The Black Death: The Bubonic Plague

The Black Death If you think Ebola is bad, you obviously haven’t heard about The Black Death. The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague, was a fatal disease that spread from China in 1348 to the rest of Europe. During those years of the pestilence, between 25-50% of Europe’s population was killed. The Black Death was a very deadly disease that infected everybody it came in contact with and caused farmers to flee. Due to many failed attempts to cure the disease, the people of Europe shifted their focus from religion to medicine. This disease all started with one little flea, but that little flea had a big impact on Europe. The ships that carried silk and spice the people of England highly value, had rats inside the ship that carried
It all started as a mere headache, then grew into something greater rapidly. The plague came in three different forms. The first form was the bubonic variant, which was the most common, caused swelling lumps called buboes. They were also called tumors. Buboes could range in size from an egg to an apple. They appeared on the victim’s neck, armpit or groin area. People say that a gush of blood from the victim’s nose was often the sign of inevitable death. Soon after this the symptoms started to change, black and purple spots started showing up all over the body such as the arms or thighs. Sometimes they were very large, but they were usually small. These spots were often a sign of death and from this point on, there’s nothing to do to stop it. The second form is the pneumonic plague. It attacked the respiratory system and was spread by breathing the exhaled air of the victims. The third form is the septicemic version, which attacked the blood
Some thought that avoiding everybody and everything would preserve them from the disease. They formed small communities, isolating themselves from everybody. They kept themselves locked in the house, eating the finest foods and drinking the best wine. They allowed no talk or news about the sickness. But others thought the opposite. They thought being happy and merry would be the cure. They spent the day going from tavern to tavern drinking the day away. Houses were abandoned and people could just run free throughout the city because most of the town workers were locked up in their homes. Therefore, laws were no longer enforced. The workforces were destroyed in result because all the workers were either dead or ill. Some people who did not do either of those methods to cure the disease, carried around flowers or scented herbs or perfumes in their hands. The brain would think happier thoughts if it smelled flowers instead of rotting corpses. On a lighter note, the Black Death did set the stage for modern medicine and created changes in public health and hospitals. Some people turned to the church to help with this epidemic, but it didn’t offer much help. Priests and doctors had the most casualties out of all occupations. It also caused farmers to flee the area. Education also was affected greatly. More schools were built in order to get kids to school to fill the gap of the education that was