...R. Glover Professor Schmitt English 2111-45 November 27, 2012 The Black Plague The Black Plague is a disease contracted from diseased animals, mostly by fleas, to human. The Black Plague then may be contracted by humans touching or breathing on one another. This disease is highly deadly and the bacterium that causes this disease is Yersinia Pestis. The Black Plague or as many call it “The Black Death” arrived in Europe by sea October 1347 when twelve Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after traveling through the Black Sea. Europe’s communities were devastated by the amount of suffering and death the disease brought to the people. The most common characteristic of the black plague is the black boils that appear all over the human body and then the boils bursts open with the blood oozing out black. The black blood that oozes out is why people call it the black plague. The symptoms of the disease can progress to other categories of the black plague which are: septicemia plague, pneumonic plague, and bubonic plague. The Sopticemic plague is the rarest deadliest bacterial infection caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pertis. The plague begins to destroy the human body “when the bacterium enters the bloodstream through an open wound the person is known to be infected by plague. The bacterium multiplies in the blood and results in septicemic plague. This form of plague like the other types is capable of causing disseminated intravascular...
Words: 747 - Pages: 3
...The Black Plague “The Renaissance Death of England” Jayne Ritzinger GS102 – Introduction of Life Science September 2, 2009 The Black Plague in a Medieval Perspective “The Renaissance Death of England” The Sixteenth Century and Bubonic Plague The year is 1350 and death has travelled Western Asia and Europe for a decade. The death rate has exceeded 10 million due to the Black Plague, which is the curse of Europe (Bollinger, 1983). Travelling by boat and carriage, the Black Death has infected the known world from Constantinople to London. “The first attack, known since the late sixteenth century as the Black Death but to contemporaries as “the great mortality”, occurred in southern England in 1348; by the end of 1349 it had spread to Central Scotland” (Morgan, 1984). Rats and the lice that traveled on them were the common cause, but the Sixteenth Century had no such mechanism to identify the causation of the plague “Plague is characterized by periodic disease outbreaks in rodent populations, some of which have a high death rate. During these outbreaks, hungry infected fleas that have lost their normal hosts seek other sources of blood, thus escalating the increased risk to humans and other animals frequenting the area” (Plague, 2009). As defined by the Center for Disease Control, the Black Plague is defined as follows: Plague is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by a bacterium named Yersinia Pestis. Epidemics of plague in humans usually involve house rats...
Words: 1817 - Pages: 8
...this letter so just to let you know it is the year 1347. I am living in the great city of Sienna, Italy with my dear husband and my two young children. My life isn’t going so well right now it’s falling apart, all due to the outbreak of the black plague. I bet you have already come across it because it’s spreading without stop from city to city, but if you haven’t yet let me inform you that it’s the most horrifying thing I have ever experienced in all my life. This disease has killed millions of people including my neighbors, relatives, and my loved ones, no one is safe. The black plague starts off with painful swelling and almost tumor like lumps on your body called buboes usually located in your groin and underarms and can be as large as the size of an egg. Next you will start vomiting and have an extremely high fever and you will start seeing dark blotches all over your body caused by bleeding under your skin. If you haven’t passed away yet the disease will attack your nervous system and create you to have excruciating painful spasms. Lastly the buboes will pop and there will be black liquid discharge from it. All in all most victims suffer a painful death; it is just so depressing to see your whole city perish this way. The black plague had such a major impact on the world, it affected it socially, religiously, and it even affected the economy. It affected the world socially for many reasons the most obvious being the population shortage. About 50-70% of people died in cities...
Words: 905 - Pages: 4
...a disease could wipe a population from the map. Today, american society has medicine and cures for diseases. The Black Death arrived in Europe in 1347. According to Michele da Piazza, twelve Genoese ships were decked in the Messina port and it is alleged that their sailors spread it to European citizens. The ill men then moved to major porting docks in Italy, Spain, and France. While they were not in their ships, they traveled through Switzerland, Austria, England, and Denmark. Though, it is believed that the plague originated in Africa and moved to Europe through trade routes. During the time, people did not refer to this disease as the “Black Death.” Instead, they called it “pestilence,” “plague,” or “great mortality (2007, pp....
Words: 589 - Pages: 3
...The Plague, or also known as the Black Death is one of the universes greatest tragedies in mankind’s history. This petrifying illness ended the lives of more than 200 million individuals . The previously mentioned life threatening ailment was caused by house rats and ship rats that were becoming contaminated by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. This contamination would cause influenza like symptoms to the specific person. Today the appalling sickness can be treated if it is acted on immediately. This irresistible infection is as yet an issue today be that as it may, extremely uncommon. The epidemic initially began in Europe in AD 1346. The expression “Black Death” is what it was recently named. It got this title due to the black patches...
Words: 625 - Pages: 3
...The Black Plague was a major event in medieval times. In 542 a.d the plague affects the urban areas of the mediterranean basin. It was caused by rats carrying fleas. The black plague wiped out ⅓ of the population in medieval Europe. The black plague was a serious killer with no cure people relied on praying. The first muslim siege of Constantinople was a major event in medieval times.The man who led this was Caliph Mu'awiya. Caliph emerged as ruler as a civil war happened in 661.The war lasted 4 years and eventually the muslims signed a peace treaty and another Muslim civil war. Battle of Hastings was a battle between the french and english. A man named Duke William of Normandy fought against King Harold Godwinson of England. This war was caused the need to expand empire. Eventually Duke William of Normandy won....
Words: 277 - Pages: 2
...During the 1300s, a plague referred to The Black Death wiped out one third of Europe population. The Black Death was one of the largest wipe-outs in the world. After historians traced this plague, they discovered it began in the far East stucking China, Persia, Syria and Egypt first in 1340. Soon after, this deadly plague traveled its' way northwest when it arrived by sea in the mid 1300s. The 12 trading ships delivered the Black Death onto the dock at the Sicilian port of Messina which was soon discovered as one of the deadliest plague of all time. Not to mention The Plague of Justinian which killed a mere of 50 million people. Furthermore, after the Sicilians authorities discovered the origin of the reason for the deaths, they demanded that...
Words: 672 - Pages: 3
...Back in the 14th century many plagues have long before spread through Europe and were very drastic, but all of those plagues combined was even more fatal and horrendous, this mix was known as the Black Death. The year 1346 was the start of this horrible disease, but how did this all start and what really happened to many Europeans during that time? The plague spread from Cairo to Paris, little was known about medicine and treatments for it. Since at the time, it seemed untreatable it spread like a wild fire. The cause of this was found in a bacterial strain that was found on stomach of fleas, which contributed the disease to rodents, especially the black rat. The flies go from host to host when the host dies, thus was making it possible for...
Words: 416 - Pages: 2
...The Black Death was a widespread epidemic, in the Middle Ages, that was caused by bubonic plague. Bubonic plague was a disease that spread through fleas and rats. The Black Death affected Italy around 1347, and it quickly reached Spain and France. From Spain and France, it spread to the rest of Europe. In the 1300s the Black Death spread to China killing an estimated amount of 35 million people. It condemned one in three people to death, and the death rate was worse than that of any war in history. Symptoms of the plague included but were not limited to: black boils covering the body (specifically under the arms), high fevers, and vomiting. Economically the Black Death caused inflation, the revolt of the citizens due to fear, and normal life...
Words: 602 - Pages: 3
...line ‘Ashes, Ashes we all fall down.” meaning that millions of people were dying during that time. The famous plague is know as the Bubonic Plague (The Black Death). Nobody in those days knew much about the plague, but they definitely encountered it. The fatal Bubonic Plague caused by a bacteria known as Yersinia, resulted in devastation, deaths throughout Europe and in some cases loss of faith. The Plague first began in small animals like rodents, and mice. According to (Seekers, DNEWS) “The bubonic plague first emerged in China more than 2,600 years ago.”...
Words: 1605 - Pages: 7
...The disastrous disease known as the Black Death spread across Europe in 1346-1353. The name didn't come up until after its visitation. Letters from doctors said it was a time of terror wrought by the illness. The tragedy was something no one had ever seen before. In the course of a few months, more than 60% of Florence’s population died from the disease. The Black Death was an epidemic of a terrible plague, a disease caused by a bacteria. The bacteria was Yersinia Pestis that goes around in wild rodents where they live in great numbers of groups. An area like that is called a ‘plague focus’ or a ‘plague reservoir’. Humans received the Black Death when they came in contact with rats, preferably black rats that were infected. It would take ten to fourteen days...
Words: 1823 - Pages: 8
...The first evidence of the plague hitting Europe was at Sicilian port of Messina in Italy after a long voyage was taken place from the Black Sea. Many of the sailors boarding the ships were either found dead or ill from a mysterious cause that was unknown and therefore spreading the plague. This impacted the European society and lifestyle in that the economy and population were declining rapidly in just a few years. Several people during this time turned to their religious beliefs and blamed themselves because they believed God was punishing them for their sins. This leads to the question: “How significant was the belief in the Catholic faith during the Black Plague in Medieval Italy and what impact on society did this have?” To this day, the Black Plague is an event that can be interpreted in many ways. By investigating the event through the religious view, it challenges the views of...
Words: 909 - Pages: 4
...In the year of the Lord 1348 there was a very great plague in the city and district of Florence. As I walk the streets of my once beautiful city all I can see is people crying and asking God why this could happen to them. The city that I live in has been infected by the black plague, and no one could do anything about it. When I first heard of the black plague I only thought it was a myth just to scare children so they would mind their parents. As of now I am a firm believer of it so far it has infected half of my town and over 25% of the people that live here have already passed away. The black plague has probably been studied by a doctor but the doctor took ill and passed away from the plague. So any research that the doctor came up...
Words: 496 - Pages: 2
...The Black Death was a bubonic plague that infected Europe during the years of 1347 - 1350. The plague was introduced to Europe by a foreign source, Europe suffered from severe economic and social losses. Throughout history, documentation of the Black Death was adjusted to different viewpoints of historians, causing primary and secondary sources to occasionally depict the event differently. The Black Death was an important event in European History as it remodelled Europe, the European society, and economy significantly. The Black Death was caused by foreign, infested cargo brought from other countries, resulting in unpleasant consequences for the citizens of Europe. The disease was carried by fleas, which lived on the hairs of rats. People...
Words: 690 - Pages: 3
...The Black Plague The Black Plague was a pandemic, which reached England in June 1348-December 1349. It was later called “The Black Death” due to it killing around 50 million people. The Black Death has affected not only Europe, but other parts of the world killing many. Almost everyone feared the plague because it could possibly affect many of their lives, losing loved ones. New symbols and art were brought to the surface due to The Black Plague, such as plague doctors and even the famous song “Ring Around the Rosie”. Although there is a cure now it is still around today coming in many forms and types affecting people's daily lives. There are 3 major plagues the Justinian Plague, which was named after the 6th century Justinian emperor,...
Words: 1329 - Pages: 6
