The Black Death: The Spread Of The Black Plague

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The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a disease that lasted from 1348 to 1351 that impacted the world culturally and emotionally, in addition to wiping out thousands of people. The Plague came from Asia to Europe and was caused by fleas that were transported by rats through trading routes. It is difficult to know the exact number of victims, but estimates range from 25% to 60% of the European population succumbed to it. According to Joseph Byrne, in The Black Death, current estimates are that between 75 and 200 million people died from the plague. At the time, it was referred to as the “The Great Mortality” or “The Pestilence”, but people had no idea what caused it, how to prevent the spread of the disease, or how to effectively…show more content…
They accused the Jews of trying to destroy the Christians. Some people even believed that the plague was caused by pockets of bad air released by earthquakes or by an unfavorable alignment of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. (Kreis, Steven, 2006. “Satan Triumphant: The Black Death”) People wouldn’t bathe for fear of opening pores and thus allowing the epidemic to spread to themselves, and had poor hygiene in general. Some doctors even thought that bad odors would get rid of the disease so they smeared feces and urine on their patients, which produced the opposite effect, and spread the disease. Since people lived in crowded cities due to famine in the years leading to the outbreak, they were exposed to the disease and it spread quickly among them. Fleas could travel from victim to victim easily in such close proximity. The disease is also known as the bubonic plague because it caused swelling and black sores on the body known as buboes. Interestingly, this is where we get the word for injury known as “boo boo”. People also became suspicious of each other and family members would often blame each other and refuse to associate with each other in fear of contracting the Black Death. One of the results of the Black Plague was that it changed the social order and led to the Peasants Revolt of 1381 to increase wages. Labor became highly valued due to the…show more content…
Although it wasn’t until the late 1800s that the true cause of the disease was identified as Yersinia Pestis and a cure was discovered, this new way of thinking and research during the Middle Ages was a precursor to the Renaissance Era. Therefore, it can be concluded that the world was forever changed in many unexpected ways by the Black Death. In fact, it can be argued that there were significant and positive changes in society as a result of the devastation and destruction of so
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