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The Black Plague is a type of bubonic plague that traveled throughout Europe, and the Mediterranean Sea killing millions. The Black Plague (or Black Death) is a bacterial infection that causes swelling on numerous parts of the body. Also it causes odd sores in which human flesh is eaten away. If you are infected with this, you have 5 days to be treated before you die.
This is carried mainly through a type of rat flea (Yersinia Pestis). The rat flea is of course found on rats but has also been found on marmots, prairie dogs, and other types of rodents. During the five years in which the black plague was at its peak it is estimated that over 25 million people were killed in Europe alone. The Black plague probably originated in China. From there it traveled to the Middle East and throughout southern Russia. It is most likely that it then spread through trade routes along the west.
The trade routes lead into Italy along the black sea. Merchants then probably took it Egypt to places like Alexandria. Then it went towards Libya and Damascus and Upper Egypt. Scientists figure that the people who actually brought the Black Death to Europe were either Genoese or Venetian sailors. As the plague spread its destruction into a vaster area through Pisa, it went towards Florence and then onto Bologna and Rome. Later it traveled to: Venice, Germany, Austria, Genoa, Barcelona, Spain, Marseilles, Southern France, Paris, England.
However throughout all this chaos Milan, Italy was virtually unaffected by the disease. The lord of the city ordered that the city gates were to be closed and no outside travelers were allowed in. Especially no travelers from plague areas. Central Germany and a city in Poland also did a similar isolation technique that spared many lives. The doctors who were alive during the plague thought a combination of things. First they believed that the human body lacked fluids, or humors, and assumed that it was gods call for repentance.
Second they believed that God was punishing them for there sins. Because of this a extremist group known as flagellants erupted. Flagellants were a group of people who beat themselves. As the plague occurred more and more people became part of this ritual.
Then the flagellants traveled where Jesus had in his life and would whip and flog them selves and others, believing that god might spare them and forgive their sins. Although this is not the most appealing ritual they were doing this so that god would forgive the sins of the world and stop the plague. Unfortunately scientists looked for patterns with the occurrence of the plague. This was a good idea but caused a lot of discrimination. Obviously the poor people were exposed to rats and other rodents more so then the rich so it became a general rule to stay away from the poor, market places, and large crowds. When a man known as Italian Girolamo Fracastoro put fourth his theory on the disease, he also stated the need to stay away from the poor and sick.
He also said that it is a good idea to stay away from those who may have moved away from a plague-infested area. And if a family member is to get ill, move away from them. A lot of people did as he suggested as well as other things. A large family would usually have a specific family member do certain jobs so if they were to need to go through a plague area only one person would get sick, not the whole family. Next some of the best measures were taken in order to stomp out the plague.
These measures consisted of quarantines. Such as all inbound traders, whether on land or sea, were inspected and quarantined. All of the towns suspicious illnesses were inspected. All of the towns infected were held at one specific hospital. Also travelers had to have certificates proving that they were not in fact infected nor had they been exposed to the illness.
Unfortunately this plan had such limited movement that you werent permitted to move around. Later in history, Europe had set up many more quarantine boundaries. And were a lot stricter with traders from boats. In fact sailors had to wait in quarantine until all the cargo and personnel had been inspected.
And a boundary was put in place between the Roman Empire and eastern civilizations. Anyone who attempted to evade the quarantine was shot. As the plague slowly died down Europeans understood only that it could be carried from one area to another, nothing else. Scientists today figure that it died down because of three possible reasons: a) Black rats, the main plague carrier, was killed off and eventually replaced by the brown rat, which may be unable to carry the disease. b) Increased immunity with the rodent population ay have altered the disease itself and broken the cycle of transmission. c) Human intervention The Black Death caused many things.
Jews, outsiders, and lepers were accused of deliberately poisoning things and they were viscously attack. Especially in Germany, Jews were attacked. Large killings and Massacres became a daily affair. Eventually Jews were collected and either burned or drowned in marshes. The pope tried to condemn and stop the attacks but he was unsuccessful. The killings only ended when the plague ended.
The Plague also had good effects as well as bad. After the disease was gone the tragic death of so many gave immediate wealth to those still living. The workers who still lived made on average, five times as much as they were making. Since the plague killed people and not belongings the drop in population was accompanied by a rise in per capita wealth. It is also documented that there were larger spending after the plague.
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Research essay sample on The Black Bubonic Plague In Europe