The Black Death

The Black Death

From 1347-1352 the Black Death went through Europe killing and because modern science hadn’t found a cure for it or even knew what it really was, they couldn’t stop it. The bubonic for of the plague is was the most common at the time because the bubonic plague was caught directly from the fleas that infested everything. The other form of the disease, pneumonic was passed when a sick person coughed or breathed in the vicinity of a healthy person and the healthy person then breathed in the bacteria. Although the mortality rate of the Black Death will never be known it is estimated that anywhere from a quarter to one third of Europe’s population died between 1347 and 1350 (The Black Death).

During this time the people were scared that they might catch the plague next and so they lived like they could die at any time. “One Citizen avoided another; hardly any neighbor troubled about others, relatives never or hardly ever visited each other. Moreover, such terror was struck into the hearts of men and women by this calamity, that brother abandoned brother, and uncle his nephew, and the sister her brother, and very often the wife her husband. What is even worse and nearly incredible is that fathers and mothers refused to see and tend their children, as if they had not been theirs” (The Decameron). The common peasants weren’t the only ones who were at risk for the plague. A royal family member died and then the people realized that kings were equally at risk as peasants and nobody was safe. Even so, the children and old people were the most likely recipients of the plague. The mature adults and rich people had less chance of receiving the bacterial disease. “Adult survival helps to explain why Europe recovered so quickly from such a death rate” (Plague Decimates European Population). Trade quickly resumed as normal and the economy evened out.

The Plague was able to spread so fast across Asia, Europe, and Africa because, there was no nature immunity to this disease and public health codes and personal hygiene didn’t exist. Once the plague infected one person it took over their body very rapidly and could be spread to another victim in a matter of hours. Malnutrition was one of the causes of weakness among the population. Population growth caused less land to farm on and less food for people to eat. “Two years of general food scarcity preceded the plague, thus requiring the transport of cereals, which are a common place that rats infest” (Plague Decimates European Population). The children and old people were already weak and when starved of nutrients became very susceptible to disease.

The political effects of the plague included the peasant revolts of the 1300’s and legislation to govern wages and health codes as to the burial of the dead and how to prevent disease. “Florence and Venice established commissions for public health in 1348 and the same year Pistoia issued regulations on burial, clothing, and food to counter the spread of plague” (Plague Decimates European Population). The measures taken greatly reduced the outbreaks of the plague and reduced them enough so that it only happened about once a year or so and was contained so that it wouldn’t spread.


Works Cited:
Primary Sources:

Boccoccio, . The Decameron. : , .

"The Black Death, 1348." Eyewitness to History. Ibis Communications, Inc. 14 Nov. 2005 <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm>.


Secondary Sources:

Melissa Loftus, Alex Sherman, Ashley Quan, and Mieko Griffin , . 14 Nov. 2005 <www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/>.

"The Black Death: Bubonic Plague." The Middle Ages. 2005. Instructional design. 14 Nov. 2005 <http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html>.

Knox, Skip. "The Black Death." The Middle Ages. Boise State University. 14 Nov. 2005 <http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/plague/>.

Rempel, Gerhart. "The Black Death." Lectures. Western New England College. 14 Nov. 2005 <http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/27blackdeath.html>.

"Black Death." Wikipedia. 20 Nov. 2005. Wikipedia. 14 Nov. 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death>.