The Black Plague Disasters - Research Paper Example

The Black Plague Introduction The Black Death was one of the world’s worst disasters that struck parts of Europe during the Middle Ages, almost wiping out around 50% of the entire population. Most researchers in the recent times contend that this Black Death was the actually the bubonic plague, that had appeared during the fourteenth century Europe, along with many variations, like the pneumonic and septicemic plague, which affected the lungs and blood respectively. Bubonic plague is a disease seen chiefly amongst rodents, and is caused owing to the transmission of a bacterium known as Yersinia pestis. It is transmitted to humans from the wild rodents by fleas that form the intermediate carrier. However in the latter part of the twentieth century, there have been some speculations as to whether this Black Death was caused by only bubonic plague, or were there some other explanations (as for example, some researchers claim that it may have been a viral hemorrhagic fever that killed so many) for this deadly and sudden pandemic, that had once threatened to wipe out the entire European population. However, most historians and scientists are of the view that, it was indeed the bubonic plague along with its variations, which caused Black Death. The effect of this disaster was so great that it took almost 150 years for the affected countries to recover and it created such a great upheaval that it led to a certain changes in the socio-political, religious and economic picture of Europe. This black plague kept on rearing its ugly head at different times, killing in large numbers each time it appeared in Europe. Finally it was only in the nineteenth century that this epidemic disappeared completely, from the European soil. This article will examine the infamous calamitous episode, known in history as the Black Death, and will explore the probable causes that led to it, and will study the various effects that this devastating pandemic had on the entire socio-political fabric of Europe during the middle ages. Body History of plague: Even before it left its indelible mark as the Black Death, bubonic plague was known to human civilization. As early as in the sixth and seventh century (541-544 A.D.), there were confirmed reports of this disease which is known as the Justinian plague, as it had occurred during the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian (527- 565A.D.). Even then, its effects were quite devastating, and was said to have killed around 300,000 people in Constantinople itself, with some reports even claiming that there were 5000-10000 deaths in the city each day (Hays, 23). After this episode, which lasted for almost 200 years, it again reappeared in 14th century Europe in the form of the black plague, which also threatened to wipe out the entire population of the affected countries. The disease and its variations and the source of the Black Plague: Plague is a disease caused by the bacillus Yersinia pestis. This disease is generally seen in the wild rodents. The bacilli readily multiply within the rodent’s blood, which is then ingested by fleas that live as parasites on the rodent’s body. “Several types of flea can carry the disease, but the most effective vector is the rat flea: Xenopsylla cheopis. These will not, for choice, seek non-rodent hosts if available, but may be driven to find new hosts as rodent communities are thinned by the plague” (Horrox, 5). In the mid-fourteenth century, various changes in the ecological system of central Asia (especially in southern Russia, considered to be the reservoir and homeland for these rodents) led to their migration, to places that had more human population. However as to what exactly caused the rodents to migrate is still largely a matter of speculation, “whether new human activity- an army passing through, pioneer villages being built- or natural occurrences such as floods or earthquakes in the reservoirs disturbed the rodents and caused them to migrate towards human settlements…”(Byrne, 6). Many historians claim that the plague came along with marching armies and passing traders, via the Silk route from China, while others say that the infected rodents brought the dreaded disease from the Indian Himalayas. It is also said the initially though the infected black rodents (Rattus rattus) were imported from Asia, later it was the huge brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) that displaced them. Some scholars have also expressed the views that the constant persecution of cats by the Europeans of the Middle-Ages was also to be blamed for the rapid spread of the disease. Whatever the causes were, the end result was however very clear. Human population and the infected rodent population came in close contact, causing an outbreak of the dreaded disease, known as the black plague. This Black Death is said to have had been caused by a combination of three plagues. The bubonic plague that affected the lymph nodes, the septicemic plague that infected the blood and was said to be the most dangerous variety, and the pneumonic plague that affected the lungs of its patients. Once infected by any of the varieties, it was estimated that the patient would inevitably die within the next 7 days. The fleas transmit this disease mainly through two different ways. When a flea bites its victim, before actually feeding on the blood, it regurgitates the bacilli present within its body and sends it into the blood stream of its human host. Alternatively, the feces of the fleas containing the bacilli may come in close contact with an open wound on the body of the human host, leading to the infection entering the body. The bubonic plague spreads in this manner and as the bacilli enter the body they are carried by the blood stream to the lymphatic nodes, resulting in swellings in the groins, armpits or under the ears, causing internal and external bleeding due to hemorrhages. The pneumonic plague occurs when the victim inhales the bacilli and the primary area of infection is the lungs. The infection spreads from the bacilli that come up with the coughing of an already infected person, and also from infected clothes and bed spreads, and this infection spreads very rapidly. Unlike bubonic plague, this variety spreads from human to human. This pneumonic plague was widely prevalent during the episode of the Black Plague and was seen in many parts of southern and western Europe. The most virulent variety is that of the septicemic plague, where a victim often dies within hours of being infected and without showing any external manifestations of the disease. However, scholars speculate that though there were some reports of such rapid and inexplicable deaths during the epidemic, this variety did not play much role in the episode of Black Death. Life for a common man in Europe, during the middle ages, was extremely harsh. Over population led to famines, and there were constant wars that further destroyed economies. Social conditions were also extremely unstable, and the life expectancies of men and women during these times were very low, owing to extremely poor standards of living, that were both unhygienic and unhealthy. So Europe at this time was fostering ideal conditions for the outbreak of an epidemic that could reach epic proportions very easily. Signs and symptoms of the black plague: A very vivid and detailed description of the symptoms of the disease and how fast the infection spread and killed scores, had been given by Michael Platiensis, a survivor of this epidemic, in the city of Messina, in 1357. He writes, “The infection spread to everyone who had any contact with the diseased. Those infected felt themselves penetrated by a pain throughout their whole bodies and, so to say, undermined. Then there developed on the thighs or upper arms a boil about the size of a lentil which the people called "burn boil". This infected the whole body, and penetrated it so that the patient violently vomited blood. This vomiting of blood continued without intermission for three days, there being no means of healing it, and then the patient expired” (Michael Platiensis-1357, cited in Nohl, 18-20). He further went to describe “there developed gland boils on the groin, the thighs, the arms, or on the neck. At first these were of the size of a hazel nut, and developed accompanied by violent shivering fits, which soon rendered those attacked so weak that they could not stand up, but were forced to lie in their beds consumed by violent fever. Soon the boils grew to the size of a walnut, then to that of a hens egg or a gooses egg, and they were exceedingly painful, and irritated the body, causing the sufferer to vomit blood. The sickness lasted three days, and on the fourth, at the latest, the patient succumbed” (Michael Platiensis-1357, cited in Nohl, 18-20). Pneumonic plague, which was highly prevalent during the Black Plague, showed high fever, cough and blood in the sputum and had a high mortality rate of almost over 90%. Bubonic plague was however the most common variety, as is evidenced from the various signs and symptoms presented in various articles written during those times. It also showed high fever, nausea and vomiting, painful joints and severe headaches. Of those who had bubonic plague, it was seen by the caregivers of those times, that almost 4 out of 5 patients died within the first 8 days of contracting the infection. Septicemic plague, the rarest and the most virulent type, killed almost all who got this infection. The symptoms that were noticed were high fever and purple patches on the skin. Often when afflicted by the plague, the victims became delirious, and before dying they spoke of having terrible visions, “many people saw bronze boats and figures sitting in them resembling people with their heads cut off” (cited in Hays, 25). In each affected city the epidemic lasted for about four months, and during this short timeframe it almost destroyed the city and killed nearly half of its inhabitants. Route by which the black plague spread: If we took a look at the route that plague took, as it spread in Europe, we will find that its point of origin is shrouded in mystery, due to lack of material evidences. The only evidence of some sorts, points to three graves (AD 1338) at Issyk Kul near Lake Balkash. The route is then traced to the Black Seas, where we find the Italian merchants being attacked by the warriors under their leader Djanibeg, from a south Russia state. Soon, in 1345, it is learnt that Djanibeg’s men were infected by plague, which they transmitted to the port city of Kaffa, reducing it to place of corpses. As the Genoese merchants fled the port city to escape the disease, they took with them the dreaded plague and soon spread it to Constantinople. From this famous trade centre, men, rodents and cargoes, all carried the disease to various other ports across the Mediterranean Sea. Soon by the fall of 1347, reports of this disease were coming in from other ports like Messina in Italy, and Alexandria in Egypt. The disease rapidly spread to the northern parts of Africa and to the eastern part of Europe either by sea-route through the trading vessels, or through the inland route via the various travelers, traders and pilgrims. Soon the disease crossed the Adriatic Sea, and reached the shores of Venice, and from Italy it soon travelled to the Alps, crossed it to reach the central part of Europe. A monk during this time wrote “and in this year [1348] a pestilence struck that was so great and universal that it stretched from sea to sea, causing many cities, towns, and other places to become almost totally desolated of human beings” (Byrne,7). The various rivers of Europe like the Rhine, Rhone and Liore, also helped the disease to spread rapidly. Noted French historian Jean-Noel Biraben once calculated and found out that the plague in France, during the years 1348-49, travelled almost 1-4 kilometers per day (Biraben, 23). As the plague moved further inland, it reached Paris and Papal Avignon in 1348. In the early months of 1348, Pisa became the entry point for the disease in the north central region of Italy, and in cities like Florence the onslaught of plague continued from spring till the fall. The Atlantic coastal part of France was under the British colonial rule, owing to the Hundred Years War that was still going on, and soon the disease reached the English soil, via its southern coast. Since England had well established trade and commercial routes, the disease spread like wildfire, and it reached London in 1349, and about the same time the tentacles of this Black Death also reached Ireland. Spain, which was then predominantly Islamic, was also badly struck, and the disease killed thousands. One thing was clear; plague did not spare anyone, in the name of religion. It killed all and sundry, and Protestants, Catholics and Muslims, all suffered equally at the hands of this Black Death. By 1349, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, was reeling under the devastating effects of this terrible disease, that brought death and disaster along with it. By 1353, even Moscow fell, and it was seen that in the entire European continent, starting from Norway till Iraq, and from Moscow to Greenland, people of all types, classes and creed, were dying terribly and rapidly. This was however just the beginning, and most research scholars agree that between the years 1353 and 1500, no less than 18 large-scale outbreaks of plague occurred on a wide geographic scale that covered almost entire Europe, each time it struck. Effects of the black plague: The immediate effect of the black plague was that it almost wiped out one third of the entire European population. The disease spread so rapidly that even before the various governing agencies and physicians could trace the source or even start treatments, a third of the European population had already died. In crowded cities, historians estimate, that around 50% of the population perished. Since the physicians could not give a correct treatment, people turned to superstition, astrologers, which often led to burning of Jews and poisoning of their wells. Since no one could reasonably explain the cause of the disease, it was taken for granted that it had happened mainly as a result of Heavenly wrath, and for some inexplicable reasons the fault was laid at the door of the Jews. The Jewish populations of Mainz and Cologne in 1348 were completely annihilated, and in Strasburg, around 2000 Jews were brutally murdered. Many villages and cities were completely destroyed by plague and they could never recover from the effects of the terrible onslaught. There was a huge fall in human resources, and ironically this brought some sort of relief to those who survived, as now they had more food, more money, and could demand higher wages owing to lack of man power. This disease also in some sense heralded the end of feudalism, a system that had previously been sucking the general populace dry. It also brought about a certain amount of rationalization in the markets, raised many voices against the Church, and also brought forth the concept of women as a work force (Byrne, 10). Conclusion Black plague or Black Death, was in reference to the feeling of depression or gloominess that the epidemic brought with it. It killed indiscriminately, and mercilessly, and wiped out about one third of the entire European population during the fourteenth century. Its effects were so deep that it took almost a century and half for many European cities to get back to their normal functioning. Many villages and cities were wiped out entirely, and there were no coming back for these places. Due to lack of treatment and no proper tracing of the source of this disease, superstition abounded, killing many innocent Jews. Plague reared its ugly head time and again in Europe, till as late as nineteenth century, and killed scores each time it came, but never was the situation as bad as we can see in the fourteenth century, when it annihilated nearly a third of the continents entire population. Works Cited Biraben, J. Les homes et la peste en France et dans les pays europeens et Mediteraneens- Vol I. Paris: Mouton, 1975. Print. Byrne, J. The Black Death. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. Print. Hays, J. Epidemics and pandemics: their impacts on human history. California: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print. Horrox, R. The Black Death. New York: Manchester University Press, 1994. Print. Nohl, J. The Black Death, trans. C.H. Clarke. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1926. Print. Read More