Bubonic Plague Dbq Essay

In the spring of 1348, the most devastating pandemic in European history infected it’s first victim along the coast of Italy. The Bubonic Plague had established a foothold and would continue to rip its way through Europe for the rest of the 14th century. The Bubonic Plague is a vector borne illness that is transmitted by a flea that is typically found on rats. The plague originated in Eastern Asia, but found its way to Europe along trade routes carried by rats on Genoese ships. The Bubonic Plague was extremely devastating to European society in several ways including: major population destruction, harsh invalid accusations, and compounding medical issues. The Bubonic Plague was a very communicable disease that caused havoc in virtually every

The Plague would leave its victims dead within three days of infection. In Boccaccio’s novel, The Decameron, he describes the symptoms of the plague after infection: “began with swellings in the neck and armpit… short while would appear over the entire body… would be covered with dark and livid spots” (Doc 2). The Plague was extremely communicable, causing doctors to wear protective suits, goggles and masks like the doctor depicted in the image found in Document 6. Because the transmission rates of the disease were so high, many doctors refused to practice. If a doctor did continue to practice, he would require large amounts of money to travel to see a sick patient and would be sure to stay stay fairly distant, preventing the deliverance of proper care. Treatments for the plague varied widely, and were always unsuccessful. Medical knowledge was lacking during this time period and treatment ranged from blood letting to bathing in urine. Blood letting was an extremely risky procedure that involved severing a vein to try and “bleed” the disease out. When you couple this with the lack of sanitation during this time period, you can only imagine the opportunity for infection. Europe also had problems disposing of the overwhelming number of dead. Many times people were left to die alone in the streets, while their bodies were collected and disposed of the next day. Disposing of plague ridden bodies often times involved piling them in a large man made ditch. Bonaiuti’s account of the disposal was recorded in The Florentine Chronicle written in 1370: “The next morning, if there were many [bodies] in the trench, they covered them over with dirt. And then more bodies were put on top of them, with a little more dirt over those; they put layer on layer just like one puts layers of cheese in a lasagna” (Doc 4). Bonaiuti was an observer during the plague in Florence, a city of very high death rates. Bonaiuti’s