Playing With Pestilence: The Black Death

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Playing with Pestilence Imagine waking up in the morning knowing that this may be the last time you ever wake up. Your whole family has died except for your precious daughter, whom you isolate in a room to prevent her from getting sick. The Black Death is not all to blame, as the typhoid fever is also making a hit. Your daughter hollers that she is thirsty, so you run to the water pump to appeal to her need. Little do you know that you just gave her the water that would soon kill her. Hours later, she is screaming in pain and discomfort with a high fever. You feel hopeless, as you can do nothing to help her. Seeing her struggling, her limp, lifeless body lying in bed, you wish you could trade the pain. Two days later, you fall asleep without…show more content…
City officials called for those who caught the plague to be quarantined (Barnard 13). Although they knew that it was spread by contact, Europeans were very confused about the cause of the Black Death. Not until later did people find out that the plague was caused by infected rats in isolated mountain regions (Barnard 13). Later, in 1563, Queen Elizabeth I ordered anyone coming to the Windsor Castle from London to be hanged in her own fear of catching disease. The mortality rate of the population of England was around 1-15%. People wanted nothing more than relief and answers. Mothers lost their children, and children lost their mothers. Religiously speaking, Pope Clement VI was forced to grant remission of sins to all who died of the Black Death. Also, the Flagellants were a popular religious movement that spread across central Europe during this time period. They traveled in groups and swore allegiance to the people. Although religious healing may have been the answer for some people, most went to the doctor. Physicians during the Elizabethan England time dressed head to toe in “protective gear” so they would not catch the plague or any other diseases from patients. They tried many treatment options, such as letting blood by cupping or leaches. Other treatments included administering a concoction of herbs, butter, onion, tobacco, arsenic, lily root, and dried toad (Alchin). Sadly, these methods were, for the most part,
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