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Black Death Sociology

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The Black Plague was a detrimental epidemic that affected every social class and still wreaks havoc to this day. The Black Death was a deadly disease that spread through Europe from 1346-1353 (Benedictow 1). This gruesome infection was caused by bacteria Yersinia pestis (Benedictow 1). Yersinia pestis is a bacteria transmitted to people bitten by fleas from infected rodents (“Plague” 1). It then takes over the whole human body (Aberth 19). Black Death did not discriminate based on social class. Both the wealthy and the poor were affected (McGill 1). From this disease alone, one-third of the population were killed by the disease (McGill 1). Approximately fifty million people died from the Black Death (Benedictow 5). Lack of medicine, poor …show more content…

Christians believed the Jews caused the spread of the plague to stop Christianity (Cunningham 67). Flagellants put on shows of self-torture so sins would be forgiven by God (Cunningham 69). There is no link between the Flagellant movement and Christians blaming Jew (Aberth 53). German physician, John of Saxony stated that treating plague victims was difficult because they resigned themselves to death (Aberth 51). Some people experienced a swelling of the brain (McGill 1). Symptoms of bubonic plague include fever, chills, delirium, capillary hemorrhaging under the skin, and enlarged lymph nodes (“Plague” 1). People with the pneumonic strain can get the disease by coming in contact with animals or other people who are already infected (“Plague” 1). Pneumonic plague can develop as a complication of the bubonic strain (“Plague” 1). Hemorrhages turn black, hence the name Black Death (“Plague” 1). Pneumonic plague can cause death within twenty-four hours, if not treated (“Plague” 1). People wanted to make sure others knew who they were in the event of death, so they wore tags around their arms and neck (Aberth 26). Returning Crusaders were a contributor to the spread (“Plague” 1). It only took six months for the black death to cross France (Cunningham 49). People of the Middle Ages had no idea that their neighbors sneeze could contaminate them (Cunningham 53). Black flags were flown over churches to warn that the plague was in the city (Cunningham 52). As the wealthy and priests tried to flee the disease, they ended up carrying it to new areas (Cunningham 52). The Black Death struck Paris in 1349, and quickly spread to England, Scotland, and beyond (Galli 1). Most of Europe had been struck by the mid-1350’s (Galli 1). Some areas saw a mortality rate of ninety percent, while others were “lucky” with just twenty percent (Galli 1). Mass burial pits were dug for bodies (Galli 1). High death rates meant mass burials (Aberth

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The Black Death The Black Death was tragically devastating to the European Society, it affected many people. The Black Death is exactly what it sounds like. The Bubonic Plague (The Black Death) spread in Italy in the spring of 1348. The Black Death is a disease carried by bacteria, which is carried by fleas, on to rats, who pass it on to humans.

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The Black Death was a plague that was in Asia that also spread to Europe in the Middle Ages. Its took a toll on the society, trading and political development. Since the plague was considered to be bubonic and pneumonic almost anyone could catch it. At the time, there was not much knowledge on how to treat people with the plague. There also wasn’t much knowledge on hyenine, so the plague spread faster.

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The bubonic plague consisted of large buboes, swollen lymph nodes, which developed soon after the person was bitten by an infected flea. Doctors realized that they could help their patients by bursting the buboes on their bodies later on, and they saved many people by doing this. The septicemic plague attacked the bloodstream, and it was even more dangerous than the bubonic plague. The toes, fingers, and nose could blacken due to the tissue dying, and the person would commonly go into shock. The pneumonic plague was the least seen, but it was the most dangerous.

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Many factors played a key role in the extensive spread of the Black Death, or Bubonic plague, like insect bites or rodents, but the progressive trade networks were the most impactful. It started in Asia, in the 1300’s, but the new trade routes allowed it to spread across the Indian Ocean. Many people from many different backgrounds were negatively affected by this disease, and many didn’t know that they were exposed to the disease until it was too late. The Black Death had a variety of clinical forms, but no matter which type a person had, they were guaranteed death. This disease completely changed the medieval world and affected religions as well as many other ways of life or cultures.

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Father Dragoni took anyone in who needed help, fed many people, and paid guards and gravediggers for others (Doc. 9). Finally, If a family member or relative contracted the disease the family would do anything in their power to assist that person. They would go searching for cures or treatments and would give that person as much attention as possible before their eventual recovery or death. In conclusion, the Black Death was one of the most deadly plagues in the history of the world. Horrible events like this force human beings to respond

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The Black Death has been marked as one of the worst plagues to have ever struck humans in history, since it killed twenty five million Europeans in the course of the plague, and twenty million in Asia. (“The Black Death, JewishHistory.com) The Black Death took place in England in the fourteen century and killed millions between the years 1347-1350.(“Black Death”, n.p.) This came after an already terrible period in European history known as the Great Famine which left many people dead; the source starvation. The Great Famine occurred because of terrible climate changes that led to a disastrous farming season, that resulted in England loosing “…about 15 percent of its population during the famine years, between 1317 and 1348…”

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The historical pandemic of the Black Death (1347-1352), which killed 25 million people, greatly impacted the European history of the Middle Ages. Originating from China and Inner Asia, the infection of the bacterium Yersinia pestis had widely spread, rapidly infecting those who encounter the infected. The main cause of the spread derived from flea-infected rats on boats or the fleas on the bodies and clothes of the travellers. People at the time had limited understanding of the world, so they believed that the Black Death had an association with supernatural forces such as God’s punishment for sin and demonic acts, along with performing medical procedures that were futile for the disease. The era was highly affected by the plague,

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The reactions from the Christians and the Muslims to the greatly feared disease, known as the Black Death or the Great Plague were different in several ways. The first Plague was documented from 541 to 544 CE. Known as the Plague of Justinian. The Plague came in three different ways: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. With bubonic being the most common.

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The Black Death was a disease that had a catastrophic impact on Europe. Reaching Europe in 1347, the plague killed an estimation of one-third of the population in the first wave. Each document varies with its reasons for the cause of the plague and how to deal with it. The first document Ordinances against the Spread of Plague seemed to blame Pisa and Lucca for the plague and thus, began to forbid contact with those places. It was forbidden for citizens of Pistoia to go to, or have contact with anyone or anything from Pisa or Lucca.

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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.

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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

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According to Ole J. Benedictow “Inevitably [the Black Plague] had an enormous impact on European society and greatly affected the dynamics of change and development from the medieval to Early Modern period. A historical turning point, as well as a vast human tragedy, the Black Death of 1346-53 is unparalleled in human history.” It was one of the most devastating diseases in history

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The Black Death also known as the “black plaque” was a widespread of bubonic plaque that killed nearly seventy-five million people and wiped out a fourth of the entire Europe population. The Black Death was caused by the bacterium “…Yersinia pestis that comes from wild rodents that arrived in Europe by sea in October

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It was the Spring of 1348, and the citizens of Europe were malnourished due to limited food supplies for such a large population. This made them more susceptible to the outbreak of the Black Death. The Black Death originated in Asia, then moved westward into Sicily. From Sicily, the plague crept its way up through Europe infecting millions of people, in total killing more than one third of Europe’s population. In fact, over fifty percent of the population of Siena died, along with fifty percent of Paris, eighty percent of Florence, and over two thirds of Venice.

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Economic and Social Consequences of the Black Death The Black Death was no modest disease it swept all over Europe during the dark ages , had immense and annihilating effects and is in fact one of the most disastrous and destructive pandemics in human history. It rapidly spread through Medieval Europe during 1347-1351 killing more than one third of the population. In the midst of Italy’s overpopulated cities 50 to 60 percent of the population died while villages were completely swept of their people in England and Germany (Spielvogel World History and Geography 248-249). The Black did not only bring the tragedy of killing millions but it also came with many consequences such as economic inflation and extreme social distinction ("Social and Economic Effects of the Plague").After the intense shock of the Black Death, Europe’s economically declined, its internal affair were instable and its social systems

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