Plague: A disease caused by bacteria, which
spreads rapidly to large populations and often ends in death after delusion and
fever.
Factors that cause this phenomenon to
happen: Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis which is found in
fleas, and transferred to other creatures such as rats, or prairie dogs, or
humans, by their bite. Plague, like any virus, is a constantly evolving thing
and can sometimes outpace the medical remedies that we humans have devised.
Plague can be found to be most prevalent in areas that see a high rodent
population due to the fleas’ habit of jumping from one host to another. In the
case of rats at least, areas such as this are often the less clean streets of
cities.
An extreme close up of a flea.
Where it happened: The Black Death started
in the province of Hopei, (also called Hebei) which was a part of Yuan
dynasty,(as well as modern day) China. It annihilated the population of Hopei,
cutting it by 90% before devastating much of the rest of China and spreading
west through the ancient trade routes. It was at the port city of Kaffa that
the first case of the Black Death was reported in Europe, and from there it
spread rapidly to cover virtually the whole of Europe. (Excluding the
uninhabited areas, and oddly enough, a small pockets of healthy areas
throughout Europe)
Map showing the areas of Europe
affected by the Black Death
Why it happened: Like most major ailments,
the Black Death seems to have been caused by the constant evolution of disease.
With the suitable conditions, a mutation would have taken place that caused a
disease that people had little or no immunity to, the Black Death. Although there
had been plagues before this one, none seem to have measured up to the Black
Death in terms of sheer suffering and loss of life. In terms of why the Black
Death came to Europe, we can blame the westward spread of trade from China as a
general reason for the Black Death’s spread to Europe, and the Mongol siege of
the city of Kaffa as a specific reason. The Mongols were winning the siege of
Kaffa, they had cut off supplies to the port city, and seem to have been well
on their way to adding yet another city to one of the largest empires the world
has ever seen, when a sickness fell over the invaders, killing them in large
numbers. The situation became desperate, the Mongols knew they could not win,
but that was not going to stop them from making the city that had halted their
relentless march west pay for stopping them. They hurled their dead over the
walls of Kaffa, causing the people of this trading city to be infected with the
same illness that had driven away the Mongols. This mysterious ailment was in fact
the Black Death, and as people left this colony of Genoa to escape the plague
they unknowingly carried it with them wherever they went. Within about 6 years
virtually all of Europe had been infected.
An example of the Mongols besieging a
city in much the same way they besieged Kaffa
What was the Impact: In Europe 25 million
people, or one third of Europe’s population at the time, died as a result of
the Black Death between the years 1347 and 1352. The Impact on society in
Europe was quite profound, suddenly the little bit of order that Europe had
managed to gain since the collapse of the Romans was shattered. As people
became infected with plague they abandoned each other to their fates. Whole
cities were left to fend for themselves as their rulers left them for dead. The
story was quite the same for families, as individuals were left to die while
the rest tried not to be next. Suddenly everybody was looking for something or
someone to blame, and the causes given for the Black death were as varied as an
alignment between Jupiter and Saturn, and Jews poisoning the water. Peasants
were becoming much scarcer, so many had been killed by, or fled from the Black
Death that now there were very few laborers, and each was considered much more
valuable than they were before. The Peasants were starting to be charged lower
taxes and given more individual freedoms in an effort to keep them around; it
was the start of things to come.
The horror of the Black Death.
How did the region recover: Their seems to
be no definite cure for the black death, (though many were tried) instead this
devastating disease appears to have simply moved on to ravage new areas when
sufficient numbers of people had been killed to thin the population density.
Meaning that less trash would be thrown in the streets, attracting fewer rats
carrying fleas infected with the Black Death and causing the effects of the
plague to subside from that area, at least temporarily. This was the only means
Europe had for centuries to battle the plague, other than its people building
up a natural immunity to the Black Death. (And later plagues) Because of this,
the Plague did return to parts of Europe periodically until 1720 when the last
recorded outbreak occurred there, but did not cause nearly as much devastation
as the Black Death.
What is the region doing to predict and
prepare for future perils: Since the late Middle Ages European Cities and towns
have become much cleaner attracting fewer rats. As well, great strides have
been made in understanding plague, and where it currently occurs, it can
usually be treated with the use of antibiotics.
Medieval towns were not clean places,
with all manner of material tossed out in the streets. Conditions were perfect
for rats, (which were carrying the fleas that contained the plague bacteria) to
spread quickly.
In stark contrast to their medieval
ancestors, modern European towns such as Brussels, the capital of Belgium which
is pictured here, are very clean and see far fewer rats than in the middle
ages.
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