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issaelkhoury_m_blackdeath.pptxThe Black Death: The Journey of a European Epidemic
Marianne Issa El-Khoury
“The infection spread to everyone who had any contact with the diseased.” (Platiensis, 1357)
The Black Death in Europe, 1347-1353
Throughout 1347-1353 a wave of diseases and death hit Europe and completely changed the demography of the population.
The first recordings of the Black Death was in 1347, when invading Mongols from the East laid siege to the port of Kaffa (known today as Feodosiya, in Crimea), which was at the time a Genoese stronghold (Webber, p.53).
Unable to penetrate the fortress, the Mongols catapulted corpses that were infected with the bubonic plague over the Genoese’s walls.
Attempting the flee the ruthless bacterial executioner, 12 Genoese galleys escaped Kaffa and arrived in the Sicilian port city of Messina in October 1347, which marked the arrival of the Black Death in Europe (Platiensis, 1357).
Progression of the Black Death, 1347
As the Genoese ships docked into Messina, the Black Death moved quickly to take hold of the city.
Messina officials ordered the Genoese ships to leave the harbor, however, the disease remained, and continued to spread through neighboring towns, villages and port cities (Platiensis, 1357).
Progression of the Black Death, mid-1348
The plague was able to reach the entirety of Italy, Greece, and making its way through France.
Jean de Venette, a French Carmelite friar, recorded how swiftly the Black Death took Paris’ citizens, as he recounted that it only took two to three days of showing the symptoms of the illness before succumbing to it (de Venette, p.1).
The mortality rate was so high in France that over 500 corpses were collected every day in Paris (de Venette, p.1).
Progression of the Black Death, end-1348
When the plague crossed the Channel and reached England, it killed almost half of its 60,000 inhabitants (Webber, p.53).
However, the mortality rate was not homogenous, as the mortality rate was higher in cities and towns, rather than rural settings, due to the facility of bacterial transmission with the proximity of large groups of people found in cities.
Progression of the Black Death, mid-1349
As the Black Death spreads through Germany, 20% of its population will be annihilated, and others will resort in joining the Brotherhood of the Flagellants to seek divine favor in an attempt to escape death (Black Death).
Progression of the Black Death, end-1949
While the epidemic continues, and the majority of the population has yet to understand why this is happening, the Jewish population was blamed for the events. This led to the massacre of 2,000 Jews in Strasbourg, France (Black Death).
Progression of the Black Death, 1350
The Black Death has made its way through England and has finally reached Scotland (Webber, p.53).
Progression of the Black Death, 1351
Most of Europe has been inflicted with the devastating effects of the Black Death. Thousands of men, women, children have perished due to the epidemic. The plague has started to enter the Nordic regions of Europe, but has slowed down due to the harsh winters that are experienced there (Benedictow, 2005).
Although the plague slowed down due to the cold winters, they start back up with a fervor during the warmer seasons.
Progression of the Black Death, 1353
Russia has become the next victim to suffer the exposure of the Black Death (Benedictow, 2005).
Progression of the Black Death
Some regions in Europe were able to escape the deadly wave of the Black Death due to the isolation of the area or small number of people who resided in the region (Webber, p.54).
Factors that Allowed the Black Death to Spread
TRADE
It was due to trade that the Black Death entered Europe.
The possibility of certain groups of people interacting with another from different parts of the world, opened up the Black Death to travel longer distances, especially with infected merchants or rats carrying the bacteria.
RATS
Rats and other rodents would become the host of infected flees, who would in turn subject the rodents to the Yersinia pestis bacteria. The rats would either perish from the bacteria or would become a carrier, allowing a bite to infect a human being.
FLEES
The carrier of various bacteria, flees hopped from rats to humans, spreading the plague through a single bite.
BACTERIA
Yersinia pestis is the infectious bacteria that causes diseases among rodents, insects, and humans.
(Benedictow, 2005)
The 3 Identified Plagues during the Black Death
BUBONIC PLAGUE
The victims had a 50% chance of survival.
Acquired through the bite of a flee or rodent that is infected with the Yersinia pestis bacteria. It affected the lymph system. Three or seven days after the bacteria has been introduced in the victim’s system, the individual develops flu-like symptoms, as well as swollen buboes around the groin region, armpits, and thighs.
PNEUMONIC PLAGUE
Had a mortality rate of 90%.
Pneumonic plague was caught when the victim inhaled the bacteria from another infected victim. One could also catch this type of plague when an untreated plague spreads to their lungs.
The symptoms involve shortness of breath, chest pain, or coughing out blood.
SEPTICAEMIC PLAGUE
Possibly the deadliest plague. The mortality rate to this plague is 100%.
The manner in which one has Septicaemic plague is when infected fluids or blood is put in contact with another person’s bodily fluids.
A person would experience fever, chills, abdominal pain, bleeding underneath the skin or other organs.
(The Black Death)
Medicinal Practices during the Black Death
FLAGELLING
A religious movement that originated from England, and made its way through Prussia, the Brotherhood of the Flagellants were a group of men who saw the Black Death as a punishment from God, and flogged themselves to prove their piety in the hopes that the plague would cease from occurring.
RUBBING HERBS
People used to rub onions, herbs, various plants, or chopped snakes, rubbing the mix on the boils and buboes.
SITTING BY A FIRE
Sitting by a fire or in a sewer was believed to aid in driving out a fever caught by the Black Death. Others would have simply fumigated their homes with various herbs to “purify” the air.
EATING CRUSHED MERCURY
A commonly used cure during Medieval times, mercury was ingested in various doses. There has also been accounts of victims consuming crushed minerals and arsenic in the hopes of escaping the Black Death.
(The Black Death)
Toll on the Population
45%-50% of the entire European population was lost due to the Black Death (Black Death, 2011).
Half of Paris’ population of 100,000 were killed.
The 110,000 or 120,000 inhabitants in Florence soon dwindled down to 50,000 in four years(Black Death, 2011).
There were about 170,000 settlements found throughout Germany before 1350. However only 40,000 survived by 1450 (Black Death, 2011).
References
De Venette, J. (n.d.). La peste selon Jean de Venette (1348-1350). Retrieved July 09, 2016, http://sourcesmedievales.unblog.fr/2008/06/01/la-peste-selon-jean-de-venette-1348-1350/comment-page-1 /
Webber, R. (2015). Disease selection: The Way Disease Changed the World. CABI. Pg. 53-56. Retrieved July 09, 2016, from http ://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/lib/drexel/ reader.action ?docID=11160658&ppg= 67
Benedictow, O. J. (2005, March 03). The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever. Retrieved July 09, 2016, from http://www.historytoday.com/ole-j-benedictow/black-death-greatestcatastrophe-ever
Black Death. (2011). Retrieved July 09, 2016, from http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Black- Death.pdf
Jean de Venetter THE BLACK DEATH. (n.d.). Pg. 272-274. Retrieved July 09, 2016m from http://crossenhistory.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/5/4/11541278/ch10_primar y_source_the_black_death.pdf
The Black Death. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z7r7hyc/revision/3
