History

Arshdeep Kaur #2 10/15/12 In the 14th century, Europe and Midwest had to come across a very destructive disease that ate nations and caused the population to vanish. This was known as the Great Plague, Great Pestilence, and the Black Death. Although the doctors were not advanced in bacteria, most believed that bacteria stains caused the plague. During the time of the Black Death, religion was the most powerful force in the lives of most people. In the east and Midwest, there were two religions: Christianity and Islam. Their beliefs, causes, and how they prevented the Black Death made the Christian and Muslims responses diverse. Primarily, the Christians and Muslim had many different beliefs that caused these two religions to respond differently toward the plague. The Christians believed that the plague was bad and it caused people to suffer. In document 4, Gabriele de Mussis states, “We know that whatever we suffer is just the reward for our sins.” They thought that the suffering from the plague did not allow one to stray from the right path. Some people did not believe this and left Christianity. For example, if someone did not do any sins in their life and they suffered from the plague, they would believe this theory was nonsense and they would leave Christianity. On the other hand, the Muslims had a different perspective of the plague. They did not believe that the plague was a suffering, but more so a blessing. As indicated in document 4, “…plague is a blessing from god, at the least; a Muslim should devoutly accept the divine act.” Clearly, they believed that there was no need to pray for the sick because if god caused them to have the disease, then only got could help them get better and that everyone should accept to act. Additionally, the things that caused the plague also had a big effect on the responses on the Christians and Muslims about the plague. Europe was affected by the plague because the miasma was carried by the warm southern