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Black Plague
The Black Plague was one of the most noticeably awful and deadliest diseases known to
man in world history. It started in Italy and rapidly spread in every part of Europe and resulted in
the deaths of over 137 million people in Europe, Asia, and North Africa (Usher). It is said that
the plague pandemic claimed the lives of approximately 65% of those people who suffered from
the disease (Usher). It occurred in the 14th century i.e. starting from 1346 to 1353 and this period
seen some people punishing themselves as a way of seeking forgiveness from God. Some of the
symptoms of the plague include swellings known as buboes, headache, abdominal pain, and
extreme weakness (Usher). This paper deliberates over how people attempted to expound the
Black Death plague and what they did to combat it. Besides, it also discusses how the plague
pandemic directly affects different people who lived through it.
The physicians that were living during the time of pandemic did not understand the
causes of the bubonic plague (Boccaccio 81). They had different perspectives regarding the
cause and spread of the pandemic and their ideas were dynamic, hence kept on changing from
time to time. The methods that they proposed to cure the disease were ineffective and kept on
changing from time to time due to a lack of adequate knowledge of how to deal with the plague
effectively and efficiently. College-trained physicians, priests as well as herbalists did their best
to prevent the plague (Venette). Although these physicians failed to cure the disease, they
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deserve some credit as they at least identified some of the signs and symptoms that were related
to the plague. The plague doctors perceived the Black Death to be a pestilence fever. They
recognized that the buboes tended to form in the groin and neck.
The plague doctors asserted that the Black Death led to humor corruption and this coaxed
the body to eject it from several organs not limited to the brain and liver. Based on these doctors,
it was possible to prevent the disease by bolstering the humor and changing diet that could help
to keep them in balance (Venette). Moreover, they also suggested that the disease could also be
prevented by taking drugs that impelled “beneficial” prophylactic bloodletting. These procedures
were aimed at getting rid of humor corruption. Processors from the University of Paris claimed
that the Black Death was associated with the overheating of the air. Then it blew across Europe
and caused the disease and the doctors encouraged people to wear bitter substances as a way of
protecting themselves against the pestilence air (Venette).
Even though the cause of the plague pandemic remained unknown, the people of
Medieval Europe were convicted that God was responsible for the plague and He used it as a
way of punishing the wicked people (Venette). They asserted that God was angry with the people
and therefore opted to punish the wicked through the black plague. It was believed that the
divine punishment came as the people had committed several sins including worldliness, and
heresy. These people did not have a greater comprehension of the disease biology. By believing
that it was a divine punishment, some people believed that they had no purge the troublemakers
from their communities as the only way of ensuring that they are safe from the plague pandemic
(Venette). Many Jews were brutally killed due to the aforementioned beliefs. Different names
were used for the black plague, such as bubonic plague and the Black Death. The disease was
linked to the term plague because it caused widespread fatalities. The people that were living in
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the 14th century had a poor level of education and therefore, they were likely to be influenced by
superstitions (Venette).
Since no one knew the cause of the Black Death, it became impossible for people to
develop its cure. People tried different ways to cure the disease, but most of them did not bore
fruits and they were futile (Venette). It can be noted that physicians that were living in those
times had no idea of possible ways that could be used for curing the disease. Animal cures are
one of the ways that were used to cure the plague pandemic. Thomas Vicary came up with one of
the prominent cures known as the "Vicary method." As a way of attempting to treat the disease,
people applied bare parts of a live chicken to the affected parts of those who suffered from the
disease. The chicken strapped the swollen nodes of the affected person. Interestingly, the people
believed that the pandemic was being drawn away when the chicken started showing signs of
sickness (Venette). Subsequently, the chicken was detached from the swollen nodes and rubbed
back on the body of the affected person. This process continued till either the chicken or the sick
person passed on.
Other than applying a healthy chicken on the swollen nodes, people also attempted to
cure the plague pandemic by using a snake. After a person has found a snake, he was required to
cut it into pieces and apply it to the swollen buboes. Correspondingly, people also used pigeons,
however, the reason for using it was unclear. All things considered, the unicorn was the most
prominent animal that could be sought because of its curative powers. The core reason for using
unicorn could be attributed to the conviction that the drink made from its horn plays some vital
roles in poison neutralization. The horn was crushed into powder and mixed with water to form a
drink and this remedy was exorbitant (Venette). Medical practitioners who managed to obtain the
unicorn powder used it to cure severe wounds as well as convulsions. Thus, they believed the
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aforementioned powder was also capable of curing the disease. No evidence indicates that the
unicorn powder treated the identified problems efficiently and effectively.
Like the unicorn powder, crushed emeralds were also expensive and offered to the people
of the upper class. Pestle and mortar are the tools that were used in crushing the aforesaid
remedy (Petrarch). There was an alternative for those patients who could not take emeralds. They
opted to drink arsenic, and as a result, they passed on quickly as compared with those people that
were killed by the plague itself. A mixture of cider, vinegar, besides spices; for example,
wormwood was considered to be one of the most notable effective remedies that could cure the
plague pandemic. This mixture was referred to as ‘Four Thieves Vinegar.’ (Petrarch). How this
remedy came into being is interesting and amazing. This is because it was created and utilized by
four thieves to ransack from the dying and the drink made them resistant to the plague. At the
moment, the Four Thieves Vinegar is still being utilized in homeopathic medicine, however,
there is no medical practitioner who has asserted that it can cure the Black Death.
The Black Death directly affected different people who lived through it. The effects of
the Black Death can be divided into three; social, political, and economic impacts. Let's start
with social impacts, the fact that the Black Death affected social well-being is undeniable as
there is sufficient evidence that bolsters this area of study. Right off the bat, it claimed the lives
of the overwhelming majority of the sufferers; therefore, lessening the human population
(Mussi). Feudalism, which is the term that was used to refer to the European social structure in
medieval times contributed immensely to the creation of a society in which inequality was a
common occurrence (Ordinance of Laborers). In that time of history, there were many rich lords
and poor peasants. Following this development, the population in Europe experienced
tremendous growth, and this acted as a catalyst for the plague pandemic. The plague claimed the
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lives of many poor peasants and this led to the reduction of those laborers who could work for
the lords. Besides, it resulted in a substantial reduction of the population in Europe (Ordinance of
Laborers).
Apart from the social impacts, the Black Death also impacted the people who lived
through it economically. In England and Western Europe, the reduction of the population that
was wrought by the Black Death positively impacted the peasants because it augmented social
mobility as it allowed the poor to move out of their traditional holdings (Ordinance of Laborers).
The plague pandemic impelled innovation as people tend to embrace labor-saving technologies,
thereby increasing productivity (Ordinance of Laborers). These people saw the people shifting
from grain farming to animal husbandry since grain farming required a lot of labor (Mussi).
However, those people with the highest status tried their best to halt these changes by
establishing sumptuary laws in Eastern and Western Europe. These laws restricted the peasants
from acting as upper-class members as a result of their wealth increase (Ordinance of Laborers).
There were also fixed wages that aimed at preventing the peasants from making peremptory
requests for more wages.
Regarding the political impacts, as discussed earlier, feudalism restricted the poor
peasants from relocation from their traditional villages, however, Black Death decreased the
number of laborers who were required to work for the lords (Usher). Therefore, this situation
forced the lords to consider relocating the laborers and ignore the law. As the poor peasants had
an opportunity to negotiate for increased wages, the government introduced the 1351 "statute for
laborers", which claimed that the laborers should be paid based on the terms that were utilized
before the plague pandemic (Usher). This made the peasants be rebellious and demanded better
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salaries. Therefore, the Black Death affected different people who were living through it socially,
economically, and politically.
In conclusion, this paper has deliberated over how people attempted to expound the Black
Death plague and what they did to combat it. Also, it has discussed how the plague pandemic
directly affected different people who lived through it. The Black Plague, which started in Italy,
was one of the most noticeably awful and deadliest diseases known to man in world history.
Although the cause of the plague pandemic remained unknown, the people of Medieval Europe
were convicted that God was responsible for the plague and He used it as a way of punishing the
wicked people. Some of the ways that were used to cure the disease include religious cure,
chopped up a snake, drinking vinegar, and applying a living chicken in the infected parts. The
plague pandemic affected the people socially, politically and economically.
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References
Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. Good Press, 2019,
http://www.limpidsoft.com/small/decameron.pdf. Accessed 13 November 2020
Mussi, Gabriele. On the Plague,
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/de_mussi
.php. Accessed 13 November 2020
Ordinance of Laborers, 1349, https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/seth/ordinance-labourers.asp.
Accessed 13 November 2020
Petrarch on the Plague,
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/petrarca.p
hp. Accessed 13 November 2020
Usher, Jonathan. Marchionne di Coppo di Stefano Buonaiuti,
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/marchion
ne.php. Accessed 13 November 2020
Usher, Jonathan. Francesco Petrarca: Ad Seipsum,
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/petrarca2.
php. Accessed 13 November 2020
Venette, Jean. Progress of the Black Death, http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/plague.html
Accessed 13 November 2020