The Black Death

The most important thing that I have learned this year was the Black Death. I thought that it was a very interesting topic that had a significant impact on the European world as a whole. The aspects of this topic that caught my attention were what caused it, what symptoms occurred, and the overall results of this disease. The Black Death was the deadliest pandemic in European history that reached its apex between the years of 1348 and 1350, and certainly a disaste that will never be forgotten.

There were several possibilities for what caused the Black Death, but the most common was the widespread transmission of a bacteria known as yersinia pestis, which is carried by way of fleas. It was these fleas that then infected black rats, which were brought into Europe through trading with Asia. This happened when ships both imported and exported goods to different countries and rats would get onto the ships unnoticed. In correspondence with the rats, many cats had been killed in Europe because of their growing population. People disliked this because of cat's association with witchcraft and Satan. It was this mass slaughter of cats that led to the arrival of the infected rats, whose populations began to thrive.

The Black Death had several symptoms including fever, headaches, muscle pain, nausea, and vomiting, and above all black buboes that were extremely painful. These buboes were puss filled blisters that appeared on places on the body that were particularly warm, such as the armpit, groin, and neck. They were a result of swollen lymph nodes that caused the blisters to arise and become black in color, which gave the Black plague its name. In addition to the buboes, the fever that those who were infected experienced was very unpleasant because it could reach anywhere from 101 degrees to 105 degrees fahrenheit. The other symptoms which were headaches, muscle pain, nausea, and vomiting were very similar to that of the flu that we experience today.

Results of this terrible disease were devastating, as forty to fifty percent of the European population died within just four years. However this deadly sickness did not just affect Europe, but also had an impact on Germany, Spain, England, and the Middle East. It killed approximately seventy five to eighty percent of the population, while in Germany and England it was closer to twenty percent. The Middle East also suffered greatly from this plague, as one third of their population died. Overall, the death toll was so devastating, that it took many years for Europe and its surrounding areas to have their population grow to the number that it was before the Black Death stormed in, taking the lives of the many it came into contact with.

In conclusion, the Black Death was certainly a widespread disease that had a traumatic effect on the people that it came into contact with. No one could figure out the cause of this killer or why it was so violent when it was claiming the lives of many, all they could see was the shocking effect that it had on their people. It created much havoc when it came to society, economics, and religion throughout European history. Such a cataclysmic event that killed an estimated 350 to 375 million people will always be remembered.

Benedictow, Ole J. The Black Death, 1346-1353: the complete history the Boydell Press: New York, 2004.

Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made Free Press Publishing: New York, 2002.