case study - the black death

• symptoms


  purple/black skin, covered in purple lumps (buboes), high fever, lymph nodes. death on average after 4 days of infection
• cause- god


  most people believed that the plague was sent by god as a punishment for sins such as infidelity or indecent clothing. they believed that the plague was the end of the world as described in the Book of Revelations- last book in Bible
• how did the plague spread

  arrived on ships from the East. carried by fleas which jumped to rats which spread the disease around the tightly packed alleyways of England
• effects of Black death

  40% of Britain's population died. lead to a rebellion and civil war
• cause- miasma


  some physicians thought that the plague was caused by bad air from rotting bodies or human/animal waste. it was considered to be a poisonous vapour or mist filled with decomposed organic matter
• cause- Jewish people


  in Europe, some people believed that Jews had poisoned the wells, beginning the spread of the plague. not blamed in England as they had been expelled in the 13th century
• treatment- religious treatments


  most of those who caught the plague sought advice from priests. they were told to confess their sins and pray for forgiveness. some wore holy charms and some fasted
• treatment- the humours


  physicians tried bleeding and purging as treatments to the plague as well as treatments based on Galen's opposites theory e.g. cold bath for high temperature
• prevention- god's forgiveness


  king and Church ordered services and processions to be held in church everyday. people prayed to God to ask for removal of the plague. people went on pilgrimage to holy cities and shrines and were much less likely to sin. flagellants would whip themselves in public to show God they had repented their sins
• prevention- cleansing the air


  physicians thought that, to battle the miasma, you should use strong smelling herbs like myrrh to clean the air. some people kept birds in their house to fly around as this would stir up the air
• prevention- government


  people new to an area had to stay away from the rest of the village for 40 days to limit spread of the disease. people of Gloucester banned people of Bristol from entering their city once hearing that the plague had reached the city. local government struggled to enforce laws with little power.
• issue- power of the Church

  ideas around cause treatment and prevention were incorrect. Church services still ran so the only reasonable prevention, quarantining, became futile
• issue- ineffective government


  local government had insufficient power to enforce quarantining laws. the clean ups were small scale. they acted slowly and without the necessary resources and money
• issue- lack of knowledge


  lack of knowledge meant no one knew how to treat or prevent the plague effectively and allowed to spread widely.