The Black Death
TRANSMISSION FROM ASIA TO EUROPE
Bubonic plague that caused an epidemic named Black Death in Europe came to this part of continent from Asia. Sources believe its birthplace located China, but they argue about the region. There are evidences the disease “erupted initially in 1331 in northeastern China and had reached the Middle East and Western Europe by 1347” (Strayer 537). Mongols played a significant role in the transmission of the plague. The Empire’s trade routes covered a big territory; traders spread the disease as their vehicles carried rats that had fleas infected with Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the plague. Mongolian army made its contribution too. Experts are not sure about the adequacy of the story, but
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People contributed to tolls by attempts to seek out an “author of the crime”. As Western Europe was highly religious, they believed the plague was a punishment for sins. The opinion made people to go after “major sinners” like homosexuals, prostitutes or Jews. Campaigns often led to violence, “massacres, burnings, expulsion, and seizure of property” (Strayer 551). European countries lost a major part of their Jewish population as representatives of this nation were killed or forced to run to Poland and several other regions with more appropriate conditions. Bad hygiene and people’s behavior also help to explain why the epidemic was so deadly. Some scientists suggest the plague was airborne (Pruitt), so people’s tendency to gather in crowds contributed to the spread of the disease. Citizens often wanted to stay together regardless of their attitude to the …show more content…
It reflected in art, literature and events. For example, people gathered for Dances of Death; they started “in France in 1348 as a ritual to prevent plague or to cure the afflicted” (Strayer 554). The event justified its name as participants often fell and were trampled by other dancers.
The epidemic made people to question religion’s authority. Partially it happened because disruption of traditional funeral rituals. Priests feared to contact with ill people, did not want to confess them and fulfill an appropriate ceremony. As people believed these rituals help souls to achieve Heaven and reunite with friends and relatives, priests’ behavior could be treated as a “betraying”. Mass deaths made citizens question God’s good attitude to them or even the ability to affect the outcome of the epidemic. Many authors, like the Italian scholar Francesco Petratch suggested “that God does not care for mortal men” (Strayer
With the start of the plague Europeans looked desperately for help to answer their many questions, on why God would allow such a thing to occur. People throughout Christendom had prayed devoutly for deliverance from the plague and when their prayers weren't answered they began to change their methods of administering the traditions which were attached to the church. They were left alone to live life without the powerful God which left awe and fear in all, during a very difficult era. Religion affected every aspect of everyday life and without it a new period of philosophical questioning lay ahead.
...se of the plague’s presence by delimiting impious behavior according to biblical law, and condemning displays of impropriety. Individuals who failed to adhere to religious dictates regarding frugality and matrimony were blamed for ushering in the disease. Those who ignored social conventions regarding decent dress and gender codes were also accused of inciting God’s wrath and bringing society to ruin. According to excerpts of Rosemary Horrox’s The Black Death, the religious message of 1348 states that human pain and suffering are divine punishment for decadence, licentiousness, and frivolity. It is interesting to note that religious leaders of the 21st century state much the same thing regarding catastrophic events. This leads one to conclude that standards of propriety and decorum will always remain an inherent part of any religious diagnosis for societal ailments.
One of the largest epidemic events in history, the Bubonic Plague had a devastating effect on European society. It is believed to have begun in China, and it reached European soil in 1347, when it struck Constantinople (Document 1). It was carried by infected fleas that spread the disease between humans and rats. A symptom of the plague was the development of large, dark swellings called “buboes” on the victim’s lymph nodes. By the time the plague left, Europe’s population had been reduced by almost half. The devastation as a result of the plague may seem shocking, but there were several important factors that contributed to its deadliness.
A law was made, saying that once someone was ill with the plague they were to stay in their house. Anyone who happened to live in the same house as the unfortunate soul was also locked in, with fear that they could spread the disease. Beggars were not allowed to wonder the streets at anytime, and were executed immediately for doing so without a given reason. All of these, although sensible ideas (apart from the execution..) would not contribute towards public health, as the disease was not contagious in the human community. It was in fact passed on from fleas living on black rats, but this knowledge had not yet been developed.
In 1347, Europe began to perceive what the Plague had in store. Terrible outcomes arose when the citizens caught the Plague from fleas. The transfer of fleas to humans caused the outbreak of the Black Death. Infections that rodents caught were passed on to fleas, which would find a host to bite, spreading the terrible disease (“Plague the Black Death” n.pag.). When Genoese ships arrived back to Europe from China, with dead sailors and...
The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague is perhaps the greatest and horrifying tragedies to have ever happened to humanity. The Plague was ferocious and had such a gruesome where people would die in such a morbid fashion that today we are obsessed with this subject.
" In less than four years the disease carved a path of death through Asia, Italy, France, North Africa, Spain and Normandy, made its way over the Alps into Switzerland, and continued eastward into Hungary" (Microsoft Bookshelf, page 1). After a brief respite, the plague resumed, crossing the channel into England, Scotland, and Ireland, and eventually made its way into the northern countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and even as far north as Greenland. In other words, the plague touched almost the entire known world. So much death could not help but tear economic and social structures apart.
The Middle Ages was a dark time for the people of Europe. As the Black Death reigned during the mid-14nth century, dead bodies littered the streets, social order was abandoned, and human pretenses were forgotten. This deadly disease resulted in a complete alteration in the foundations of Europe itself. Unique practices, myths, and beliefs manifested themselves in the people?causing them to doubt the very church and government which had once captured their undoubting faith. Despite the scrambling of both doctors and church officials, there seemed no end to the enormous death tolls. The plague, feared and dreaded by all, changed the behavior of an entire continent and resulted, ultimately, in the death of a third of its population.
Between 1339 and 1351a.d, a pandemic of plague called the Black Death, traveled from China to Europe affecting the importance of cities, creating economic and demographic crises, as well as political dislocation and realignment, and bringing about powerful new currents in culture and religion.
was abandoning them at this time, but the priests were dying too. When the plague
It has been called “the greatest catastrophe ever.” That statement was made in reference to the Black Death which was one of many bubonic plague epidemics. Throughout history, the bubonic plague proved itself to be an extremely lethal disease. Outbreaks of the bubonic plague were devastating because of the stunning number of deaths in each of the populations it reached. The Black Death was the worst epidemic and disaster of the bubonic plague in all of history. The Black Death refers to a period of several years in which affected populations were decimated. The bubonic plague is a disease started by bacteria. The disease has horrible symptoms, and most of the victims die after getting the plague. The bubonic plague spread easily between different areas of people. The Black Death was not the first epidemic of the bubonic plague; there was another outbreak several hundred years before. It is important to understand the history of the bubonic plague and reflect upon the Black Death because plague outbreaks can still occur today.
The Bubonic Plague DBQ Sweeping through Western Europe during the fourteenth century, the Bubonic Plague wiped out nearly one third of the population and did not regard: status, age or even gender. All of this occurred as a result of a single fleabite. Bubonic Plague also known as Black Death started in Asia and traveled to Europe by ships. The Plague was thought to be spread by the dominating empire during this time, the Mongolian Empire, along the Silk Road. The Bubonic Plague was an infectious disease spread by fleas living on rats, which can be easily, be attached to traveler to be later spread to a city
The Black Death originated in Asia and spread to Europe, possibly going through Persia to reach Asia Minor, and making its way across the Mediterranean. The Byzantine Empire, the Mongol Empire, and Turkestan were also infected. The Plague swept through parts of Arabia, Armenia, North Africa, Bavaria, England, France, Italy, and Poland. However, the Saharan Desert was spared (Document 1).
The Black Death plague had disastrous consequences for Europe in the 14th century. After the initial outbreak in Europe, 1347, it continued for around five years and then mysteriously disappeared. However, it broke out again in the 1360s and every few decades thereafter till around 1700. The European epidemic was an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which began in Asia and spread across trade routes. When it reached Europe, a path of destruction began to emerge.
The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death was a raging disease. Most people thought of it as the physical Grim Reaper of their town or community. The disease lasted about six years, 1347 to 1352. The Bubonic Plague was a travesty that has traveled throughout Europe and has raged and decimated both large and small towns, putting Europe through a lot.