Black Death

A detailed Summary of Black Death

As early as the thirteenth century, man has had one unwelcome organism along for the ride, Yersinia pestis. This is the bacterium more commonly known as the Black Death or the plague. Plague is a word that has struck fear in the hearts of man since the earliest of times. It has also led to some of the greatest historical events and stories of our time.

Plague is divided into three distinct types, classified by method of infection. The most common is bubonic, with a mortality rate of 30-75%. An infection resides in the lymph nodes (around arm pits, neck, and groin), causing them to swell. Symptoms took from 1-7 days to appear and consisted of headaches, nausea, vomiting, aching joints, fever of 101-105 degrees, and a general feeling of illness. The disease also causes the skin to turn black. Fleas, rats, and humans serve as hosts for the bubonic plague. Black rats carried the fleas, which the bacteria multiplied inside of, who in turn would bite a human infecting them.

The second most common form of the Black Death is the pneumonic plague, with a mortality rate of 90-95%. Even though this is not the most common, it is the most dangerous type of plague. The lungs are infected causing slimy sp

A decrease in the size of European civilization led to many other changes, such as, economy, the church, music and art, as well as other things. It is believed that the economy took the hardest toll. Numerous members of the working class, those of which had valuable artisan skills, died. The society structure began to change when formally poor laborers with these skills started to become more valuable than the rich people. People were seeking higher wages; they began to flee their land leaving unattended crops and animals, which eventually died due to lack of care. People called "Bechini" pillaged homes, murdering and raping people, due to lack of law enforcement.

Ring around the rosy: rosary beads give you God's help. A pocket full of posies: used to stop the odor of rotting bodies which was at one point thought to cause the plague, it was also used widely by doctors to protect them from the infected plague patients. Ashes, ashes: the church burned the dead when burying them became too laborious. We all fall down: dead." (The Effect on Europe 2-3)

The change in art and music demonstrated the grim reality of the world. Art forms took on that of human suffering and carnage as well as the symbolic use of the skeleton. Before the Black Death, music was played quite often and had a happy tone but during it, music was rarely played and if it was it was very dismal. "A common nursery rhyme is proof:

Although many of them failed, there were efforts to stop the plague. Many believed that the disease was transmitted in the air, due to the horrible smell of decaying bodies, so the living turned to scents to ward off the deadly vapors. People burned all sorts of different incense: juniper, laurel, pin

Some common words found in the essay are:
Black Death, Effect Europe, Europe China, , black death, type plague, mortality rate, 1-7 days appear, symptoms 1-7 days, modern medicine, pocket posies, days appear, plague village, 1-7 days, symptoms 1-7, ashes ashes,

Approximate Word count = 1167
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science