Black Death

What were the symptoms?

Bubonic plague distresses the lymph nodes (another part of the lymph system). Within 3 to 7 days of contact to plague bacteria, you will acquire flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, chills, weakness, and swollen, tender lymph glands (called buboes—hence the label bubonic) Painful swellings (known as buboes) in the lymph nodes (found in the neck, armpits, groin and legs). The bubo would become irritated and would initially be a deep red color, but as time passed the bubo would change from red to purple and lastly to black. Patients would also suffer with a particularly high fever which would prompt a state of delirium and mental perplexity. Patients would also suffer from retching, muscular pain and bleeding in the lungs.

Random Facts

Many scholars think that the nursery rhyme "Ring around the Rosy" was written about the symptoms of the Black Death. The bubonic plague is a variant in which the Y. pestis is introduced into the victims body by flea bites. The bacteria then makes its way to the lymph nodes and leads to the formation of buboes or growths through quick multiplication. The bubonic plague derives its name from buboes. This plague has a fatality rate of 30-75%. The pneumonic plague on the other hand is caused when Y. pestis enters the lungs. In this form of plague, the victims cough blood. Pneumonic plague was also present during the Black Death. This variant has a mortality rate of 90-95% The final form, the septicemic plague is the most dangerous of all with 100% fatality rate. Sadly, there's no cure for this plague to this day. In this variant, the blood gets infected.

What were the effects of society?

Some people left town completely and intensely evaded assisting the sick. When the Black Death found them, their neighbors showed a similar lack of consideration. Society had fallen apart. Even some parents abandoned their offspring. No one was safe. Not in one's household. Not in one's bed. Not in the nation. The bane of the plague (like it would be three hundred years later in London) was everywhere. There weren't enough priests alive to conduct proper memorials.

What were some of the theories about the disease?

Some scholars thought that the outbreak was elicited by a series of earthquakes that had ravaged Europe and Asia between 1345-1347. They said that the tremors had released a poisonous miasma from the Earths core and some believe that it was the Devils work wrecking havoc. Others claimed that it was because of climate change had a caused a warmer, damper weather and strong southerly winds that moved the disease north. They tried to foresee its course by trying to study the colors of the sky at dusk and the shapes of the clouds.

What was Black Death?

The Black plague occurred in the middle of the fourteenth century—from 1347 to 1351. In a period of time when the total population was an estimated 450 million people, at least 75 million were thought to have passed away during the course of the epidemic, with some estimates as high as 200 million lost, roughly 25-50 million of which transpired in Europe. Nearly half of Europe may have died in duration of only four years. The epidemic had blown over by the early 1350s, but the plague resurfaced every few generations for centuries.

What caused the plague?

Today, scientists recognize that the Black Death, now known as the plague, is spread by bacteria called Yersina pestis. They know that the bacteria travel from person to person through the air, in addition to via the bite of disease-ridden fleas and rats. Both of these vermin could be found practically all over in medieval Europe, but they were predominantly on-board ships of all types-which is how the lethal outbreak made its way through one European harbor city after another. Not long after it come into contact with Messina, the Black Death spread to the docklands of Marseilles in France and the seaport of Tunis in North Africa. Then it extended to Rome and Florence, two cities at the core of an intricate network of trade paths. By the mid-1348, the Black plague had collided with Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and London.