Bubonic Plague

A detailed Summary of Bubonic Plague

The Bubonic Plague: What Did it Really Accomplish?

Imagine a disease so deadly that every one out of three people in the United States would die. A disease so tragic that it would change the course of history forever. The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, was one of these diseases. The Bubonic Plague arrived in the 14th century wiping out one-third of Europe as it came ("Bubonic. . . Europe"). However, there are many aspects of the Bubonic Plague that created lasting changes throughout Europe. Aspects such as the social class system, the church, colonization of other lands and the Renaissance were all directly affected by the plague.

The Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, was given these names because of the symptoms of the disease. The plague caused swollen lymph glands called buboes. These buboes were first found in the groin area which is called boubon in Latin. It was called plague because of the widespread killing that it caused. "Bubonic Plague was also known as the "Black Death" in Medieval times. This is because the dried blood under the skin turns black" ("Breakthroughs"). "Bubonic Plague is caused by the infectious agent Yersinia Pestis bacteria"(Koerner 2) which caused the blood vessels

The churches of Europe in general were very corrupt. The churches had much power and were more concerned with material things than spiritual things. The people did not really notice, however, until the plague hit. "The behavior of some churchmen during the Middle Ages was far from commendable with many high-ranking members of the clergy living like kings, while their flocks lived in poverty and squalor"(Corzine 27).When it hit, many noted church leaders ran from the plague and people were left sick and dying. Those who survived the plague remembered how noted church leaders fled and as a result disrespected the church, causing divisions in the Catholic Church and break up of church unity. The breakup caused men and women to open up their eyes more to the present life and be less concerned with someone who claimed to be the spokesperson of God. As a result, the religious reformation led to a division in the Catholic Church and formation of the Protestant Church. They were bot!

h Christian, but they had different points of religion. The people in general wanted a better quality of life so they began to question their submission to the church (Herlihy 68).

The signs that a person had the plague was that the victim was very weak and delirious. Many parts of the body ached and the victim was in great pain because the lymph glands became infected and then hardened. The victim also had 104 degree temperature, illness, disorientation, vomiting, muscular pain, an intolerance to light, pain in the back and limbs, a white coating on the tongue, and dried blood turned black. Within 24 hours, coughing started and the victim started spitting up blood. The bacteria traveled to the liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, and brain, attacking the whole body at once. Because the whole body was under attack, death came shortly after, usually in three days. If one was to survive the disease however, they were immune for the rest of his/her life ("England During the Plague").

A large percentage of Europe was the lower class. The lower class or peasants usually worked and lived on a piece of land and paid the lord a "share" of what they earned. Usually this share was about two-thirds of what they made, leaving them with almost nothing to live on. As described before, many also worked for manors. Evidently, peasants complained about this system. After the plague, however, there was a shortage of serfs so they could demand more money and not be afraid of losing their jobs. At this point, the peasants rebelled which would later come to be called the Peasant's Rebellion. After the Peasant's Rebellion, "serfdom declined as landlords found it was much easier to free the serfs and hire laborers to work for them" (Schwan 2). By the early 1500's, serfdom had been done away with and then in 1529, a law was enacted saying that it was illegal.

the afterlife. For example, "A great lord was buried in a sarcophagus: the body was in a coffin, which in turn was in a larger stone casing that was usually decorated. The sides might be decorated with religious carvings, but the lid of the tomb often held the likeness of the one entombed"("Art"). Art, however, started to change after the plague. The most disturbing of art were those with sculptures of royalty that were half decomposed bodies with parts of the skeleton visible with rags and perhaps a worm or snail in the flesh. Paintings such as these were very different than the usual paintings of overweight kings and queens in grand dresses and jewels.

The plague directly affected colonization of America because of the fact that it wiped out almost everyone from Greenland. North America had been visited by Norsemen from Greenland i

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Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

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