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.
An important fact to remember is that in those times, opinions and actions were either based on or blamed on religion and superstition. For example, people started marching across the country, punishing themselves on the basis that the plague was the result of all of man’s sin, whilst trying to persuade people of their cause. Also, charms were used by some cultures, such as the “Abra Kadabra” charm, which was either carved, or worn as protective jewellery to ward off the evil spirits causing the plague. It looked similar to the image below.
The Black Death was of significance in Europe, but what exactly was it? The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague was a wide spread infection in Medieval Europe that wiped out one third of the entire population during this time period. This plague affected the Lymph Nodes, where the bacteria found a suitable place to reproduce. How was the black plague spread you may ask? This is where some of the advances made in Europe during the Middle Ages, backfired and actually had a negative effect. It is widely known that the Black Plague was transmitted through rats, but it finds in origins in Asia. Thus the fleas found on these rats, must have come to Europe somehow, for this we look at trade routes. It was very common for markets and fairs to open up with imported goods in Europe, some of these goods coming from Asia, thus traveling salesmen and their merchandise are largely responsible for the transmission of the disease. Another reason this disease was so deadly was the lack of medicine, and knowledge of science. Though there was knowledge of science and medicine in the time, it does not compare to what we know now, including the knowledge of incubation periods. We know now because of modern medicine, that diseases can be transmitted before symptoms show, this was not known in M...
was abandoning them at this time, but the priests were dying too. When the plague
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.
...to get infected whether hiding or not so they lived in happiness by completing everyday task. The art during this time came out with tombstones and death incorporated images rather gothic looking. From the late 14th to late 16th century, people’s artistic expressions were random, adjusted by ethnological growth, armed creations, and had different ways to go about belief in religion. (Johnson, 2003). When Europe transfigured into the ways of Constantine, Europe strayed back to christianity leaving a different impression on art for more than a thousand plus years. Artist of the medieval time strived to make every piece of art mirror the everyday scenery of the plague. Paintings and sculptures, during this time, represented life, death, bible configurations and important people which also filled the domes of churches and church entries
According to my research, the Black plague, also known as the “black death” was a huge disaster that spread from a town called Caffa into Europe in a small amount of time in the early 1300’s. The plague traveled on trade routes. The disease also passed to Italy, France, England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and, Poland as well. According to the book; Plague and Fire: Battling Black Death and the 1900 Burning of Honolulu's Chinatown , it also “occurred in china and killed millions of people.”
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.
Religion was the central focus during the Renaissance, but due to dreadful diseases called the “Black Death”, the church and society had a fallout. The cause of the Black Death was due to bad bacteria being passed along by black rats and fleas. It started along the Silk Road, than made its way into the Mediterranean and Europe. Since the bad bacterium was being passed along so quickly, it was impossible to stop. Due to this, over 17-200 million people were killed. This event happened so fast, it was unbearable and people did not have enough time to react and prepare themselves. People were becoming sick, getting extreme rashes and even, tumours in necks, armpits, and groins. The community’s went downhill, business men and workers were dying, guilds lost their craftsmen, and crops were dying due to no one being able to farm. This also lead to a time where food was very limited, and starvation was accruing. As a result of all of this happening, the church and religions were being targeted. Majority of groups were targeting the Jews because they ...
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were plagued by devastating events including; The Great Famine (1315-1322), The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453), the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) and the Black Death (1348-1350). Society adapted to cope with the abundance of the death and this is evident in the numerous primary sources commenting on death in this period. Death was approached by medieval society from varying social and religious angles. For example, the Danse Macabre can be presented as either a social satire or a comment on religious culture. For the purpose of this essay, it is important to be selective of the abundant sources available, referring to sources with specific re...
Steve Jobs once said, “Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new”. In the fourteenth Century, one the most devastating epidemics to ever be witnessed hit Europe and claimed over fifty million lives. Death became a normal part of life, and it overtook cities, homes and families. However, the plague did more to Europe than kill off almost one-third of its population, it brought grand-scale changes necessary to advance life and bring Europe out of the Dark Ages. The plague was the first time in recorded history that an epidemic was vast enough to have a lasting impact in European society on church authority, the use and invention of technology, and social balance.
The Black Plague Was A Huge Disease that spread over Europe. According to the text “The so-called Black Death arrived in Britain from central Asia in the autumn of 1348. Believed to be bubonic plague, spread by infected fleas carried on rats, the disease swept through Europe over the better part
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.
‘’These changes were both positive and negative and contributed to conditions favorable to the decline of feudalism, the end of the Middle Ages and the emergence of the Renaissance’’(Cultural and Economic). The Church could not save people, nor come up with a reason why this plague was here, which had people questioning their beliefs (Cultural and Economic). Doctors could not even understand the disease, nor how it transpired, which led people to thinking supernatural powers the cause (Cultural and Economic). It was easy for people to point fingers and blame people and lose faith (Cultural and Economic). Many people believed the plague was some kind of punishment from God for their sins such as greed, blasphemy, heresy, fornication and worldliness (History.com Staff). The only way they thought they could end this plague was to win God’s forgiveness (History.com Staff). ‘‘Some people believed that the way to do this was to purge their communities of heretics and other troublemakers–so, for example, many thousands of Jews were massacred in 1348 and 1349’’(History.com Staff). This massacred was because it was told that the Jews were trying to kill off the Christians (Ken). Jews were usually merchants and merchants were the ones that carried the infected rodents (Cultural and Economic). Another way people tried to make amends was by whipping or beating themselves
During the plague, people needed to empty their chambers and put their animals away so they won’t get the disease. In other words “it made the country quite void of inhabitants so that there were almost none left alive.” Also, it spread from people just talking to each other, any type of transportation, city to city and rivers of rivers. Everyone was scared to talk to each other and no one wanted to leave their houses. It killed 30-60 percent of Europe’s population. It spread in and near England, places that rats were always around got mostly infected. The plague spread so quickly because it was so easy to catch between animals and