Imagine that half to three-fourths of everyone you know--including members of your family--has died. This was life in Middle Ages Europe during the dark times of the Black Plague.
In 1346 a mysterious wave of deaths started to ravage the European continent. It started in Caffa, a city in the republic of Crimea. Some people thought it was biological warfare occurring. Approximately one-third of the population of Europe, North Africa and the Near East died, and the toll was significantly worse in the Far East.
"At the epoch of this eventful tale, and periodically, for many years before and after, all England, but more especially the metropolis, resounded with the fearful cry of Plague! The city was in a great measure depopulated--and in those horrible regions, in the vicinity of the Thames, where amid the dark, narrow, and filthy lanes and alleys, the Demon of Disease was supposed to have had his nativity, Awe, Terror, and Superstition were alone to be found stalking abroad."--An excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe's King Pest
Yersinia pestis, an infectious bacterium, was carried on the rodent flea Xenopsylla cheopis, also called the oriental rat flea, which was found on black rats, or Rattus rattus. The rat invaded workplaces and homes, spreading the disease. Humans can be bitten by the flea, and the bacterium enters their bloodstream. There are three forms of the Black Plague:
In bubonic plague, the lymph nodes fill up with bacteria to create a buboe or a black excised lump packed with blood and pus. This is a blood-borne
transmission; it is caused by a flea bite and is not spread person-to-person. It starts within three to five days of exposure with flu-like symptoms that include fever, weakness, chills, headache and swollen, tender lymph nodes.
The second type is the septicemic, in which the bacteria overwhelms the bloodstream. It is also from a flea bite that carries yersinia pestis.
The third form, pneumonic, is the most serious; it spreads through direct contact with an infected person or animal. The lungs develop pneumonia from bacteria and can cause respiratory failure and shock. Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain and cough. If untreated it has a mortality rate from 90 percent to 100 percent.
The plague--in any form--was devastating to culture, lifestyle and everyday life. In Florence, Italy, the population dropped more than half in the 14th century. "They fell ill daily in their thousands. Many dropped dead in the open streets ... Such was the multitude of corpses that there was not sufficient consecrated ground for them to be buried in," wrote the Renaissance humanist Boccaccio.
In those times people were usually buried in church cemeteries. But because of the massive deaths, plague victims were buried in non-consecrated places, overwhelming society to the point of departing from established traditions of culture and religion.
In Britain, panic spread and people were devastated. "Wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the people alone remain" reads an anonymous engraving found at St. Mary's, Ashwell, Herfordshire, Britain.
Some British towns had death rates from 19 percent to 80 percent.
The infection spread across the land via roads, rivers, and ships. "Then the dreadful pestilence made its way along the coast by Southampton and reached Bristol, where almost the whole strength of the town perished, as it was surprised by sudden death, for few kept their beds more than two or three days, or even half a day," wrote ecclesiastical historian Henry Knighton circa 1348.
Many, but not all, thought the plague was a pestilence from God. There were some actions taken to prevent the spread of the disease, but since the infection was not understood, some of these actions were questioned. Cities were the hardest hit. Government officials tried to deal with this as best they could, but they did not know what they were dealing with. For example, in Milan, attempts to quarantine the infection meant walling up houses containing those who were sick.
Venice had ships entering but followed quarantine procedures, and fewer died there than cities that did nothing.
Trading of goods was a cultural form of the transmission of the disease. Roads and shipping routes carried goods as well as rats, fleas and bacteria. The famous Silk Road Caravan came from the Far East, where the plague originated. Because merchants feared contracting the disease, the price of goods that traveled the Silk Road dropped.
Death became so much a part of life that even children were affected. The song "Ring Around The Rosie" had references to the plague. "Rosie" meant the red mark that appeared on a victim's body at the first sign of illness. "Pocket full of posies" is a pocket of flowers or herbs. "Ashes, ashes" is either burning of bodies or words said in a funeral. "We all fall down" refers to how the illness hit everyone.
Death became a part of life as well as trying to live. "No human wisdom or provision was of any help. Huge amounts of filth was removed from the city by officials charged with that task. Sick people were forbidden to enter the city; advice was given on how to stay healthy; devout persons made humble supplication to God not once but many times in processions and by other means," wrote Boccaccio.
Religion was an important part of the culture of these times. Bands of people called the Flagellants would beat themselves to give penance and atone for the sins of the world. They were often violent and lashed out to hurt Jews, whom they believed caused the plague. All ages, including children, participated. The Flagellants interrupted church ceremonies, barging in and chanting. Huge masses moved from town to town.
Death influenced art in a grim and macabre way. The portrayal of skeletons and the deceased was frequently used. Cathedrals and other commissions of art were created in thanks to God for mercy in allowing the disease to skip their towns and also in remembrance of the death toll. Danse Macabre (the dance of death)--a medieval dance or procession in which a skeleton leads other skeletons or those still alive to the grave--was a repeating idea used by artists.
Because of the reduced population and the resulting panic, prices fell even though supplies stayed high. Livestock could be bought cheaply, as animals were abandoned by their owners due to illness and death. Land values dropped, and large areas of land were abandoned. Because of the loss of so many, the need for laborers increased, and they got better pay and conditions.
The death toll for Europe from 1346 to 1360 was 25 million people. Many pandemics followed over several more centuries. The disease can still be found in isolated areas of the world, but improved hygiene and rapid treatment with antibiotics has transformed it into a rarity.
The plague of the Middle Ages may best be described by Agnolo di Tura del Grasso of Siena, who produced a chronicle of events from 1300 to 1351 based on observation and the consultation of public records:
"And I, Agnolo di Tura, called The Fat, buried my five children with my own hands and there were also those who [were so] sparsely covered with earth that the dogs dragged them forth and devoured many bodies throughout the city. There was no one who wept for any death, for all awaited death. And so many died that all believed that it was the end of the world."
Editorial on 10/23/2016