“I think a rat just climbed up my leg, Dad. And I’ve got fleas, too.” “John, there’s all this Black Death and all you care about is a few fleas and a rat. That’s my dad. Typical peasant farmer, cares just about everything except for a few fleas and rats. My mom? She died of the plague a few weeks ago. I still remember how once my mother was the most beautiful woman in my village. Nobody recognised her body when she was hauled into a plague pit. My father was especially devastated. I had to drag him to church, and I did all the housework and had to farm food or else we would starve. On and on this went, for months and months, and finally, one day, my father decided to open the door and took a deep breath of the fresh, no, ahem, plague-filled air. Guess what? I was right about the air. A few days later, my father said he felt really hot. Over the next few days, black spots and boils started appearing all over my father’s body. I knew that he was soon going to die. As he lay on his deathbed, he told me, “John, once I die, the officials are going to board the house up. I don’t know...
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 anticipated research paper will be taking into consideration the perspectives of the individuals that lived and died as a result of the Black Death, specifically from the year 1348 CE – 1350 CE and in the better known parts of the world during that period, the reactions, preventative measure that were taken to combat the plague, the religious and governmental response. In the collection of primary sources amassed by John Aberth in The Black Death, 1348-1350: the great mortality of 1348-1350 ; a brief history with documents1 he very succinctly provides a condensed description of each document by giving a background of the author as well as the source of the primary source. Aberth manages to do this while remaining impartial, an admirable skill to have especially when it comes to examining primary sources, even in the limited way Aberth does. Aside from those brief narratives before each source, Aberth does not add any additional information or opinions. In his book From the brink of the apocalypse: confronting famine, war, plague, and death in the later middle ages2, he does go in depth regarding the reception to the Black Death. He does not immediately start with what occurred during the Black Death; he details the world before that seemingly apocalyptic event with an examination of the social structure that existed during the Middle Ages, such as the rise of chivalry and the revolutions in warfare and the Great Famine that immediately preceded the plague. In this way Aberth sets the reader up to gain a means of understanding the resulting responses to the plague from the very different yet similar mindset of a person of medieval times. For example, although Aberth considers the primary belief was that the plague was ca...
After 1353’s, The Black Death completely removed and a new chapter of history begins with cultural, literary, artistic, trading, economic, and religious aspect. Europe, Asia, and Empires started to rebuild their nation again. Firstly, Afro-Eurasians began to establish their political and trading networks (Tignor), while the Black Death inspires them to be standing together. Secondly, People turned to religious meaning and became enthusiastic because, they believed that God anger created this disease on human kind and only God can forgive them. Not only just religious impact, but also art and literature have contributed by Black Death. After the Black Death, Renaissances starts in the 1350’s up to the 17th century, where many poets made poetry
Why was the Plague so devastating to Europe during the 1300’s? During this time, knowledge of human biology was extremely limited. This is partially due to a papal bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII that forbid the dissection of corpses. 10. Italy was hit particularly hard as it was a major center of trade and many things went in and out; it was very susceptible to the plague.
The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe written by Robert Steven Gottfried is a narrative style book that goes over the environmental and human effects the Black Death had in 12th Century Europe. Gottfried’s thesis is that the Black Death is the greatest biological and environmental event in European history. When the Black Death came to pass, the amount of mortality surrounding the European people pushed them to think harder, and to think deeper about the sanctity of life, and that new mindset triggered some of the major changes in Europe that followed after that, which would eventually lead Europe out of the Medieval Age. Gottfried successfully conveys the historical significance of the Black Death the way he uses the
“My daddy died in nineteen ought nineteen of the epidemic flu and I never had a thing to do with it. He was buried in Mount Hopewell Baptist Churchyard.” ( pg 949)
I wanted to go to him and ask him what was wrong, but I didn’t dare…But then I couldn’t stand it anymore and I got up and ran down the hall to the kitchen. There, in the middle of the room, wearing his Goodyear jacket and work clothes was my father. He was on his hands and knees, his head hanging as though it were too heavy to support, and he was rocking back and forth and babbling in a rhythmical stutter. It’s funny, but the first thing I thought when I saw him like that was the way he used to let me ride on his back, when I was little, bucking and neighing like a horse. And as soon as I thought it, I felt my heart lurch in my chest.
No other epidemic reaches the level of the Black Death which took place from 1348 to 1350. The epidemic, better regarded as a pandemic, shook Europe, Asia, and North Africa; therefore it deems as the one of the most devastating events in world history. In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350, John Aberth, compiles primary sources in order to examine the origins and outcomes of this deadly disease. The author, a history professor and associate academic dean at Vermont’s Castleton State College, specializes in medieval history and the Black Death. He wrote the book in order to provide multiple perspectives of the plague’s impact. Primarily, pathogens started the whole phenomenon; however, geological, economic, and social conditions
The Black Death or Black Plague between 1349 and 1351, with 1350 being the watershed year, wiped out approximately HALF the population of Europe. Well known is the effect that serfs now had some bargaining leverage until their population recovered, as they were the only labor force available in a greatly reduced labor force. Less well known is the opportunity that that created for alien populations to find entry into Europe: the Gypsies first entered about 1350 through the Great Forest of Prague, camping out there with the permission of Jelen the Forester of Prague, whose daughter was the first European woman to be given a pack of Tarot cards;and, the simultaneous entry into Europe of a significant Jewish population. The Leo Baeck Institute
I felt embarrassed. I wasn’t doing anything out of the blue, I was doing what I had done everyday. At this point, I had knew things were getting pretty bad. My parents continued arguing everyday over financial issues and as to why the house was dirty, and everyday it got worse.
People of this time always had body lice and fleas. After bitten by an infected flea, nearly all victims died within three days. The early symptoms were growths the size of nuts that could grow to the size of an apple on the legs, groin, armpit, and neck. The lumps started out being red then progressed into a dark purple or a black. There wer...
The Black Death in the Middle Ages was it what the people and even scientist of that time thought that it was “God’s will intervening” or was it just circumstance that combined to make it the perfect breeding ground for the disease to spread? Even though the people of that time didn’t know the disease as the Black Death they did know that there was a sickness that was going around and by the end of it about 50 percent of the population would be killed from it (Rhodes 2013). The Black Death did shatter the population but it also lead to many benefits for those that survived such as improved environmental, health, economic and social changes.
When I walked inside the front door something didn’t seem right. The feeling of sorrow overwhelmed the house. It was so thick I could literally feel it in the air. Everyone was motionless. They were sulking;I was befuddled. The most energetic people in the world, doing absolutely nothing. I repeatedly asked them what was wrong. After an hour or so, my dad pulled me aside. He said that my Aunt Feli had passed away last night. My mind went for a loop, I was so confused. I thought that he was joking, so I replied “You’re lying, don’t mess with me like that.” and punched his shoulder softly while I chuckled. My dad quickly started tearing up and said, “There...
Despite all, their love was not strong enough to fight against the plague. They had prayed every night for help for Alice, but shortly they all fell ill. Together they experienced nausea and violently vomited. They began to swell; hard, painful, burning lumps on their neck, arms and thighs then appeared. Their bumps had turned black, split open and began to ooze yellow, thick puss and blood. They were decaying on the inside; anything that would come out of their bodies would contain blood and soon puddles of blood formed under their skin. They slowing withered away together. The home became repulsing; the flowers in their yard could no longer mask the smells of their rotting bodies and revolting bodily fluids. Alice was the first to leave, then John, Mama, and Papa followed. Together they all fell victim to the Black Plague.
As I walked in to their bedroom, I found my mother sitting on the bed, weeping quietly, while my father lay on the bed in a near unconscious state. This sight shocked me, I had seen my father sick before, but by the reaction of my mother and the deathly look on my father’s face I knew that something was seriously wrong.