What was the Black Death and how did it kill so many? This article provides an overview of the devastating disease that affected life during the Middle Ages.
The Black Death was the worst disease to strike Europe during the Middle Ages. By the 1300s, few could protect themselves against its devastating effects. City and villages alike were attacked and their population found themselves entirely defenseless. Its impact on European society was immense.
Three types of disease
The plague that hit 14th century Europe is most commonly referred to as the Black Death, but the disease came in three forms. There was the bubonic, the pneumonic and the septicemic. Victims who were infected with the bubonic variety suffered from large, inflamed lymph nodes around the neck, groin and armpits. The swollen glands would typically turn black, hence the name of the illness. The pneumonic plague attacked the lungs directly and caused the victims to cough up blood. The septicemic strain of the disease caused high fever, and the skin would turn dark shades of purple due to DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation). Or, in layman's terms, excessive blood clotting.
The source of this horrible epidemic can be traced to the black rat and a small insect that transferred the disease from these rodents to the human population. The Xenopsylla cheopis, (the rat flea) fed on the blood of the rat which contained the Pasteurella Pestis bacteria. It multiplied within the flea and blocked its stomach, making the fleas unusually hungry. Starved of other food sources, it began to seek out other warm-blooded hosts, humans mostly, and the bite of the insect transmitted the bacteria into the human bloodstream.
The progress of the disease was lightning quick, and the death toll was nothing short of disastrous. As living conditions were unsanitary and the bodies of the dead were piled high in the streets, the infection continued to spread. Genoan ships that carried infected sailors brought the disease to Italy through port cities and fishing villages, and soon Venice and Florence were overrun by the plague. France was not spared either. Marseilles, Avignon and Paris suffered huge casualties and by 1348 plague-bearing vessels had entered Weymouth in the United Kingdom. A few months later, and with frightening speed, the disease claimed 100,000 lives in London alone.
By 1349, all of the Islamic countries had been hit by the disease. The city of Tunis suffered 1,000 deaths each day (Robert S. Gottfried, The Black Death, Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe, The Free Press 1983). An unnamed scholar was quoted as saying, "Civilization decreased with the decrease of mankind. Cities and buildings were abandoned, mansions became empty, and dynasties crumbled." (Robert S. Gottfried, The Black Death, Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe, The Free Press 1983).
How the plague affected European life
Medical education came to a grinding halt as a result of the plague, and failed to progress again until well after 1400. It made no difference whether doctors treated infected patients or not, because the underlying cause was unknown. The aftershocks of the plague were immense, and the most obvious was the huge loss of population. There was a noticeable labor shortage, and tax increases put upon the survivors caused considerable strain between peasants and landowners. This lead to the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. (Daniel Cohen, The Black Death, Franklin Watts Inc 1974). Vicious attacks on the Jewish population were widespread, and they were accused of poisoning the water in town wells. Local politics were disrupted and courts and city councils were shut down.
As the disease killed tradesmen and peasants alike, there were no craftsmen (architects, engineers etc) of the same standard to replace them. The decline in European architecture would not be reversed until the late 15th century. The religious sought divine interaction and hordes of devout travellers went from one town to the next flogging each other with whips in order to gain the forgiveness of God. They believed it was God who was punishing mankind for his sins. (Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization, Volume 1, West Publishing Company 1991).
The Aftermath
Medieval streets and thoroughfares that had been open sewers before and during the plague were cleaned up to prevent further outbreaks. The prestige of the Catholic church was weakened, bishops and priests could offer no protection at all from the plague and so the people that managed to live through it became disillusioned, and some others turned to devil worship. Feudalism came to an end, and people began to question the economic and social order that had prevailed in Europe for hundreds of years. This in turn led to the coming of the Renaissance and the modern age.
