The Great Plague: The Black Death

The tragedy of The Black Death affected the Christian and Muslim cultures equally in the fourteenth century. However, these two groups responded to the situation in very different ways. This difference can be a window of insight into their core religious beliefs. By looking at what the Christians and Muslims thought the causes of the Black Death were, the differences in the Christian and Muslim response to the plague, and the similarities of how the two groups reacted, Muslims and Christians responded in very different ways because of their thoughts and actions to the plague that ended the lives of many.

The Muslims, who lived in the Near East, believed different, but some of the same things. The Muslims ways the Plague was spread, include: Miasma from the stench of dead bodies and evil moistures, shooting stars, warms ovens, fairies and or demons, and sin: alcohol and prostitution. They also had their ways of curing the Plague. These included: Eat pickled onions, pumpkin seeds, and drink sour juices, build fire and fumigate, drink Armenian clay, pass severe law against alcohol and prostitution, stay indoors, use letter magic, and avoid sad talk.

One of the most terrifying and stressful moments of human life would emerge in Europe during the 14th century. Nobody expected nor prepared to deal with such a pandemic, the Black Death. From 1347 to 1351, Europe was not the only one that survived that disaster, but also Asia and the Middle East were themselves affected. Socially, nothing worked like before, and people lived as if it was their last day. The Black Death exterminated the population of Europe, interrupted the progress of science and intellectual effort, as well as lead in a new age of pessimism. Europe would not get back up from that tragedy until centuries later. One to two third of the European’s population was destroyed during the Black Death. Deep economic changes turned up.

The Black Death reached Europe by sea in October of 1347. It came across when 12 Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long trip through the Black Sea. Those who gathered to greet the docks were welcomed with a horrific surprise. Most of the sailors who were on the ship had died and those who alive were greatly ill. They had fevers, were unable to keep their food down and were ecstatic due to the pain. They were found covered in black boils that oozed blood and pus. The ships were ordered to leave, but by then the disease had already spread. The Black Death is accountable for killing about 50 million people in Europe. Furthermore,

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 .

Those affected were exiled from their communities and were considered socially dead, isolation going so far as to have funeral services enacted for the leper before they were to be exiled. During the time of the Black Death, Christianity connected disease and sin together, disease being a punishment for sins. When the Black Plague hit towns, many prayed to repent for their sins in the hope that it would stop the spread of disease caused by God’s wrath. Drawing from the actions taken to deal with and to isolate lepers, the Black Death was treated in a similar fashion in that cities would not let people from areas where the plague had been into their cities to stop the spread of disease. The main protection against disease was to avoid infection, consequently, regulations regarding isolation rapidly developed throughout

Many people know that the Bubonic Plague also known as the Black Death started and ended in Europe from 1347 thru 1351. On the other hand, the Bubonic Plague had brought many breakdowns of feudal societies such as economic collapse and social causes. There are many reasons why the Bubonic Plague spread rapidly among others and animals and could not be easily stopped. The Bubonic plague had spread quickly on the backs of fleas on the rats, the Black death affected major cities like Florence, Italy. The Bubonic plague had ongoing diseases and the Bubonic plague brought about the decline of farms. The Black Death also affected the economic organization of France and England.

On the night of November 9th, 1938, the Nazis destroyed synagogues and the shop windows of Jewish-owned stores throughout Germany and Austria (“Antisemitism”). Anti-Semitism is defined to be hostility to or prejudice against Jews. There are many aspects of human nature explored in detail from the topic that are all unfortunately negative like unreasonable accusations, violence, hatred, and discrimination just to name a few. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, there were many complex characters and ideas where there was lying, violent actions, and accusations. As said, these aspects of human nature are found in Anti-Semitism where hatred and lying turned into bigotry actions that were very violent mentally and physically because of ludicrous

In the history of Europe, the Black Death or the Great Mortality has always been one of the most significant and destructive natural disaster, it was so pernicious that it had killed about 25% to 50% of the population in only four years. Most people in Europe did not have the resistance to the plague because it was originated in Asia, the trades between Asia and Europe carried flea-infested rats, as a result, disease like bubonic plague was brought to Europe for the first time. Due to the trades, the plague spread all over Europe very quickly in the mid-fourteenth century. The Black Death was momentous not only because of its significantly high death rate, but also for its impact on European society, economy, and politics.

A vile and putrid plague eradicated almost half of Europe during the Middle Ages. This plague is known as the Bubonic Plague, more commonly known as the Black Plague, or the Black Death. The Bubonic Plague, which ravaged Europe during the Middle Ages, negatively impacted society due to its extreme fatality rates which eradicated almost half of Europe’s population.

"Blood and pus seeped out of these strange swellings, which were followed by a host of other unpleasant symptoms–fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, terrible aches and pains–and then, in short order, death," (“Black Death” 2010). These symptoms signified the arrival of the murderous infection; the Black Death. Prior to the outbreak, societies prospered with political stabilities and peacefulness. Just before the onset of the disease when crop failure began, the state of the society transitioned from utopia into a dystopia. Once the disease hit in Asia, it spread rapidly, killing everyone in its path. The disease spread, causing declining populations, chaos, pandemonium, and desperation. Much uncertainty surrounded how the Black Death ended.

Europe would not get back up from that tragedy until centuries later. One to two third of the European’s population was destroyed during the Black Death. Deep economic changes turned up. Worldwide trade dropped, and wars in Europe suspended at the end of The Black Death in around 1350. Nobody knew how it extended. Most people saw it as a punishment from God. Jews were executed and accused of causing the plague by poising town

The Black Death, swept across Europe in the late 1340, was one of the most fatal epidemics in the history. It should be noted that the name ‘Black Death’ was created in later ages. Contemporaries didn’t have specific name for it but called it ‘plague’ or ‘epidemic’. The Black Death arrived in the ports of Europe first in 1347, and soon spread in all directions in the next three years, and brought immediate death to victims. The breakout of the Black Death was considered as punishment from god, but this essay will explore three main factors which create a specific circumstance for breakout and spread of the Black Death.

In the early 1330s a contagious disease was going to spread all over Europe and it was going to kill many persons, not a lot of people would survive to it. This disease is called: Black Death. This illness have changed the population of Europe and its future, as a fact many are the consequences of the Black Death.

The infected where placed in quarantines and isolated from the rest of the population. While the contagion theory, blamed the poor for the outbreak, justifying government officials to execute them. Clothing and “other personal items belonging to the victim were burned,” in order to kill the plague (217). Children where forced to leave their parents, who were victims of the plague, behind in order to survive. Many cities filled with the decaying corpses of the Black Death where locked away, and abandoned. Strict policies where enforced and “restrictions were placed on public assemblies and gatherings,” to ensure no further outbreaks (Sumich 217). To them quarantine was the only way to control and prevent the disease, but little was known about the disease during that time. The Black Death was very selective on who it infected, some regions such as Iceland and Finland, avoided the Black Death entirely. “The medieval epidemic powerfully shaped patterns of health and demography in the surviving population, producing a post-Black Death population that differed in many significant ways,” presenting a strong force of natural selection, which led to an adaption in human genes (DeWitte 1). This is the reason why some individuals survived the Black Death while others didn’t. The Black Death never fully left