Written by Regan
Edited By Anumita
The First Recorded Pandemic
Leading up to the 14th century, cities in Europe grew due to an increase in trade and more effective agricultural techniques. Sadly, all progress and improvements that contributed to the population, economy, and living conditions in Europe were destroyed when the Black Death plagued the European population. The Black Death entered Europe through Mongolian attacks at a period in history when contemporaries like doctors, peasants, nobles, and religious figures expressed different ideas and understanding on preventing, treating, and curing diseases like the bubonic plague, which is another name for the Black Death. All ideas failed to cure the plague, resulting in mass amounts of deaths and destruction, causing social and economic uproar.
This disease spread across Asia and Europe due to Mongolian attacks. Scientists initially believed the Black Death was a blood-borne disease. According to Histary.com , “Scientists at Public Health England in Porton Down, argue that for the Black Death to have spread so quickly and killed so many victims with such devastating speed, it would have to have been airborne”(Pruitt). Once the Mongols were infected with the Black Death, it traveled along the Silk Road, a trading network spreading across Europe, China, India, and the Middle East. Historians believe the Mongols, who went from city to city attempting to seize power trying to take over the cities to grow their empire, brought the Black Death into Europe. According to Kallie Szczepanski, “‘...the Mongol leader ‘ordered corpses to be placed in catapults and lobbed into the city in hopes that the intolerable stench would kill everyone inside.” In an attempt to take the European city of Kaffa, the Mongols launched plague-infected Mongolian soldiers into Kaffa, which became the first European city infected with the Black Death. This initiated the widespread belief that the Mongols were responsible for spreading the Black Death to Europe.
As the plague arose in Europe, no one knew the true cause of the Black Death, its preventive measures of, or its treatments. Many contemporaries believed isolating themselves inside their homes kept them safe from the Black Death. Many religious groups, such as the Flagellants, believed God created the Plague as punishment for the world’s sins. “The Flagellants were religious followers who would whip themselves, believing that by punishing themselves they would invite God to show mercy toward them.” (The Flagellants and The Black Death, 2020). The Flagellants, like many others, believed religion was the solution for the Black Death, but because the religious attempts did not work, it became clear that this was beyond their ability.. Doctors and scientists came up with several treatments for the prevention of the plague, some of which included: attaching leeches on patients with the hopes of sucking out the disease-causing blood, making potions and pastes out of emeralds, snakes, mercury, and various spices, and cleansing the "bad air" by carrying sweet-smelling flowers (Mark, 2020). Contemporaries expressed various treatment ideas, including religion, air purification, and potions, but none of the ideas were effective..
The Black Death killed approximately half the European population in the 14th century, leading to social and economic consequences. “Faith in religion decreased after the plague, both because of the death of so many of the clergy and because of the failure of prayer to prevent sickness and death” (Social and economical effects of the plague, 2010). The loss in faith led to the weakening of the Catholic church’s power to maintain order and enforce moral standards among the population. Since the Catholic Church helped to maintain order and moral values, the weakening led to chaos and rebellion against the Catholic Church. “The economy underwent abrupt and extreme inflation”(Social and economical effects of the plague, 2010). Inflation is a negative economic consequence where the average price for goods and services goes up. In this case, the price of goods increased because producing and trading goods became harder and more dangerous. The downfall of the church and the economy were the engraved scars of the Black Death.
When the Black Death first entered Europe in 1347, it caused both mass death and destruction, fundamentally altering multiple social and economic aspects of the 14th century. The lack of knowledge about its origins, how to treat it, and where it came from were all struggles that scientists faced leading to millions of European deaths. To this day, the Black Death still haunts Europe, as a reminder to people everywhere of its devastating consequences and as a motive for doctors to do better.
References
Decameron Web. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/effects/social.php
Mark, J. J. (2020, October 13). Medieval Cures for the Black Death. Retrieved from http://www.ancient.eu/article/1540/medieval-cures-for-the-black-death/
Pruitt, S. (2014, April 01). Medieval 'Black Death' Was Airborne, Scientists Say. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/news/medieval-black-death-was-airborne-scientists-say#:~:text=Testing
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