The History of the Black Death

The Black Death is the name of the deadly spread of bubonic plague that killed an estimated 25 million Europeans in the 1300's, and was also a problem in Asia. We now think the plague was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. It is spread through the bites or stings of infected fleas and animals, and attacks the lymphatic system first before moving into the blood or lungs. Most people think that the plague was spread for the most part by rats, but researchers say that it spread too fast for rats to be responsible. And furthermore the lack of dead rats found as archaeological evidence helps to prove the point.

The plague arrived in Europe along with "death ships" in October 1347. The 12 ships from the Black Sea were docked at a Sicilian port, and people waiting for the ship were shocked to find that almost everyone was dead. Those that were alive were covered in large black boils that oozed pus and blood, a telltale sign of the plague although they didn't know it yet.

There were many tragedies due to the Black Death, one of these was the misguided blame of the Jews for the plague. Some people thought that the plague was a punishment by God and sought to earn His favor by purging their cities of heretics. Jews were massacred and executed, sometimes burned at the stake in large groups.

Since science wasn't very advanced there were many other strange theories, for instance one doctor claimed that, "instantaneous death occurs when the aerial spirit escaping from the eyes of the sick man strikes the healthy man standing near and looking at the sick." They also had no idea to correctly treat the infected, bloodletting and boil-lancing were popular methods of treatment.

Soon however physicians stopped even trying to help, as people began to fear more for their own lives they started to abandon the sick. Families left their family members, doctors wouldn't treat patients, and priests wouldn't perform last rites. People were leaving for the countryside, but unfortunately it did no good. The plague followed them and infected their livestock as well. In fact one of the stranger effects the Black Death had on the world was a wool shortage in Europe due to so many of their sheep dying.

The Black Death never formally ended although it eventually slowed down to a trickle due to social distancing and quarantining the sailors that came to port until they were proven to be healthy. The plague would appear in waves many more times throughout history, eventually modern medicine would help slow the spread. Even now there are about 1,000 to 3,000 cases of the bubonic plague reported per year.