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 . The disease was spread by the vector Rattus rattus and transmitted to people by the fleas. This organism was not new to the world in the fourteenth century, as Europe had experienced the Justinian plague in 542 AD . However, the people of Europe did not have any natural immunity or understanding of the disease caused by a bacterium Yersinia pestis. The people became aware of the relationship between rat and fleas only in late nineteenth century .
The daily contact between European people in the cities and
…show more content…
Some believed the plague was caused by miasmas (bad air) or poisonous vapors associated with decomposition and foul air. Some people resorted to burning incense or other herbs because they believed that the overpowering smell of the dead victims was the source of the disease. Public officials took measures to contain the disease through quarantine by walling up homes that had members with disease. This action had limited success, but still prevented the disease more than in other areas which did not enforce this type of