The Impact of the Bubonic Plague in Europe 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. To begin, the Bubonic Plague spread fairly fast. It entered …show more content…
According to The Decameron, “neither the advice of physicians nor the power of medicine appeared to have any value or profit” when it came to treating the disease (Document 2). The source of the Plague was vaguely understood, but there were many misconceptions among the general populous. Many people took the plague to be a religious sign. A painting by Giovanni Sercambi around the year 1400 depicts the Angel of Death shooting arrows down at the people below, showing how the Plague struck some people but missed others (Document 3). Additionally, the nursery rhyme “Ring A-Round the Rosy” refers to the rosary beads which Catholics believed would provide God’s help (Document …show more content…
The population decline as a result of the Plague was like nothing the world had ever experienced before. It really demonstrated the importance of valid medical knowledge in treating diseases. However, I think the content of Document 3 may not be accurate because the author, Giovanni Sercambi, was born in 1348, the same year that the Plague reached his birthplace of Florence. For this reason, I feel like his depiction of the Black Death may not be true to the actual beliefs of people at the time. The only way he could have known about the Plague would be through word of mouth and other stories from the time, which isn’t the same as experiencing it firsthand. In addition, Document 4 may contain inaccurate information as well. For one thing, it was written 22 years after the Black Death occurred, which is enough time for many of the details to be forgotten or confused. Also, it was adapted, edited, and translated several times, creating a disparity between it and the original document. An additional source would be useful in order to provide a more well-rounded and wider perspective. An additional document would help by allowing for additional cross-examination of texts to look for reliability, thus eliminating inaccurate
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Show MorePlague is a song that was released in 2012 by the Canadian, electropunk, witch-house group known as Crystal Castles. The song’s lyrics make strong allusions to the infamous Bubonic Plague or Black Death. The Bubonic Plague was a horrible disease that was spread in the 1300s by the fleas of infected rats. In the 13th century a third of the people in Europe died of this illness (http://www.livescience.com/36060-people-catch-plague.html).This disease still exists today; however, since the Bubonic Plague is the result of a bacterial infection, it is easily treatable with antibiotics (http://www.livescience.com/36060-people-catch-plague.html). It is tragic that, in the past, they did not have the basic medical knowledge to combat a bacterial infection;
The years 1348 through 1350 had been an extremely gruesome and miserable time in our world’s history. During this time period, one of the most devastating pandemics in history had struck half the world with an intensifying and deadly blow. It had been responsible for over 75 million deaths and 20 million of these deaths were from Europe alone. Out of the countries that were hit hardest in Europe from mortality rates and economic downturns, England was one of them. This grave disease that marked the end of the middle ages and the start of the modern age is known as the Black Plague.
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 or region. Many factors like depopulation, decreasing trade, and huge shifts in migrations occurred during the Bubonic Plague. During Bubonic Plague there were also many different beliefs and concerns, which include fear, exploitation, religious and supernatural superstition, and a change of response from the fifteenth to eighteen century.
The symptoms would include the usual signs of sickness- fever, vomiting muscular pain and swelling in the lymph nodes. Nobody, physician or doctor knew how the Black Death was occurring or how to stop it. They did all they could to help with the symptoms. In fact, the song Ring around the Rosy was inspired due to the plague. At first, the plague was thought to be sent by the almighty God to punish men for their sins. Simone Buonacorsi, the notary, wrote a ordinances that in no way shall man have contact with those whom are
The Black Death is one of the deadliest epidemics to ever hit mankind. It is estimated that this epidemic killed nearly 30%-60% of the population depending on the location. Recently, scholars have argued over the existence of the Black Death as a Plague in the form of Yersinia Pestis. Many argue, through scientific research and primary sources, that the Black Death was indeed a plague. Their critics argue that there is not enough evidence in the correlation of the scientific research and the primary sources to conclude that the Black Death was really a plague. The primary source The Black Death, by Rosemary Horrox, is a compilation of different accounts of the plague throughout Europe in the 1300’s. The two modern sources Plague Historians
The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague and Bubonic Plague, was a catastrophic plague that started out in Asia and began to spread into Europe. In the span of three years, the Black Death killed about one third of all the people in Europe. The plague started out in the Gobi Dessert in Mongolia during the 1320’s. From the desert the plague began to spread outwards in all directions. China was among the first to suffer from the plague in the early 1330s before the plague hit Europe.
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
During the Middle Ages, trade flourished across Europe. Thousands of people would gather at various ports to wait for ships to return from foreign places carrying an assortment of exotic foods and goods. “In October 1347, trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long journey through the Black Sea” (Roos, 41). Greeters and spectators, who were waiting anxiously for exotic goods, discovered something horrid instead. A majority of the sailors on board were deceased and the small remainder who had survived the trip were quickly dying as well. The ships brought back more than just goods and food items from China. They hosted flea-infested rats, which is the primary source of the bubonic plague. The bubonic plague, or ‘The Black Death’ forever altered the course of European history. The horrific plague encited a sequence of social, religious, and economic devastation, and ultimately killed over a third of Europe’s population.
Although the Renaissance consisted of discovering new and exciting topics, a major outbreak had occurred. This outbreak was known as the Bubonic Plague or the “Black Death” which had arrived in Europe in 1348 (Woodville). The Bubonic Plague impacted Europe and Europeans negatively economically, politically, and socially.
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.
In 1346, the second and most devastating case of Bubonic plague erupted. (Janis 1) This specific case of plague originated in Kaffa, a cathedral town on the Crimean Coast and spread to China then quickly westward to India. Soon traders from India sailed to Europe and infected almost the entire continent. (Ziegler 121) This case was the most famous because of the large number of deaths affiliated with its outbreak. An estimated twenty five million people, one third of Europe’s population, perished during the plague’s four years of existence. (Janis 1) Government, trade, and commerce in Europe almost came to a halt. The Black Death caused the depopulation of about 1,000 villages in England. (Janis 2) In one case, in Alexandria, Egypt, the first two weeks of the plague 100-200 people died each day. Soon after, as many as 2,000 people died each day and the number increased each week. During this time, the Roman Catholic Church lost some influence on its people.
Today the world is plagued with a similar deadly disease. The AIDS epidemic continues to be incurable. In an essay written by David Herlihy, entitled 'Bubonic Plague: Historical Epidemiology and the Medical Problems,' the historic bubonic plague is compared with
During the Middle Ages, people didn’t have scientific equipment like microscopes to examine the organisms. So they concluded causes for the Black Death with unsupported evidence. Many physicians and doctors said it was in the air. It was inevitable to catch the Black Death as they claimed. Physicians describe the plague like a ‘tide of death’ (Addison et al, 2012. Page 299). However, the Church said it was the wrath of God. The priests explained that people had sinned which included sins of greed, sins of pride, sins of thieving, sins of envy, sins of lying and sins of anger. An uncommon cause was that people thought that the movement of the stars would tell when plague struck while some places even belie...
Chaos struck all-over Europe in the 14th century; no social class or individual was immune from this bizarre mysterious death. Historians estimated that this unidentifiable disease killed a total of one-third of Europe’s population by the 1350’s. Now in today’s society scientists classify the unidentifiable disease as the bubonic plague also referred to as the Black Death. During 14th century European-society, there was no logical medical knowledge; instead, people resorted to supplementary explanations, such as God punishing the sinners, or other religious groups outside of Christianity misbehaving (Black Death 1). In this time period, oral tradition was still common among the illiterate, luckily for the upper class society several people were literate and documented the event of the Black Death by letters, poems, or even stories. The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio is a fictional medieval allegory story within its frame narrative has 100 tales that documented life in Italy occurring the same years as the bubonic plague. In the text the Decameron, author Boccaccio, depicts a story about ten wealthy Italians fleeing to the countryside after news of this mysterious deadly disease. Through interpretations of the story, Boccaccio gives insight about the Black Death’s affects, believed causations of the time, moral and religion standard, and response of the people in Florence Italy. In addition, found from examining the texts, information not related to the Black Death such as insight about the affects the Decameron had on society, Boccaccio’s reason for creating the story, and the intended audience. (Boccaccio).