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introduction of the black death
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Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has battled with the forces of nature in order to survive. One of the most terrifying of these forces is disease. Diseases can come in many different forms. They are caused by many things, such as viruses, bacteria, and some are even non-infectious and can be transmitted genetically. A select few of these ailments, called pandemics, are highly contagious and can afflict mass amounts of people in a short period of time. One example of a pandemic is the Black Death. It swept through Europe in the 14th century, killing an estimated 75 million people and causing the collapse of the Feudal system. The Black Death is considered one of the deadliest pandemics in history because of the speed of its spread, the death toll, and the lasting effects it had on humanity.
The speed at which the plague came about was a major factor in its lethality. The plague is believed to have originated in central Asia in the 1330's (Edmonds). European traders were the first to hear about the plague because they traveled to the east on trade routes. By the time they realized the extent of this brutal disease, it was too late. They had no idea what they were up against. The plague moved along trade routes and on merchant ships. The sailors on these ships would, not knowing what was afflicting them, stop at ports to trade. Citizens of the cities would catch the disease, and desperately drive away the ships, but it didn't matter. Once a few people contracted the disease, it spread like wildfire. In 1347, a town called Kaffa was attacked by the Tartar army (Edmonds). The Tartars, however, contracted the plague and began to die out. The people of the city had no idea what was destroying their enemies, but it didn't ...
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...ything about the plague was bad. If it hadn't have happened, we might still be just as filthy and medically uneducated as we were, and the tyrannical monarchies of Europe could still be in power. In the end mankind adapted to survive, just like we have since the beginning of time.
Works Cited
Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made. New York: Free, 2001. Print.
Edmonds, Molly. "How the Black Death Worked." HowStuffWorks. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .
Ibeji, Mike. "Black Death." BBC News. BBC, 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .
Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 29: Satan Triumphant: The Black Death." The History Guide. 03 Aug. 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .
In 1300, multiple out breaks of the Black Plague arised. For example, in the thirteenth century an outbreak in China killed one third of the population. Several dates before this time showed the disease was present years ago in Europe. Dying from the Plague was scary to most people and Jordan Mcmullin, an author stresses, “Whenever the Plague appeared the sadness of death was terrifying” (Mcmullin n.pag.). Death has always been frightening, but when a country plagues with disease, death becomes a terrible fear, the Plague scared the people of 541, and 542, when their outbreak of the Plague spread. Therefore, while other outbreaks of the Black Plague took place, the fourteenth century outbreak in Europe was certainly the worst.
In short, he answers the basic questions that are often asked in concern to the Black Death. These topics include the transmission of the plague, the different varieties of the plague, and the different theories over the course of history that have tried to explain the origins of the Black Death. Gottfried successfully supports the thesis with his main arguments being the death toll that resulted from the Black Death, the development of modern medicine, and the effects and transformation the Black death had on Europe. These arguments support the thesis of the Black Death being the greatest biological and environmental event in European history. Many people tend to misunderstand the word, ‘great’ as being synonymous with the idea of something that is positive. The circumstances surrounding the Black Death are very much negative and in this context, ‘great’ means impactful, poignant, and staggering. Gottfried does an excellent job of textually illustrating the greatness of the Black Death while still maintaining an unbiased, onlookers point of view to give the reader a chance to make his/her own analysis of the cons and benefits of the Black Death. To analyze, the following paragraphs will go over Gottfried’s writing and the use of his
The Black Death discusses the causes and results of the plague that devastated medieval Europe. It focuses on the many effects it had on the culture of medieval Europe and the possibility that it expedited cultural change. I found that Robert S. Gottfried had two main theses in the book. He argued that rodent and insect life cycles, as well as the changing of weather systems affect plague. He claimed that the devastation plague causes is partly due to its perpetual recurrences. Plague ravaged Europe in cycles, devastated the people when they were recuperating. As can be later discovered in the book, the cycles of plague consumed the European population. A second thesis, which he described in greater detail, was that the plagues expedited the process of cultural change. The plagues killed a large percentage of each generation, leaving room for change. The Black Death covers the affects that numerous plagues had on the culture. The cycle of the plagues struck each generation. After a plague ravaged Europe from 599-699, plague killed in 608, 618, 628, 640, 654, 684-686, 694-700, 718, and 740-750. In the early stages of the above series, intervals are apparent. These intervals demonstrate the cycles of the rodent and insect life. Robert S. Gottfried also argues, rightfully so, that plague may have hastened cultural change. Along with plagues came the need for a cure. Plague destroyed the existing medical systems, and was replaced by a modern heir. Previous to the plague, scientists based their knowledge on early scientists such as Hippocrates and Galen. Scientists knew little about what they were doing. The medical community was divided into five parts. These divisions were physicians, surgeons, barber-...
Due to the significant pain and rapid spread of the plague medicine was ultimately never found, although attempted. People engulfed in the plague died within three days of acquiring it. The plague began in 1333, fifteen years before it broke out in Europe (Hecker, pg 12-13). Many natural disasters were engulfing the Asian countries; floods, famine, droughts, and the plague. A drought and famine had crucified the country which was commenced by floods of the Kiang and Hoai Rivers. After all of these disastrous events still an earthquake, continued floods, and famine ended in 1347.
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 started with a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. “Yersinia Pestis, or known as pasteurella pestis, causes severe illness but more commonly death upon infection unless implanted with antibiotics,” (Sutyak). This bacteria spread quickly. ‘On average, bacteria can double every 4-20 minutes,” (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory). That means that when one person was infected, during the day 72 others could be infected if the rate was one person every 20 minutes. If the rate was one person every 4 minutes, there could be 360 people infected in a day. That rate is extremely horrendous rate of infection. Imagine if one person in your town got a terrible disease. Then the disease spread during one day. Three hundred sixty people infected in one day. That is exceedingly disgusting from my point of view. Now, lets take it broader. “Pandemics can affect 20% to 40% of the entire world's population”, (U.S Department of Health & Human Services). The Black Death caused 75 to 200 million people to die. That was a huge chunk of the population at the time. When all the people died, many places had little t...
Lastly, the change in spirituality was one of the major effects of the plague. The Black Death left survivors mourning, depressed, and fearful of its return.
Around 1347-1348 the most well-known epidemic struck the European world. The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death or the Black Plague, rained sickness over millions; for most people, death was the only end to the sickness. The Black Death is known as one of the most depressing occurrences in history. It attacked the three most important aspects of a person’s well-being, their mental, emotional and physical health. While the plague impacted early society, authors, Jean de Venette and Giovanni Boccaccio, described the epidemic in their own words. Modern author, Charles L. Mee Jr., describes the plague with the scientific knowledge he has living in today’s society. These three authors wrote about the bubonic plague with their own voice’s and reasoning’s but many of the accounts they mention are similar to one another. Jean de Venette, Giovanni Boccaccio and Charles L. Mee Jr. explain the symptoms, the causes and the way people acted because of the black plague.
The Bubonic Plague, or more commonly known as ‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Black Plague,’ was one of the most devastating and deadliest pandemics that humans have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. The disease spanned two continents in just a few years, marking every country between Western Europe all the way to China. During the reign of the plague, which is estimated to be the years between 1347-1352, it is estimated that “20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population” was killed off due to the plague. The Black Plague would change the course of European history since the plague knew no boundaries and inflicted its wrath upon the rich and the poor alike. As a result, not only did the plague have a devastating demographic impact which encountered a massive social disruption, but also, an economic and religious impact as well.
History has been filled with many disasters. The Bubonic plague has been responsible for three of those disasters. The first disaster, The Plague of Justinian, occurred in Constaniople in 542. This specific outbreak killed an estimated 70,000 people in two years. At its peak, 1,000 people died each week, and many more were infected but recovered successfully. This was the first time Bubonic plague became known to society. This would not be the last time the plague would strike.
The Black Death affected the peasants in several ways. The disease killed everyone and anyone it reached, regardless of their age, religion, or beliefs. The people began to question what God’s purpose was and wondered why he would send such disaster and harm to their towns and cities. The peasants alread...
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 suspected them (www.tartans.com). In the winter the plague seemed to disappear, but only because fleas were dormant then. Each spring, the plague attacked again, killing new victims (www.byu.edu). The effects of the plague were devastating. After just five years, twenty-five million people were dead - one third of Europe's population. Once people were infected they infected others very rapidly. As a result, in order to avoid the disease, many fled to the countryside where the lower population density helped to decrease the speed at which the disease spread (www.tartans.com). From a person's time of infection to his or her death was less than one week (www.home.nycap.rr.com). The plague became known as "The Black Death" because of the discoloration of the skin and black enlarged lymph nodes that appeared on the second day of contracting the disease. The term "The Black Death" was not invented until after 1800. Contemporaries called it "the pestilence" (Cantor 7).
In the years 1331 to 1350 all of Europe broke out in an epidemic, called the Black Death. This terrible sickness murdered about one third of all the people in Europe, it spread, and killed quickly. People’s lives were changed drastically; they were scared to go outside in fear of catching the gross disease. The Black Death spread rapidly through Europe having significant impacts on society.
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.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. "Introduction." Introduction. Trans. David Burr. The Decameron. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Boccaccio on the Plague. Virginia Tech History Department. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.