The Black Death

A Great Plague killed nearly half of the people of Europe during in the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The plague was also known as "the Black Death" because of the black spots that formed on the skin of diseased people. The devastation of the plague brought great changes to Europe.

The sickness apparently began in Central Asia. In 1347, Italian merchant ships returned from the Black Sea, one of the links along the trade route between Europe and China. The ships were dirty and infested with rats. Fleas living on the blood of infected rats transferred the disease to the seamen. Many of the sailors were already dying of the plague as the infected ships returned to port, and within days of an infected ship's arrival, the disease spread from the port cities to the surrounding countryside. The plague reached Spain, France, England and Russia within three years. Although it is impossible to calculate exactly how many people died from the plague, evidence suggests that it claimed the lives of as many as 25 million Europeans.

The first sign of the plague was often an ache in the limbs. The lymph nodes would then swell. The lymph nodes are glands found in the neck, armpits, and groin. The swelling continued for three or four days until the lymph nodes burst. The illness is often called the Bubonic Plague. Buboes is a Greek word that refers to swollen glands.

The swiftness of the disease, the enormous pain and the grotesque appearance of its victims served to make the plague especially terrifying. Death from the plague was horrible, but swift. The Italian writer Boccaccio said victims often "ate lunch with their friends, and ate dinner with their ancestors in paradise."

Europeans were susceptible to disease because many people lived in crowded surroundings in an era when personal hygiene was not considered important. The Europeans often ate stale or diseased meat because refrigeration had not yet been invented. Fourteenth century medicine in Europe was primitive and unable to remedy an illness that modern technology might have cured. Bad medical advice also advanced the plague. People were advised to not bathe because open skin pores might let in the disease. The devastation of the plague led to advances in medicine. Cities began to build hospitals and enforce standards for sanitation.

Some Europeans believed the plague was a sign from God. Groups known as flagellants tried to atone for the sins of the world by inflicting punishments upon themselves. The flagellants also had a tendency to persecute Jews and even clergymen who spoke out against them. Eccentric and unusual people were often charged with witchcraft and sorcery. Pope Clement VI condemned the flagellants, but they continued to reappear in times of plague.

The Great Plague transformed European society. Entire villages were sickened, forcing the few remaining survivors to move to cities to find work. Labor shortages caused by the death toll led to increased wages. Feudal lands were often converted to grazing because grazing required less labor than farming. The need for a public response to the health crisis led to a weakening of feudalism and the development of more modern government in many places.

The Great Plague continued to affect cities from time to time for hundreds of years. It still exists and is common among rodents. We have a cure for the disease, but occasionally people in isolated places still die from Bubonic Plague.

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