 |
A
new addition to the HEART is our
Forum-check
it out
|
Fleas were the primary carriers
of the bubonic plague and initially rats serves as their hosts. Rats.
however, were as susceptible to the disease as humans - or any other
animal. As rats began to die from the plague, fleas sought new hosts
from which to feed. Eventually, fleas found new human hosts who were in
turn infected by the plague.
picture of flea
Once infected, death was
inevitable and occurred swiftly - within three or four days. The first
signs of infection appeared within two days of exposure and included
dark, almost black
buboes, or boils, that appeared in the infected person's armpits
and groin area. It was for these dark buboes that the Black Death was
named. A sudden high fever and severe pain throughout the body,
especially in the joints, accompanied the buboes. As symptoms
progressed, victims were unable to sleep, went into convulsions and had
severe headaches that led to delirium. Their eyes went bloodshot and
tongues swelled horrifically, went dry and even grew fur! Many
of those infected vomited blood virtually nonstop for what remained of
their pathetic lives.
The diagram below shows the
process of fleas passing the disease to humans:
Forms of the Plague
Three varieties of the plague
have infected humankind throughout time: First (an most notorious) is
the bubonic plague, followed by the septicaemic plague and
thirdly, the pneumonic plague.
Bubonic Plague - This
strain attacks the lymph nodes, found in the human neck, armpit and
groin. When infected with the plague, these areas
become very swollen and turn dark blue or nearly black in color.
Discoloration in these areas led people to dub the disease the "Black
Death." This is the least deadly of the three plagues because it cannot
be transmitted between humans without a carrier (such as a flea).
Sample of
"blackened" skin
Septicaemic Plague
- This strain attacks the blood and brain, and is the most deadly form
of the disease - with death often occurring within 24 hours.
Pneumonic Plague -
This form attacks the lungs and can be transmitted easily via common
air. Death usually occurs within 3-4 days. Today, a treatment of
antibiotics, if taken early at the onset of the disease, can spare
humans the terrible death that would have surely occurred had they lived
in the Middle Ages. While there is a chance that a person infected with
bubonic plague could survive, the septicaemic and pneumonic forms of the
plague are almost always fatal without treatment. To account for the
world's extremely high death rate during the 1300s, researchers believe
the Black Death was probably a combination of bubonic and one of the
plague's other forms. A combination of these diseases could account for
the horrendous and swift deaths of the Middle Ages.
Death Rates
The 200-250 million people died,
with a death rate of 33%, may seem staggering, actual death rates for
certain cities were even greater. A 33% death rate was the average
throughout Europe; because cities hold the greatest concentrations of
people, they were hit hardest. The average death rate in European
cities, estimated at 50%, meant that so many died, there were not enough
people left alive to bury the dead.
Treatments
Today, an infected person is
easily treated with antibiotics (if the infection is detected early).
During the era of the Black Death, science had not sufficiently
progressed to where doctors could understand the plague, its origins or
how it spread. Consequently, people resorted to a variety of treatments
and preventative measures. Because the stench of decaying bodies from
those who had succumbed to the plague was so noxious, many thought that
the plague was spread via the atmosphere and so used pungent scents
hoping to keep it away. Scents such as pine, rosemary were burned like
incense or processed into oils in which handkerchief were dipped and
placed over the mouth and nose.Church bells were chimed in a futile bid
to ward off the plague. Merchants sold charms and spells to ward off
the plague. Rumors that claimed a person had done or worn something
particular to survive led to the newest fad to prevent or cure the
disease.Perhaps the most widespread belief of the plague's origins
blamed an act of god, which showed his displeasure over humankind's
transgressions. Kings built magnificent cathedrals and monuments
dedicated to god's glory, hoping he would allow the plague to pass over
their city.In central Europe, commoners who could not make such grand
and expensive promises often did penance for their sins by beating
themselves. Known as flagellants, they walked in succession through
towns bare backed, whipping themselves and those who accompanied them.
Leather whips featured knots or small metal spikes attached at the end
that drew blood with virtually every strike as they viciously flogged
themselves. As they marched, flagellants sang and prayed from mercy,
believing that if they demonstrated to god that they were truly
repentant, he would spare their lives.
Effects
The plague had a devastating
effect on every aspect of life and it would take Europe's population
over 150 years to return to the pre-plague levels. Besides a massive
decline in population, economic, social, and cultural effects continued
to disrupt and influence European life throughout the next century.
Economic -
The immediate economic effect of the plague was that the huge death toll
created a serious labor shortage that affected all aspects
of the economy. In agriculture, if the plague struck a town in summer,
there were not enough laborers to harvest crops in the
fall. If it struck in the winter, there were not enough laborers to
plant in the spring.
Eventually, small farming
villages and towns disappeared from the map because there was no one
left to farm the land. The few who survived
moved to other lands.
As the plague spread throughout
Europ0e, building projects were left incomplete. Many artisans died and
their shops remained empty. Church parishes
had no priests to conduct services, lords did not have enough servants
to meet their needs, and many private homes were abandoned. So severe
was the labor shortage and so afraid of the plague were Europeans that
there remained no one to bury the dead.
The plague was the ruin of many
landlords and credit lenders. Landlords often borrowed large sums of
money and, when serfs died or demanded higher wages, landlords could not
raise money to repay creditors. If the landlord succumbed to the
plague, there was no way for creditors to recover lost money.
Widespread labor shortages led
to a rise in labor prices. This occurred in all aspects of the economy
but was especially evident in the agricultural sector. Serfs who for
centuries had worked the land for little or not pay, suddenly began to demand higher
wages and, increasingly, revolted against a nobility that sought to work
them for lower wages of the past.
Social Effects
- The greatest social impact of the plague was that the rigid feudal
system, in place in Europe for a thousand years, was dismantled.
Feudalism was based on the nobility controlling land and the peasants
who worked it. With immense labor shortages, serfs were free to leave
the lands of the lords to seek higher wages.
Additionally, land that had
traditionally been the primary source of wealth was now worthless.
Entire estates, abandoned as families fell to the plague or fled in a
futile bid to escape its wrath, were there for the taking.
As economies evolved away from
relying on land as a primary source of wealth and toward money
economies, an emerging middle class claimed more and more wealth and
prestige - as the nobility began to lose both. Another social effect of
the plague on European society was anti-Semitism. In an attempt to
explain the cause of the plague, ignorant
Europeans in search of a scapegoat suspected and accused many different
groups. Witches, lepers and Jews were all targets of accusations and
aggression by scared Europeans. Throughout central Europe, the
flagellants convincingly charged the Jews. In Strasbourg alone, over
8,000 Jews were killed - 200 in one day.
Political Effects
- As was the case socially, the breakdown of the feudal system had a
lasting impact in Europe. Many nobles and vassals were killed by the
plague, opening the door for kings who claimed power and established strong,
aristocratic nation-states that governed Europe through the Renaissance.
So great was the death toll and
fear of the plague that many courts and legislative bodies, on both the
local and provincial levels, were abandoned. Even the art of waging war
was affected by the plague: In 1348, the Hundred Years' War was
postponed due to the high plague-related death toll among soldiers.
Cultural Effects
- The plague's awesome impact on the arts is evident in paintings,
sculpture and architecture. The medieval artistic world
began to focus on death. As mentioned earlier, kings and wealthy
nobility commissioned monuments, sculptures and
cathedrals in response to the plague. Many were built to thank god for
passing over a city or region; others were built as a reminder of the
plague's devastation.
Both sculptors and painters
began to portray the dead and dying, as well as images of death and the
grim reaper. The style Danse Macabre, or dance of death, frequently
portrayed scenes from everyday life, complete with images of the dead
and/or skeletons. Skeletons were often depicted dancing, leading the
living to their deaths or participating in a scene as though still
alive. In some instances, art took on such extreme realism that
partially decomposed bodies were included.
The Plague Today
Although the plague is today
easily treatable with antibiotics, it has not yet been fully eradicated
- nearly impossible since countless fleas and rodents still carry the
disease. The plague can be found throughout most of the world today,
especially in the western United States, Africa and southern Asia. As
many as 3,00 cases are reported to the World Health Organization
annually.
The map below shows a recent
illustration of the bubonic plague in the modern world.
| 