Bubonic Plague
How people in the Middle Ages
reacted to and cured "the Great
Plague".
Brief History
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Commonly referred to as "Black Death" or
"Great Death" or the "Great Plague"
3 Plague Pandemics
1st (Justinianic)- 6th- 8th centuries
o 2nd- 14th- 19th centuries, which wiped out 1/3 2/3 of population
o 3rd- Late 19th century
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The most known plague was the 2nd Plague
Pandemic, more modernly referred to as
the "Black Death" which was most present
in Europe
Black Death
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Small pathogen that infected fleas which
traveled by rats
Rats traveled by ship to new places,
bringing disease with them, eventually
infected humans
Symptoms included
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o
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Buboes (nasty welts on skin that oozed and bled)
Fever
Vomiting blood
Death came within 5-7 days
Civilian Reactions
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Some quarantined themselves in small
groups away from others
o
Ignored that this was happening, it was
"unspeakable"
Civilian Reactions
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Others went out
o Drank
excessively
o Sang and
celebrated
o Lived life to the
fullest
Medieval Medical Cures
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Victims were instructed to vomit
daily on an empty stomach
Drink warm ale with ginger to
sweat out the sickness
Bloodletting
Used ginger to relieve nausea
Echinacea to boost immune
system
More Medieval Cures
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Animal cures
o
o
Ointments made
from goose grease
Goat cheese
mixed with bull
blood to relieve
headache
Spiritual Cures Used by Christians
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Christian sect known as Flagellants would
whip themselves to repent for sin, hoping
they would be cured
Prayed
Would burn Jews in an attempt to please
God
Scientific Explanations
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Some physicians blamed
Astrological forces
o Earthquakes or fogs
o "Bad air"
o
How Christians Reacted
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Blamed Jews
o
o
o
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Thought that Jewish people were poisoning wells
Feb. 1349 2,000 Jews in Strasbourg were murdered
by Christians
Similar events happened in Frankfurt, Mainz, and
Cologne
Small Jewish communities were also terrorized
Thought it was a divine punishment
How Muslims Reacted
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Denied it was contagious
Scholar Lisan al- Din Ibn al- Khatib (d. 1374)
argued the Black Death was contagious, and
was later charged with heresy
Believed that since the plague was sent by
God they should not and could not treat it,
so they simply endured it
Mortality Rate
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About 1/3 of Europe's
population died (or 75200 million dead)
Precise death toll cannot
be determined
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Some towns lost up to 50%
of population
Those who lived in rural
areas were not as affected
as those in more densely
populated areas.
Sources
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Bennett, Judith M. Medieval Europe: A
Short History. 11th ed.Print.
Wiesner, Merry. Documents On The Black
Death. PDF.
Stearns, Justin. New Directions in the Study
of Religious Responses to the Black Death.
PDF.
Horrox, Rosemary. The Black Death. Web.
http://www.medievalsources.co.uk/finish%
20pdfs/bdfins.pdf#page=173