These black rats like to live near or in human housing. This highly contagious infection is spread to humans by fleas that are biting the black rats and contracting the infection. The infected flea then bites a human and leaves the infection in the flea bites. When an over populated area of black rats becomes more over populated this can be another cause of the spread of the Black plaque faster. The growth of population in cities and small towns tend to lead to decline in living conditions, thus leading to famine and epidemics causing more cases if the Black Plaque.
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.
This was because the word bubonic came from the word bubo(Plural form:buboes), which is swelling of the lymph nodes. Its was similar looking to a huge blister, and usually appeared under the armpit, in the groin area, or on the neck. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubo) This disease moslty affected rats. this was because fleas lived on infected rats and drank their blood and then would pass the bacteria that cause the plague onto the next rat they bite. But because rats were being killed-off, the next thing for fleas to jump to were humans and other animals.
Monks believed people were only sick because God was punishing them for something they had done. The Church believed that illness was a physical sign of sin or weakness of the soul. Both severe physical and mental illnesses were blamed on oneself for taking the “wrong path” at some point in ones life. Some people in Europe blamed the Jews for poisoning the water or practicing witchcraft (Knox). But on the contrary, most public officials believed that it wasn’t revenge from God, it wasn’t the Jews or even a weakness of the soul, but just a disease (Knox).
But which was more significant? In this essay I will explain the two events and give my opinion on which event was more significant. The first of the two events was the Black Death. The Black Death was a terrible plague that happened in the 1300s. The disease spread from nation to nation, killing millions of people and seriously affecting their lives especially Britain.
WHAT IS IT PART Well the black death is one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, a plague that swept through Europe and Asia which killed millions in the 1300's. A plague is a disease that spreads extremely quickly and kills many people violently. Most scientist think that the Black Death was caused by a type of bacteria called Yersinia Pestis carried by the oriental rat flea. These fleas infested black rats and unfortunately, due to the unsanitary lifestyles of humans during the Middle Ages, these rats were literally everywhere. Once contracted by a human the disease became airborne.
The terrible disease caused not only massive numbers of deaths, but also caused many minority groups to be blamed and persecuted for "causing" the Black Death. The symptoms were a bubo in the groin, where the thigh meets the trunk; or a small swelling under the armpit; sudden fever; spitting blood and saliva. It was such a frightful thing that when it got into a house, as was said, no one remained. There was so much death destruction that bodies would just be lying around and there was no place to bury them. People might as well fear that if they touch the bodies to bury them then they themselves would also get the disease and die.
The Black Death The Black Death, known as the Black Plague, or the Bubonic Plague killed one third of the population of Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries. The beginning of this plague set the scene for years suffering. It left the social and economic world in pause. The Black Death became a subject of art, music and folklore and it influenced the mind of the people. The impact of this mass killer caused disorder to the medieval society because of its unknown origin, the unknown causes and preventions, its deathly symptoms and its breakdown of life.
The Plague greatly affected the medieval world. It killed 25 million people, including a third of Europe's population. One of the economic effects caused by the Plague was inflation. Trade was dangerous and local goods weren't being produced as much because the number of workers decreased greatly. The prices went through the roof.
Rodents played a large roll in spreading Bubonic plague. Plague occurs in arias with a lot of burrowing rodents. During the renaissance rats were probably big problems. Any rat living in someone’s home or running down the street could be infected. Rodents also act as long term preservers for plague.