ipl-logo

DBQ: The Plague And The Black Death

684 Words3 Pages

Thousands of years ago, a plague invaded the human world. The plague ' 'was know by the Great Pestilence, The Great plague, and the Black death ' '(Intro Doc). The plague attacked and kill around 25% and 45% of the societies it touch and/or encountered.The plague was made of three bacterial strains which created the three plagues called bubonic, pneumonic, and septimic. At this time of desesperation and agony in most homes religion such as Islam and Christianity became the most powerful force in the lives of people. The people of both religions had similar beliefs, but reacted differently.
Christianity was the dominant faith in Europe at the time when the plague arrived. The christiand believed that it was the end of the world and they were …show more content…

Islam was the dominant faith of the middle-eastern societies, the population reacted to the plague by drawing closer to their religion. The muslims believed that the plague was a blessing from god and that they should ' 'accept the divine act ' ' Therefore , ' 'prayer lifting the epidemic is abhorrent ' '(Doc 4). The plague that attacked muslims was more mortal than the European plague. This plague killed people faster. The muslims became more faithful due to the plague as it says in document 9 that ' '...the people fasted for three successive days...assembled in the Great Mosque...and spent the night in prayers...they all went out together ' '.The Middle eastern societies were more calm and more open to praying for their neighbors; there was no segregation. The muslims didn 't rebell and …show more content…

Both the Christians and muslims had similar beliefs. The death rate of both places was very similar the European death rate was from 31-33% , while the Eastern death rate was about 25-33%.Both Europeans and middle-easterns thought that the plague was caused by miasma ,shooting starts and sins like outrageous clothing, alcohol and prostitution.Both religions thought that by building fires and drinking American clay solutions they could prevent the plague. While the both have similar beliefs the two faiths did not act siimilarly. Based on document three the europeans ' 'abamdoned family members ' ' however the muslims became scared when they saw the effects of the plague , but at least they acted with mosre acceptance which drew them closer to their faith. In document four , you can clearly see the difference. While christians saw the plague as ' 'the just reward of our sins ' '. Muslims

Show More
Related
306 Words | 2 Pages

The Christians and Muslims were both struck by the Black Death. I will be answering the question “How different were Christian and Muslim responses.” I will also be writing the Christian response. Next, I will be writing about the Muslim response. Finally I will be writing about the Jewish reformation and the scientific inquiry.

Read More
451 Words | 2 Pages

This Primary Source is an excerpt from "The Cremation of Strasbourg Jewry, St. Valentine's Day, February 14, 1349—About the Great Plague and the Burning of the Jews" This document talks about how the Jews were blamed for the spread of the plague by putting poisons into water and wells. Because of this it was decided that all Jews would be burned to death and none would be allowed to enter specific cities for 200 years. Our primary source gives us an idea of what people thought started the plague. Many people blamed the Jews saying that they had killed christ and that they poisoned the water and the wells with the plague. The Black Plague allowed a new wave of Anti-Semitism to spread through Europe.

Read More
843 Words | 4 Pages

For them, the Black Death was portrayed as an apocalypse and they would gather and pray, much unlike the European Christians who began to bathe in sin. This time period of death and despair destroyed everything in its path excluding the faith of the Muslim community, perhaps this horrendous historical event strengthened their faith. Document 9 states, “the people fasted for three successive days [then] assembled in the Great mosque until it was filled to overflowing... [they] spent the night therein prayers... then,... they all went out together carrying Korans in their hands.”

Read More
881 Words | 4 Pages

Change in European Understanding of Plague in the 1348 versus 1352 Known as the “Black Death,” one of the most devastating plague pandemic wiped out approximately 30 to 60 percent of the European population, peaking in between 1348 and 1350 . It caused massive religious, social, and economic, upheaval in the European society causing great changes in the European culture and lifestyle1. Finally, when after three and a half years the first wave passed in 1351, it spared few regions causing devastation in towns, rural communities, families, and religious institutions . The plague was reportedly first introduced to Europe via the ports of Caffa and Sicily in 1347, when several Italian merchant ships returned from a trip to the Black Sea, one of the key links in trade with China .

Read More
348 Words | 2 Pages

The Black Death had a big impact on European religion. Because people could not understand the plague, they strongly believed that the plague was a punishment sent by God. The church claimed that God was punishing people because of the sins they have committed. They organized religious marches and told people to pray to get rid of the horrible disease. However, around 1348, Christians started accusing the Jews of bringing and spreading the plague to Europe.

Read More
1029 Words | 5 Pages

Muslims believed that the Black Plague was a blessing from God. While the Christians were frowning upon it, the Muslims were praising it. They believed that there were many things that caused the Great Plague, other than God. Some of these things were miasma, but due to wind carrying stench of Mongol bodies from Crimea, miasma due to overpopulation causing “evil moistures”, abundance of shooting stars, warm ovens, evil fairies or demons, and sin, like alcohol and prostitution. Their ways to prevent the Black Death were also interesting.

Read More
1471 Words | 6 Pages

The blame lead to the Jewish nation being oppressed and world understanding that the Jewish nation will forever be the easiest to hold responsible. After the plague, Christians declared that very few Jews died from the plague, compared to the rest of the population. The Jewish law orders that Jews must wash their hands before eating and they must bathe before Shabbat. Jews are forbidden to recite a blessing with a stench, they must help the sick and must bury the dead. The rest of the world might have gone half their life without bathing and during the plague, the dead were left on the streets.

Read More
458 Words | 2 Pages

Christian responses are seen to be greatly different from Muslim reactions. Christians perceived the plague as a curse from God. Believed to have committed too many sins, the Christians prayed and pleaded to be forgiven. Once the plague had overtaken the Christians lives, they decided to flee and morals began to break down because they realized the church was not helping them get better. The most major part in some opinions was the burning of the Jews.

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

They believed the resurrection would come, and that means the deserving dead would resurrect, on this day everyone prayed. Some of the Muslim society at this time would have considered the Black Death an apocalypse. (DBQ: The Black Death, 2010) The Black Death was a tragic, scary time for everyone who lived in it, But the responses from the Muslims and the Christians were much different. The plague ended in 1351, as a result of the plague the people fasted for 3 days, afterward assembling in the Great mosque, and spent the night there in prayers.

Read More
815 Words | 4 Pages

Christians devoted themselves to the church, giving up every aspect of their life for God. People converted to Christianity because of the dark times; a religion made them feel safe in hopes of getting to a better place to escape their hard lives (Doc 10). During the medieval period, an epidemic called the Bubonic Plague killed one-third of Europe's population. The people were so unsanitary that is spread easily, but they blamed it on the Jews alleged revenge plans against them (Doc 6). Conditions in Europe during the 800’s were full of fear and unceasing terror.

Read More
601 Words | 3 Pages

The epidemic affected Europe culturally, as the citizens developed an excessive reliance on religion as an answer for their tragedy. Additionally, the Black Death shifted the people’s social perspectives; they lost compassion for the sick and indulged in selfish desires. Finally, the pestilence altered the Europeans’ mental state, as their appreciation of life itself diminished, since the rapid spread of the plague caused torrential death rates across Europe. In response to the Black Death, the people of Europe became passionately pious, for they viewed their misfortune as a punishment from God and, thus, believed the only way to bring about continental happiness was through religion.

Read More
1097 Words | 5 Pages

During the mid-fourteenth century, a plague hit Europe. Initially spreading through rats and subsequently fleas, it killed at least one-third of the population of Europe and continued intermittently until the 18th century. There was no known cure at the time, and the bacteria spread very quickly and would kill an infected person within two days, which led to structural public policies, religious, and medical changes in Europe. The plague had an enormous social effect, killing much of the population and encouraging new health reforms, it also had religious effects by attracting the attention of the Catholic Church, and lastly, it affected the trade around Europe, limiting the transportation of goods. As a response to the plague that took place

Read More
138 Words | 1 Pages

While Smallpox caused a disruption of faith upon the natives, the plague caused a disruption of faith upon the Catholics. During the time of smallpox, the natives were dying in incredibly large numbers and none of their medicine men could save them. This undeniably changed their spirituality. They were convinced that the European’s God was better, since the Europeans were not dying, and they began to attend Catholic churches. Quite the opposite during the plague, the Catholics were the ones questioning their faith this time around.

Read More
235 Words | 1 Pages

The reason the Jews weren’t getting the plague as much was because Jewish tradition made them wash their hands before they ate and other sanitation traditions the others weren’t doing, like bathing every week for the Sabbath. Aside from the living being washed, the Jews also had a more sanitary

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

The survivors could not wrap their heads around the amount of innocent lives that were taken, and the devastation left behind by the plague. The pandemic changed people’s lives forever, and for many changed what they believed in. No matter what religion a person followed, he/she was searching for answers. Christians and Muslims had very different views on why God would inflict such devastation on his people, but they both agreed on the idea the God’s hand played the ultimate role in the disaster. Christians responded to the devastation by claiming God inflicted the plague to rid the world of sin, whereas Muslims believed God

Read More

More about DBQ: The Plague And The Black Death

Related Topics

Open Document