Puzzled by incomplete historical records of Modern England, interdisciplinary researchers are calling into question the historical accuracy of the Black Death. The Black Death was a prodigious epidemic, killing anywhere from thirty-three to sixty percent of Europe’s population (Theilmann 376). Popular belief is that the disease Y. pesits caused the Black Death. However, after examination of historical and modern plague accounts, some researchers feel otherwise. This paper explores the background of epidemics, the contrasting views of the Black Death, and the implications of the Black Death on modern science.
To understand the opposing viewpoints, a brief overview of epidemics, specifically Y. pestis, must be given. “An epidemic is generally an outbreak of disease widespread enough to affect a whole population – an area, a country or even a continent” (Lowth 42). Looking at the spread of disease and Y. pestis’s history will help in understanding each view.
Disease spreading between individuals is remarkable at the microscopic level, but disease spreading rapidly across a population is extraordinary. Unique interactions between an infectious agent, host, and environment create an epidemic (43). Epidemics, once formed, require optimal conditions for dispersion. “For a plague to spread it needs a disease agent that does not disable or kill its host too rapidly, populations who are susceptible, and a mode of transfer that works in the environment” (43).
The first condition considers the lethality of disease. Highly lethal diseases are not considered epidemics (42). Diseases with high mortality rates lack the ability to be transmitted between hosts. Epidemics tend to display a lower mortality rate making them highly contagious (4...
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...mmer months of the year (Theilmann 376). Because the Black Death had a seasonal peak during winter months, critics do not think bubonic plague caused the Black Death (Welford and Bossak 1). However, critics fail to ignore potential adaptations of Y. pestis and climate changes (Nigel 2 and Welford 5). Without looking at the full spectrum of evidence there should be no conclusion.
Certain skepticism is important with any scientific finding. There could always be contradictory evidence to a theory. This idea can be related to the Black Death dispute. Researchers do know Europe’s population was decimated during the fourteenth century. The means by which this happened is uncertain. Therefore, the theory equating bubonic plague and the Black Death will never be for certain. However, with the evidence we have at present, a strong case can be made equating the two.
It has now been scientifically proven that the Black Plague had first originated from arid plains of centra...
During the fourteenth century, bacteria and viruses were mostly unknown to doctors, which meant they were most certainly unheard of for the majority of the population. Now, it is widely believed that it was caused by bacterial strains. Back then, however, people had to produce their own reasons for the Plague. In Europe, the causes of the Black Death were said to be miasma (impure air) carried by the warm southern winds. The event of March 20, 1345, the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, and excessively atrocious clothing were thought to add to the ubiquitous disease. In contrast, the people near the East believed that the said disease was supposedly caused by miasma as well, but due to wind carrying the vile odor of Mongol bodies...
The actual cause of the Black Death is still debated today, but most historians believe that it was the result of a plague with bacteria. The bubonic plague most likely affected humans with a bacterium that caused many problems. The bacterium that caused the bubonic plague is called Yersinia pestis. A combination of old historical records and details give some evidence that the bubonic plague was indeed caused by this bacteria. Scientists have worked to obtain even more evidence by excavations. Burial sites from the Black Death period were excavated to find the skeletons of plague victims. The skeletons were tested in order to see if the victims had be...
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 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-...
Imagine living in a time filled with nothing but fear. The thing you fear cannot be touched or seen but will put you to a slow miserable death. In the 1300s people were struck with a great plague, which has now been named “The Black Death”. The Black Death killed off populations with just one sweep. Historians call this the biggest tragedy of all time. The question is what caused this plague and how does something like this happen? Overtime historians have boiled it down to 2 and some may say 3 explanations, which are religion, science, and humans. With the help of a book The Black Death by Rosemary Horrox I was able to find explanations of them all. Who may know which is the correct reason for such a thing but what your think caused it is for you to decide.
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
Pandemics, once started, are expected to spread worldwide. They cannot be stopped from spreading, once they outbreak, they continuously spread. The Black Death was a disease that spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. There were approximately 25 million deaths in Europe alone. The Black Death was caused by the bacterium called Yersinia Pestis during the 13th century. The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague was caused by a single contamination of one person. The Black Death was caused by a single bacterium, overcrowding in areas like Europe, which effected a huge part of the population by simply killing it off.
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.
Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. New York:
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.
...sease will spread to become an outbreak as it has a higher likelihood of spreading throughout the population before it is recognized as a new disease and treatment has begun. Factors such as high population density, high speed air travel and antibiotic resistance aid the spread of the disease and contribute to it becoming an outbreak. Epidemiology and other safety measures aid in the protection of the population from outbreaks of disease and alter the susceptibility of the human race to outbreaks of disease.
When looking back on history, it is evident to see that humans by nature are warriors. Humans often find themselves fighting mysterious battles against disguised enemies. Throughout history the earth has been afflicted with mysterious diseases, which tend to invisibly cause the preponderance of civilizations to perish. The evolution of infectious diseases has and always will provide challenges for humankind (Hoff, Smith, and Calisher 6-7). Over the course of time, humans gradually developed a preference to live in large urban settings. Urbanization and the cross-cultural interaction of civilizations have both strongly provoked widespread illness, which is known as an epidemic or pandemic based upon size. An epidemic is when a common disease affects a large number of people within a particular region (Lamb). A pandemic is similar to an epidemic but is even more widespread than an epidemic, and spreads throughout entire continents or even the world. Despite the slight variation in meaning, most pandemics are interchangeably denoted as epidemics (Friendlander 13-14). Epidemics and pandemics have formed the course of human history by inflicting lifestyle alterations and abruptly killing large masses of people. When one thinks of widespread disease it is easy to think that pandemics and epidemics are things of the past. Unfortunately, epidemics are commonly found today in poorer countries and major pandemics are still on the rise, such as the modern disease AIDS (Lampton 12-15). Nonetheless, epidemics and pandemics affect large portions of the world’s population; thus, these ongoing diseases will always influence the history of mankind because they force transformation amongst even the strongest civilizations.
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...
Alchon, S.A. 2003. A pest in the land: New World epidemics in a global perspective. Albuquerque: university of New Mexico Press.