7 Things to Know About the Black Death

Have you heard about the story of The Black Death? This catastrophe appeared in the year October 1347. When the 12 trading ship arrived at the dock after the journey from the Black Sea, people were horrified to learn that the sailors were gravely ill, but most of them are dead. Those who were ill had a high fever and experienced excruciating pain. It was hard for them to eat and get up.

When people saw the number of people who died, they were surprised for they didn’t know why it happened. Some of them do not have health problem histories, that is why the sudden attack of Black Death caused misery to friends and relatives of those who died from it.

Here are some of the facts happened when Black Death occurred:

1. Surprisingly, in the 14th century, Black Death caused the death of 75 million people. It was the greatest plague ever happened in the history. Not only people were affected by this plague, but also animal and other creatures. People were bankrupt and lost their way of living. They even closed stores and other departments. Doctors refused to see patients. Priests refused to pray over or administer last rites. People are highly affected by this plague and some escaped to other countries.

2. When the sailors and other people in the ship came out, they were covered with boils that were hard to uncover. There was blood coming out from it. The moment they saw the catastrophe, they named it “Black Death.” They canceled the sailing of the ship and ordered the “death ships” to go out of the harbor, but the moment they canceled it, it was too late because the Black Death already claimed the death of many people.

3. Before the “death ships” sail across the trade routes of Near and Far East, people are already talking about the pestilence happening in that routes. They heard that from the year 1340’s, several countries like Egypt, Syria, India, Persia, and China also experienced this plague. But people from that time had only little knowledge of this plague. They never knew that it would cause the death of several people.

4. There are symptoms of this plague. The first stage is the swelling of the on the armpits or groin. It was not just a simple swelling because the size of it is the same as apple or egg. Blood is coming out from the plague-boils. After this stage, the ones who were affected by Black Death would experience vomiting, high fever, chilling, diarrhea, and excruciating pain. The last stage is death.

5. This plague is contagious. Even just by touching the clothes of the one who has this disease could cause you to have the same disease. Black Death is dangerous for it could cause death only by few hours of contacting it to other people. The one who was once healthy could be found dead in the morning.

6. Until the 19th century, scientist discovered the real reason behind the Black Death. This plague was caused by Yersinia Pestis, one kind of bacillus. The French biologist Alexandre Yersin was the one who discovered this germ and gave light to the question of people regarding the disease that claimed the lives of million people. This germ could pass from one place to another. Even though you don’t have direct contact with a creature who has this bacillus, you could be infected through the air.
   

   
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   People thought that this plague was caused by rats, but the truth is, bacillus also infected these creatures. If a person went near to these creatures, they are highly possible to get infected by the bacillus. This plague could be found in the European country. The plague went through from one place to another. It came to Messina, France, North Africa, Rome, Florence, Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, and London.

7. People from the time of Black Death occurrence, they had little knowledge about science. Doctors didn’t have enough knowledge about this deadly disease. From that time, they thought it was God’s punishment because of their bad deeds. According to these people, the only way to get free from this plague is to seek God’s forgiveness. So, they tried a different method. Some thought that one way to do this is by removing “bad” people from their community. That is why Jews were massacred in the year 1348 and 1349. Upper-class men joined in the public display of punishment and repentance by traveling from town to town. They did this by using heavy leather straps with sharp pieces of metal. This ritual was done 3 times a day and they would perform this in one town for 33 and ½ days.

Now, the cause of this plague is already clear to people, but the scarce left by this tragedy is still tracing their hearts. This would stay in the history indefinitely and be hoping not to repeat this plague ever again.

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