The Black Death was known as the most gruesome and deadliest plagues noted in history. The Black started October 1348 and killed 25 million people until 1350. This plague cleared out roughly 30 to 60 percent of the people in Europe. Like many researchers, historians, and scholars, Herlihy had his own person opinion on this questionable plague. Herlihy is the author of a very controversial book, The Black Death and Transformation of the West. This particular book was based on three essays Herlihy wrote about the Black Death, but they were never published. Herlihy discussed his viewpoint of the cause primary causes, medical issues, and his personal feelings of the Black Death. The first essay mainly focused on the epidemiology and medical issues during that time period that could’ve caused the Black plague. Herlihy started off by questioning if the Black Death should really be known as a plague. Many researches stated that the Black Death expanded due to rodents which caused these people to become ill and die. Due to the rodents causing …show more content…
Herlihy pointed out how the plague increased Christianization, a person converting or committing to being a Christian. During the plague the people needed someone to blame for the cause of the plague but they also needed a sense of hope. In the Bible, Exodus 10, God sent ten plagues to Egypt because the people were disobedient to his word. This is a perfect example to describe what the Black plague was. The people in Europe during the plague begin to believe that God was punishing in for their wrongdoings throughout the years. While the Europeans felt like they were being punished they also looked for God to stop this plague which made them “believer in Christ”. Their faith in God is what kept them believing that the plague would be over and this is why Herlihy made the point that Christianization being to