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The plague in the middle ages
The plague in the middle ages
The plague in the middle ages
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Due to being uneducated about the sickness, how it was spread and being unable to understand biology of diseases, people assumed that this was retribution from above due to their sins. Many medical and biological advances have been made since the Black Death; we now understand biochemistry and the molecular makeup of diseases, bacteria and viruses. We understand how infection occurs and how to prevent some of the infections and even how to cure most infections. But during this time period these advances had not been made, so they were left speechless. This event caused people to go into streets and beat themselves with whips asking for forgiveness from god, and to engage in other public displays of pain and punishment.
During the thirteenth century, a disease known as the Black Death spread from Asia to Europe at an alarming speed. It travelled through the trade routes, in the form of infected fleas carried from town to town on rats causing catastrophic loses of population . The Black Death consisted of two forms of the disease; the pneumonic plague, and the bubonic plague . Since it was unknown as to what caused the disease at the time, their responses to the plague’s outbreak were almost entirely futile. Since religion was a big factor in nearly everybody’s lives, the records of the Black Death that we do have are heavily influenced by religion, and as such, their views strongly swayed things like treatments and medicine that were used against the plague.
The Black Death was so devastating to Europe because of the population change and the effects it had on people. The Black Death changed many people’s lives. For example, most of the population decreased, which is sad because their lives are gone. It affected Spain, France, and Italy in 1348; Barbaria, and England in 1349; and Poland in 1350.
Many started to question the church and they started doing things that were seen as sinful, such as drinking, laughing and dancing all day despite death being all around them. To sum up everything that has been stated, the Black Death brought many positive and negative changes to medieval Europe that would end up in the downfall of the feudal system and changing the way society worked. Bibliography: Armstrong, D. (2021). How the Black Death Devastated the Church.
The Black Death changed the lives of peasants in many ways. After going through all the pain and suffering, the peasants gained more freedom, rights and respect. The revolt against the government may have been unsuccessful but it still changed the feudal system, creating a better society. Workers became scarce when the Black Death striked. The peasants used this to their advantage against the lords.
The reason the bubonic plague was so devastating to the European society is because no one was prepared for so many people to die so quickly. This event that reached Italy in the spring of 1348 was one of the most deeply stressing moments of humanity that faced most of Europe. No only did 50% of Europe’s population die it affected every single part of the European society. The culture, education, economy, religion, and the simplicity of life was turned upside down from this epidemic. Not only was were the symptoms of the plague bad, while you had the symptoms you suffered with the misery effects of the plague that there was no cure for.
The Christians thought the Lord was punishing them with the disease, and that when the Lord was enraged to embrace in acts of penance, so that you do not stray from the right path and parish. The Christians pray to their Lord and ask what they should do? A great number of saintly sisters of the Hotel Dieu, who did not fear to die, nursed the sick in all sweetness and humility, with no thought of honor, a number too often renewed by death, rest in peace with Christ, as we may piously believe. People began to think the Jews were guilty for the disease. The Muslims looked at praying for the disease to go away in disgust, because they believe the plague is a blessing from God.
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.
The forth crime that was charged was, disbelief ‘in the gods of the city.’ This charge is a result from the first charge of being ‘a natural philosopher.’ He indeed did not believe in any of the Olympian deities. He may have gotten out of this one if he praised any god and paid tribute to them, but he did not. Because he didn’t, he had committed treason.
The Black Death impacted the economic and social balance of several monarchies. First, the people of Europe flogged themselves to renounce their sins and to achieve holiness. Secondly, the people disregarded the social balance, spiritual and secular laws. The Black Death not only broke up families, as the Romans
The Black death, along with taking down Europe’s economy, also affected the way of life, and the church’s power. When the black death struck the church also started to lose it’s power. People started to abandon the church 's and piety, for more self indulgent ways of life such as Hedonism(Green). Also, the people became angry with the church not being able to deal with the problem which lead to people not believing in the clergy, which is known a anticlericalism. This also lead to protestant reformation when the church really lost it’s
The Black Death arrived in Europe in the year 1347 and was also known as the Black Plague. This horrible disease spread throughout Europe in places such as Scandinavia, Spain, Britain, Italy, Greece, Moscow, London, Venice, Genoa, Caffa, Constantinople, Tabriz, Naples, Athens, , Baghdad, Mecca, Aden. It also spread throughout some places in Africa like Tunis, Marrakesh, Tripoli, Alexandria, Egypt. Asia was also affected by the plague it spread through places such as India, Bagan, China, Xian, Hangzhou and Hubei. There are many short term and long term effects of the plague.
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.
In “The Great Plague” by Boccaccio the reader is presented with the idea that the great plague was somehow a punishment of the lord for people’s sins. This is very interesting as it is a belief that many people had during the medieval times, to think that so many people were dying just because they had done something wrong shows their lack of understanding about the spread of disease and their belief in god. Most of the people that were worried about gods punishment were the common folk, because according to the reading most the people that were worried about the disease left their sheep, animals, and crops thinking that they were living their last days. Because these people where common folks they didn’t receive as much education as other
Other Questions: 1. What was the reaction of the citizens in Florence to the Black Death? The citizen developed fear, wanted to escape the plague. Avoided contact with others, even to living separately, alone and ate very little food. 2.