Black Death Or Bubonic Plague: Change In History

A disease that wiped out an estimate of 25-30 million people occurred in the mid 1300s and is still considered as one of the most devastating global epidemics so far, the bubonic plague. Also known as the black death the bubonic plague was sickness that swept over Europe from 1347 to 1352 causing devastation wherever it went. All together, the plague had reoccurred between 1361- 1363, 1369- 1371, 1374-1375, 1390, and 1400. throughout this essay it will give information about how it began and what caused it, what people at the time had done in order to try and stop it, and finally the aftereffects of this pandemic.

The plague was when it struck, and many people had any clue on how it began or what caused it. Research has come to show that the plague was introduced to many parts of Europe over time by the trade routes. Considering how the plague had reoccurred many times you can conclude that this disease would come in waves from central Asia as the population of rats would increase and decrease. The fact that the plague was spread by rats carrying the infected fleas explains how this had happened in the first place. This is because with the terrible living conditions at the time there were rat infestations everywhere “The plague is a disease caused by a bacillus bacteria which is carried and spread by parasitic fleas on rodents, notably the brown rat.” (Cartwright, Mark. “Black Death.” Ancient History Encyclopedia) Plus, one of the main reasons this disease was able to travel so fast was because the rats that carried the infected fleas would often stay on the ships that would go through the trade route. “They know that the bacillus travels from person to person pneumonically, or through the air, as well as through the bite of infected fleas and rats.” (History.com “Black Death.”) Considering that this disease could be spread through the air just being by someone who was infected meant that there was a chance that you had already gotten affected. If one were to be infected it would be almost instantly fatal “If untreated, bubonic plague is fatal in between 30 and 75% of infections, often within 72 hours.” (History.com “Black Death.”). Since the bubonic plague was extremely contagious it explains such a high death rate. So altogether the plague was caused by the infected fleas that would travel the trade routes infecting thousands on their way.

Though they know nothing about this disease at the time they still came up with plenty of theories that they believed caused the black death and what they did in order to try and fix it. Since they had very limited knowledge on medicine techniques the only thing, they could do at the time were dangerous techniques such as bloodletting and boil-lancing (history.com). As stated in the article black death, it shows how most people believed that the plague was thought to be caused by god and not actual disease “Because they did not understand the biology of the disease, many people believed that the Black Death was a kind of divine punishment – retribution for sins against God such as greed, blasphemy, heresy, fornication and worldliness.” (History.com “Black Death.”) To think about what scientists know in modern times you can see how much more advanced medicine is nowadays compared to how advance it was back in the mid 1300s and early 1400s. Since people back than believed that it was their faults and that god was mad at them a German group known as the “flagellants” formed and took it extremely far thinking that they were the ones causing the plague. In order to gain God's forgiveness, they would roam central Europe for years punishing themselves and though this group was there before the plague struck its numbers increased dramatically during the years of the bubonic plague. “By this logic, the only way to overcome the plague was to win God’s forgiveness. Some people believed that the way to do this was to purge their communities of heretics and other troublemakers...” (History.com “Black Death.”) In order to purge heretics and troublemakers many religious people slaughtered thousands of Jews between the years 1348 and 1349. By the time the plague started to die out it is said that about 200 Jewish communities had been destroyed “By then, it is believed, over 200 Jewish communities had been completely wiped out...” (3) Throughout this time many people believed that the reason for the plague was because god was angry with them so in order to try to fix this, they tried to please god in many strange ways. Though the plague was really caused by the bacteria known as bacillus bacteria.

The third and final topic that will be discussed is the aftereffects of this pandemic. As said in the book ‘When the Plague Strikes’ by James Cross Giblin, one of the main contributors to the death rate during the plague that was caused other than the plague itself was the amount of heretic murdered in order to “please god”, “over 200 Jewish communities had been completely wiped out and 350 other massacres of Jews had taken place.” (When Plague strikes Frampton pg.39). This piece of detail is important to the thesis because it talks about how not only the plague killed off many people but so did the people trying to prevent the plague. This partially explains how the plague caused such a decrease of population considering the reason so many Jews were murdered was because god was angry at them for not following the Roman Catholic church. Which plays into how most believed the reason for the plague was that god was angry with people's sins. Not only did the bubonic plague cause there to be more questioning in the Roman Catholic Church but many more things were being questioned in general. There were many questions, “Among them was medicine.

Because Galen’s theories and recommended treatments had failed to prevent or cure the disease, doctors gradually turned away from them in the years following the epidemic.” (When Plague strikes Frampton pg.39). Thanks to this epidemic people had begun to stray enough away from the catholic church’s beliefs when it comes to medicinal practice which helped form a path to the future of medicine. Altogether when the bubonic plague had finally ended and died down many people took this time to reconsider their beliefs in many ways causing many to try and extend their knowledge.

To conclude this presentation the black death was a tragic disease that changed history as we know it. It killed thousands but also inspired people push themselves in order to prevent this catastrophe in case it once again came back. All an all this entire experience changed many people's beliefs and changed the world known today; without the plague we wouldn’t have tried to advance in anything such as medicine until much later meaning the people wouldn’t be so advanced in medicine. So, in more ways than one the plague truly did change the world completely.