Black Death

Black Death is marked as a devastating global epidemic of the bubonic plague that had struck the European and Asian continent. The epidemic struck in the mid of the 1300 century. This plague had struck the European continent in the month of October in the year 1347. 

This struck when 12 ships returned from the Black Sea, and the people there met with a horrifying surprise - Most of the sailors who were aboard the ships were dead, and those who were still alive were gravely ill and they were covered in black boils which oozed blood and pus. In this context, we are going to know more about the black death disease.

Black Death in Europe

The Black death outbreak was eventually a plague that occurred in the European continent between 1347 and 1352 years. This Black Death had completely changed the scenario of the world which persisted in the medieval time in Europe. There was a severe depopulation that had upset the entire socio-economic feudal system of the time which had the experience of the plague itself that affected every aspect of the people's lives.

Black Death Symptoms

The Black Death disease had hit the major parts of Europe. Unfortunately, the European countries were inadequately equipped for this horrible occurrence of the Black Death. 

The Black death symptoms can be understood from the writings of the Italian poet named Giovanni Boccaccio. His writings explained that both in men and in women, at the beginning there were certain swellings on the groin region or under the armpits. The size was as big as an apple or an egg and these were known as plague-boils.

Blood and pus from this region seeped out. After this, there were followed by a host of other unpleasant symptoms like fever, sudden chills, vomiting, diarrhoea, also coupled with terrible aches and pains—and then it resulted in short death.

The Bubonic Plague was used to attack the lymphatic system, which caused the swelling in the lymph nodes. If this remained untreated, then the infection could spread to the blood or in the lungs.

Causes of Black Death

The Black Death can be described as terrifyingly contagious. ‘It happened with the mere touching of clothes and communicated to all the genders. If even a perfectly healthy man goes to bed at night, he might be dead the next morning’. This is the rate of its contagiousness.

Could Black Deaths be Treated?

Physicians in those times used to rely on crude and on unsophisticated practices like bloodletting and also of boil-lancing (these practices were very much dangerous as well as unhygienic). The people in those times used to perform many superstitious practices like burning aromatic herbs and bathing in rosewater or in vinegar. Also, the healthy people in a fight of panic used to do all the maintenance that would keep them healthy. 

It was such a distressing time that even the doctors refused to see the patients, priests refused to perform the last rites of the dead bodies, and the shopkeepers closed their stores in the fear of coming in contact with this fatal disease. Many people fled from the congested cities and lived in the countryside, but even there they could not get through the hold of the black disease. The black disease affected the cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens as well as the people in those areas.

Did You Know?

• The people at that time thought Black Plague was God’s Punishment. They did not understand the biology of the disease hence they thought that black disease was a divine punishment of God for the replenishment of the sins that the humans have committed like greed, heresy, worldliness, etc.  

• The plague never actually ended; the plague disease used to mark its return every now and then. It was then decided to separate the sailors in isolation who arrived recently. This would stop the spreading and the source of the disease. Also, the authorities mandated social distancing, this would eventually curb down the rate of its growth. 

• The sailors were initially locked in their ships, in isolation they used to stay for 30 days, later this was increased to 40 days. From here the term ‘quarantine’ originated. 

• The Black Death attacked in the early 1350s. Again, the plague appeared after a few generations. In modern times, acute modernization, sanitation and public health practices which were done for centuries eliminated the spread of this disease. 

• Even if there are antibiotics available that cure the Black Death, there are still 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year – reported by WHO.

Conclusion

Even after much analysis, the historians could not exactly sum up how the Black Death was transmitted from one patient to another patient, and none in those times knew how to prevent it or cure it. We can somehow relate to this disease after having a fatal blow from the Covid-19. We are still maintaining what is required in order to prevent the flow of this virus.