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Black Plague Essay

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The Black Plague was an extremely deadly disease that affected the world. The Plague is now determined to be a disease caused by bacillus pestis, or bacteria that can infect humans through fleas and rats. Currently, the Black Plague is very rare and can be easily treated with antibiotics. However during the 1300s, when it was arising, people did not know where it came from, how it spread, or how to cure it. The Black Plague was an extraordinarily deadly disease that was able to leave an impact because its symptoms were very harsh, and contagious, and people did not understand it. The Black Plague caused hysteria in the world while influencing the future by impacting how different people perceived each other, both personally and politically, …show more content…

When it comes to treatment, the source of the disease and how it works need to be understood before creating a possible cure. However, it is made clear in “The Black Death in the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer” by Rossalyn Rossignol that “Vapors," or "putrid air" was considered to be the vehicle by which the disease was passed from victim to victim. Unfavorable conjunctions of the planets, lunar eclipses, and earthquakes were all candidates for blame, as were the fumes from decaying manure, swamps, rotting garbage, and decaying corpses left upon battlefields.” As these were all proven incorrect, so was the old way of treating the Plague. This shows that misunderstanding led to the downfall of the world’s population and allowed for the Plague to continue to spread. During actual “treatment,” the doctors wore masks shaped like beaks to protect the air around their noses while being near the ill. The major form of treatment used was bloodletting, where the doctors would open a vein in a patient's arm and let what was considered impure blood out into a bowl. This treatment caused more harm to the population and led to the mortality rate going up. It was not safe to be letting so much blood go from already weak patients. This shows that the people’s ignorance and rush to find a cure gave rise to …show more content…

The Plague was so dangerous because it had severe symptoms, it was easily transmitted, and its origins were unknown to the people. These aspects allowed the Plague to reoccur, helping it to leave larger influences on the world. The Plague stimulated new judgment of others within both close relationships and more widespread relationships in the world. Despite the short study duration, limited sources, and age constraints, this study proves that the ignorance of the people and the contagiousness of the Plague allowed it to affect relationships and ideas in the world. This information should be taken under careful consideration and used with caution due to certain limitations, however, it is important to understand the relationship between how the Plague was so deadly and how it impacted the world. So, understanding this concept can help prevent history from repeating itself in the future. The Black Plague was such a fatal disease because of its lethal symptoms, contagiousness, and human ignorance, which led to its effects on people’s apprehensions of others and ways of thinking in the

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