death has been in the history books since the medieval times. This deadly disease has claimed nearly 1.5 million lives in Europe (Gottfried). The Black Death hit Europe in October of 1347 and quickly spread through most of Europe by the end of 1349 and continued on to Scandinavia and Russia in the 1350s. Not only did the plague effect the European population by killing one-third to two-thirds (Gottfried), it also hurt the social and economic structures of every European society.

The Black Death or the bubonic plague was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–53. The black death first appeared in Europe in 1347 in Sicily, the disease was most likely brought to Europe on a ship that had been trading on the black sea. The black plague was carried by flea-infested rodents and spread rapidly. Almost half of Europe was killed by the bubonic plague.

The outbreak of the Black Death affected Europe in many ways. It had both a negative effect and a positive effect. Some ways Europe was affected by the Black Death were economically, religiously, and it affected the population greatly. No one is absolutely sure of what the Black Death was disease wise but they do have a pretty good idea.

The Black plague affected Europe in many aspects. The first way that Europe was affected was the physical effects of the plague. The Black Death produced black boils all over the body that weep pus and blood (“Black Death”).

The Black Death was a devastating plague which broke out in Asia, Europe and Africa in the late middle ages (around c.1348-1353). The disease was carried by fleas on rats, and spread by coughing. The Black Death got it’s name from the black buboes that appeared on the victim's skin. The plague had a disastrous effect on the politics, economics and lifestyle of Medieval Europe. Once a victim had caught the disease they would be dead within five days.

Although believed to be one of the most cataclysmic pandemics in human history- the Black Plague had an arguably beneficial impact on Europe’s political, social, and economical lifestyle. It significantly changed how the country developed socially, economically, and population wise. Although beneficial to Europe’s social standards and economy- the number of deaths rooted from the Black Plague negatively impacted the growth of European countries. Although an uncontrollable disease that took nearly 50 million lives (Benedictow, Ole J. "The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever.

The disease manifest itself first with a high fever and vomiting. Within a few days the victim’s lymph nodes swelled up dramatically in lumps. These lumps would turn black which gave the plague its name. It was later discovered, this was caused by Yersinia pestis, an organism passed into the human blood stream by the bite of a fleas endemic in certain species of rat. “They had worked their way through the trade routes of Asia and India to Europe” (Kay, 102). The Black Death began spreading throughout Western Europe extremely rapid. The plague killed over one third of the population in Europe. The Black Death greatly impacted the society and religion. This plague Changed Europe culturally and economically forever.