Black Death Plague: A Devastating Pandemic in History - Research Paper

Introduction

The Black Death plague was a disease caused by bacteria Yersinia pestis that was among the wild rodents. It was absolutely called a black death plague because it turned the skin and sores black. The plague was one in all the devastating pandemic within history and was seen at peak in Europe. The plague lasted for five years affecting many sectors.

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The black death plague originated from Central and East Asia and was carried by the fleas that were within the rodents that travelled by the merchant ships. The disease spread within the Mediterranean Basin through the Italian Peninsula. In October 1347, the ships arrived at Sicilian Port of Messina in Europe through the Italian Peninsula, and this was surprising because the sailors on board were dead and other people who were alive were ill with black boils filled with blood and pus. About 60% of the Europe population died from the plague (Nohl & Clarke,1961). Europe and geographic area were mostly affected by the plague. Europe, being mostly densely populated, the hygiene and also the living conditions, made it easy for the plague to spread quickly.

The plague increase among humans when the rodents that lived among humans like the house rats get infected and when fleas start gathering on the rodent that is dying, the fleas seek for the new host because of them being hungry, they end on people by biting them(Cantor, 2001). From the bites of fleas, the lymph nodes of humans swell and become painful within the groin, the armpit or thighs, and cause the swelling of the lymph nodes because they are drained. People that get infected become ill a maximum of five days and could die after twenty-three days.

The black death plague had a human and economic outcome. With the economy, trade was devastated as people feared to go to places that were infected, many artisans, merchants and customers died within the plague. Due to a decrease in population, there was a scarcity of labour, and workers had more tools and land to figure on by harvesting and planting, making the demand for more wages. Increase in wages made the workers start out having high standards of living (Dols,2019).

The plague made people boost art, and images were created to indicate how to focus art took on death. The plague also made people have psychological torture, and this happened when they had trauma on the huge number of deaths at homes and on the streets, mass burials or burning of the bodies and fear of the way to handle with those who were affected, this made people to be overwhelmed. This was later seen within the poetry, sculpture and painting that were administrated by people expressing their emotions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the black death plague within the 1400s was caused by a disease caused by the bacteria called Yersinia pestis, this disease was found in rodents and carried by fleas that bite humans. The death caused economic impacts like trade devastation, scarcity of labour and an increase in wages among workers. It also made human to be psychologically tortured and also improved art.

Bibliography

Cantor, Norman F. In the wake of the plague: the Black Death and the world it made. Simon and Schuster, 2001.

Dols, Michael Walters. The black death in the Middle East. Princeton University Press, 2019.

Nohl, Johannes, and Charles Humphrey Clarke. "The Black Death. A Chronicle of the Plague." The Black Death. A Chronicle of the Plague. (, 1961).