Overview of the Black Death

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Multiple circumstances within the cities, families, and organizations of societies contributed to the rapid spread of the plague. Rats, ticks and other rodents or insects where one of the reason the plague spread throughout the world and most of Europe. The ticks and fleas where infected with the disease and they bit the rats and other rodents, which infected them with the disease. The ticks and fleas also bit other rodents, livestock and even the attached themselves to humans and transferred the disease to them. The rats or other rodents ran throughout the place they where bit by the tick. Some of the rodents began to go into ship yards and trains. They bread with other rats and begin to produce offspring which created an even bigger problem. The rodents got onto the ships and where transported around the world, along with the now infected materials on board. The rats would drop their feces around the ship and even on the drinking water and food. When the ships docked at ship yards around the world the rats got off and ran around the new country they now belonged to. Some of the supplies that where taken off of the ship included but was not limited to, liquids, foods and livestock. These supplies where shipped around the world and contributed greatly to the spread of the disease. The church also helped the spread of the plague. The priests, from the catholic church, went from house to house visiting the sick. The priest would visit the sick person to anoint them before they died. This was a catholic belief and is still done today. It is called anointing of the sick, it is a sacrament in the catholic faith. This caused the disease to spread rapidly because the priest would visit a sick person and become infected. He then would ... ... middle of paper ... ...to prevent the disease. Some people fled to the country side and quarantined themselves. In the churches they took measures that would have not ever been seen if the plague had not taken place. In one instance, one of the priest was giving out mass on the end of a pole. Pope Clement sat in-between to big fires in order to breath pure air. Works Cited Betcher, G. "Town Life." Town Life. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. "The Black Death, 1348." The Black Death, 1348. Trans. Richard Aldington. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. K., Alchin L. "Health in the Middle Ages." Health in the Middle Ages. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. K., Alchin L. "Middle Ages Hygiene." Middle Ages Hygiene. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. Knox, Ellis L. "The Black Death." ORB: The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies. 1999. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Trueman, Chris. "Medicine in the Middle Ages." Medicine in the Middle Ages. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

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