The Plague: The Black Death

"The Black Death" is known as the worst natural disaster in European history. The plague spread throughout Europe from 1346-1352. Those who survived lived in constant fear of the plague's return and it did not disappear until the 1600s. Not only were the effects devastating at the time of infection, but during the aftermath as well. "The Black Death" of the fourteenth century dramatically altered Europe's social and economic structure.

In the year 1348 the world changed forever. The Black Death, which is another name for the Bubonic Plague, laid havoc on the entire world. “The plague chases the screaming without pity and does not accept a treasure for a ransom. Its engine is far-reaching. The plague enters into the house and swears it will not leave except with all of its inhabitants…” (Al-Wardi, #29, 113). The plague did not care if the people were rich, poor, white, black, Muslim or Catholic, it would kill whomever it could. The plague brought out the worst in people because people acted selfishly, people were completely inhumane, and there was no peace.

From 1347 to 1352 a string of the bubonic plague lay waste to western Europe, killing millions. In Italy, nearly a third of the population died; in England, half. The plague was a looming presence, always in the back of people’s minds. The symptoms of the Black Death caused great strife for westerners. Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian writer and poet, described the symptoms he saw during the first outbreak of the plague: “Not such were they as in the East, where an issue of blood from the nose was a manifest sign of inevitable death; but in men a women alike it first betrayed itself by the emergence of certain tumors in the groin or the armpits, some of which grew as large as a common apple, others as an egg, some more, some less, which the common folk called gavoccioli.” Both Italy and England desperately searched for answers, claiming that the Black Death was the cause of a higher force, but realising that the squalor of their countries also played a part in spreading the illness. Although Italy and England both had a common explanation for the cause of the plague and they both implemented better public health standards, they adopted different public health practices after the plague.

Diseases have always been a threat to humans, all throughout history. One of the most destructive disease outbreaks in history was the plague outbreak which peaked in 1346 to 1353, in Europe, commonly known as the Black Death. This plague outbreak was extremely deadly and killed 30-60% of the European population at the time of the outbreak. The outbreak is commonly believed to have been caused by the bubonic plague, but modern evidence suggests that the Black Death was caused by pneumonic plague, a much more contagious and deadly infection.

Sickness times a thousand equals the Black Death. In our world, many disasters have occurred, causing terrible damage emotionally, physically, and mentally. However, I believe that the Black Death is the worst disaster to have occurred throughout our world’s history. It all started in 1348, when trading ships from different countries around Europe settled at the port of Messina, Sicily. Once the ship dropped their anchor many of their sailors were found dead, and the few surviving carried with them the deadly disease so dangerous that it would quickly lead to death. Scientists researched and concluded that the disease started from Central Asia (Mongolia), when fleas on rats boarded the many ships from Europe. The fleas got on the sailors’ skin and started killing them instantly. However, many thought that the disease had originated from the Far East and was spread along many major trade routes. When the people of Sicily finally started finding out what was causing the death, they closed their port and trading system with other countries. (Wikipedia) The ships were forced to anchor somewhere else in other countries, which allowed the disease to spread even more quickly. I believe that the Black Plague was a disastrous event that affected all aspects and the future of European and Central Asian society, their political and economic environment, and their future advancement to medicine.

There were three major outbreaks of the Black Death pandemic in the world. In the history the Black Plague is also called as the Black Death or Bubonic Plague. This research paper will mainly cover the European outbreak of the 14th century as it is considered to be the era of the worst time of the Black Death period. Many historians would agree that the events of 1300s led to dramatic changes affecting every European country in all the aspects. Creating economic, social, religious, and medical issues, the Black Death caused renovation of the Europe. New circumstances forced Europe to reconsider its political system, improve the medicine and look at the situation from a different perspective, shifting from the medieval to modern society. Paul Slack, in his book The Impact of Plague in Tudor and Stuart England, provides a detailed description of the most affected places and the approximation of the victims, estimating that Europe had lost about one third of its population. Comparing to cholera the number of deaths caused by the Black Plague in England is doubled making The Black Plague the most devastating disease (Slack 174). In the book, The Black Death, Robert Gottfried examines the history of the Black Plague and its political consequences as well as social. He introduces the facts how the European population was affected in both positive and negative ways. From his writing it stood out that the lower class was affected the most as the conditions they lived in were worse

The Black Death, also known as The Black Plague, is one of the most tragic and deadly pandemics to have occurred throughout all human history. It was introduced to Europe in 1347, when a series of trade ships docked at a Sicilian port after voyaging across the Black Sea from the city of Genoa, Italy. Over the next several years, the disease spread throughout all of Europe, killing countless men, women, and children in its path. While many at the time believed The Black Death to be a punishment from God for all their past sins, the disease was actually caused by bacteria known as Yersinia pestis. This bacterium is typically transmitted by “being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague.” When people encountered this bacterium, symptoms of illness began to show very quickly. Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian author, lived through the plague and experienced its effects on the city of Florence, Italy firsthand. In his detailed account of the event, Boccaccio described some symptoms of the illness, saying “it began both in men and women with certain swellings in the groin or under the armpit. They grew to the size of a small apple or an egg, more or less, and were vulgarly called tumors.” These tumors, among other repulsive and painful symptoms, were a clear sign of upcoming demise to the people of Europe, and nearly all citizens who caught the illness died within days of contracting the disease. Over twenty

25-50 million people. That is the amount of casualties caused by the Black Death, it was brought to Europe in the 1340’s by ships returning from the eastern side of the world. However, most of the men on the ships were already dead or nearly dead, sick with the terrible virus. Although the Black Death is very lethal and difficult to survive, they have now found ways to prevent the virus from infecting anyone else.

The Black Plague outbreak was one of the scariest events in human history. The people were afraid to do everyday activities and carry on with their normal routines. This plague is known to almost every person on Earth. Even as a kid, teachers tell their students about this plague. Even the thought of an outbreak like the Black Plague makes people’s skin crawl. I am included in that category. It has gotten to the point that when any outbreak of any type or kind of disease happens that the world gets into panic mode. All of this panic comes from the Black Death. In this synthesis and analysis essay I will cover the places the Black Plague reached, the effects of the Black Plague, and the thoughts of the people that lived in

One of the common deadly plaque that occurred in Europe history during the Medieval age period. Black Death is widely known as deathly plaque that kiled millions. Plaque is a bacterial infection and it is found commonly among fleas and rodents, such as rats. Fleas could jump into a human skin. However, its rats were commonly found carrying this deadly infection and could have affect humans. Black Death affected all the society, such as men, women, and including feudal system. Symptoms from Black Death including swellings—commonly in armpits and neck, dark patches, and coughing up blood. Black Death was the most deadliest plaque in the Medieval period. Since many people during the Medieval period didn't know were did the disease. Many Medieval

In 1347 news reached England of a horrifying and incurable disease that was spreading from Asia through North Africa and Europe. The Black Death struck London in the autumn of 1348. No one knew how to stop the disease. During the next 18 months it killed half of all Londoners – perhaps 40,000 people. There were so many dead that Londoners had to dig mass graves (large trenches for many bodies). This picture shows one of these graves, which was excavated by archaeologists at the Royal Mint site near the Tower of London. In some of the trenches, the bodies were piled on top of each other, up to five deep. Children’s bodies were placed in the small spaces between adults. By 1350 the Black Death had killed millions of people, possibly half the

Although plague continues to emerge around the world, there was an outbreak so large in the medieval era that it threatened to wipe out entire continents. The vast devastation that began in Asia and spread to Europe is likely the most deadly pandemic in human history. There were many reasons for the lack of containment, from ignorance of its origin to the lack of anything to stop its deadly trail. The disease struck and killed with terrifying speed, leading Italian writer Boccaccio to declare, its victims “ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors in paradise.” Certainly, modern medicine understands plague and now has treatment available; however, history will reveal how easily a pandemic can resurface and become deadly once again.

Ghosts indicative of of historical disease are one fantastical element that Kushner uses to position the audience to highlight the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic. In relation to the black plague, Kushner uses the ghosts Prior I and Prior II to highlight to the audience the seriousness of AIDS and a likeness to other historical pandemics such as the Black Plague. Prior I says ‘The pestilence in my time was much worse than now. Whole villages of empty houses. You could look outdoors and see Death walking in the morning…’ (Kushner, 2013). Kushner explores the comparisons of the Black Plague verses the AIDS epidemic, showing the plague was worse, but the inserting how plague affected a wider group of people, where as the AIDS epidemic affected

Nearly 650 years ago, in the beginning days of its time, Europe unfortunately was not the most thriving continent. Although it did have an abundance of food availability, this sent cities populations such as Florence, London, and Rome to grow by the dozens and brought much instability to food costs causing poverty and starvation to its inhabitants. Its level of agricultural production fluctuated while strain was put on the rest of the economy. Such calamity was still not the highest of worries Europe was to encounter and in the year 1348 an unfamiliar disaster struck the city of Genoa spreading throughout and would not cease for another two years. In 1347, near the end of the year, trade ships returned to Genoa carrying occupants

News 1-The Black Death’s Wrath----- Once you find out that you have the plague, it’s probably too late. You start seeing swollen lymph nodes on your armpit or on your neck. You also get a fever, headache, and fatigue. Some people experience diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Many cough up blood as well. You feel extreme pain in the abdomen region. It takes about three days until you die. There are some ways that you can avoid this. Many say it’s contagious and you have to stay away from the infected people. Some people even locked themselves into their own homes.