What is the Black Death?
The Black Death was a plague which settled in Europe(1347) and lasted until Year 1351 A.D. The plague caused a victim's skin to turn a pure black color which would boil and leak a mix of pus and blood. The plague was lethal and had a high risk of killing a person in just a day. During its time, The Black Death was able to successfully spread to 20 million people and kill ⅓ of the European population. It averaged a 5 million deaths per year and a guaranteed 200 people a day death rate. Early symptoms include fevers, chills, vomiting, extreme cases of diarrhea, harsh aching and pains.
Arrival
The first recorded date in which the Black Death arrived in Europe was during October 1347 at the port of Messina, After the ship docked at the port, the workers found it strange how none of the sailors came out or at least showed their faces within the minutes they were there. When they finally investigated they were greeted with the sight of the dead crewman and the rest who were close to reaching terminal status. The workers came in contact with the men in an attempt to save them with no prevail. The only thing that came out of the attempt was it spreading from the crewman to the port workers who infected their friends and family. (Before the incident the Black Death was only rumored about and went by different names, “The Pestilence” or “the Blue Sickness”)
The Spread
One of the biggest factors that led to the spread of the plague was the fact that people couldn't understand what it was or how it spread. It wasn't discovered that the plague was airborne or could spread through any type of contact between a victim and a person’s body until after the plague disappeared. The plague was undiscriminating and would attack anyone and everyone regardless of social status, strength of the immune system, or how clean your body was because there was no way to avoid catching it.
Impacts
The effects of the plague weren't generous either. Wars started, trade suddenly came to a halt and most images created represented the nature of the plague or the loss of many loved ones. Landowners lost many laborers which resulted in increased wages for peasants and artisans. Also many infected corpses were scattered across streets or walkways due to the public being afraid to touch them.
Jews and Flagellants
As mentioned most people of religion considered the plague as God's retribution for their injustices and unholy amount of sins committed. Jews were scared and began to believe that a cleanse was necessary for the rest to survive. In both 1348 and 1349 A.D. Flagellants started to appear. Flagellants were monks who would travel from town to town and create public displays of what they considered a punishment. In these public displays they would whip people with heavy leather straps that had sharp metal attached to it. They would do this 3 times a day for 33 and a half days until they moved to another town. It was effective against the plague and gave comfort to a lot of people until their power was stripped because the pope saw it as unjust.
Conclusion
Nostradamus, a well-known doctor suggested that the people remove infected corpses to clear the air, drink clean water and to not have the victims bleed, eventually stopping the plague the plague for a while but every now and then it would make another appearance, usually every 2nd generation. The Plague lasted a total of 4 years and killed 33% of European population. It spread through air and human contact while being extremely fatal. Spread changed human behavior and art Flagellants wore down the plague by reducing population due to elimination of sinners.
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“Rats May Not Have Been Responsible for the Black Death Plague.” UPI, UPI, 16 Jan. 2018, https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2018/01/16/Rats-may-not-have-been-responsible-for-the-Black-Death-plague/8491516136621/.
I liked how you went in depth about the black plague, like the spread of it, but there were some grammatical errors.
Reading the beginning of this article about the symptoms grossed me out but made me interested and curious on reading more about it. I wasn't aware of how much this disease effected Europe religiously and hygienically, besides the deadly outcomes. Well written article and the part where it said "The plague was undiscriminating and would attack anyone and everyone regardless of social status, " gave me a good laugh. Well done.
Your article is eye-catching. You provide a lot of information for each topic.
I like how you explained in the first paragraph what the Black Death was for those who are not aware. Also your follow up paragraphs are amazing because any potential questions that might be asked are answered in the next paragraph. All in all your article is very neat.
Your article is very well written and kept my attention the entire time. The facts and details provided allowed me to have a thorough understanding of events. Also, I enjoyed the fact that names and dates were mentioned.