The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people. The Black Death itself caused more than 30 percent of the population in Europe and the Middle East to die (Doc. 2). This contagious epidemic caused its victims to die within three days (Doc. 3). The symptoms of the disease included swelling beneath armpits and the spitting of blood. Yet, the responses of Christians and Muslims were different even though the same disease hit them. This paper will show how Muslims and Christians responded in a different way because of their thoughts and actions to the epidemic that ended the lives of many. The Christians and Muslims responses to the Black Death
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Both religions are monotheistic and believe in the same God. Document 5 compares the non-religious explanations for causes and preventions of the Black Death. Both Europeans and Middle-Easterners thought that it was caused by miasma or astrological events such as shooting stars or the alignment of multiple planets. The both believed that building fires and drinking solutions of Armenian clay would help prevent the plague. While they had similar beliefs, the two faiths did not act similarly. You can see in Document 3 that the people of Siena, Italy (Europe) were "stupefied by seeing the pain." They abandoned family members, dug mass graves, and avoided each other all in fear of coming down with the malady. On the other hand, Middle-Easterners in Damascus were terrified. They became scared when they saw the effects of the …show more content…
Both had similar beliefs, but what they did in accordance differed. Europeans bluntly saw the plague as the Apocalypse and the people did what they could to avoid the plague. Muslims in the Middle-East accepted the plague as a blessing and turned towards God. The Black Death was such a big phenomenon that it drastically affected the lives of Christians and Muslims in different ways. The Christians and Muslims knew so little about a disease that they did not know how to cure
Both religions are monotheistic and believe in the same God. Document 5 compares the non-religious explanations for causes and preventions of the Black Death. Both Europeans and Middle-Easterners thought that it was caused by miasma or astrological events such as shooting stars or the alignment of multiple planets. The both believed that building fires and drinking solutions of Armenian clay would help prevent the plague. While they had similar beliefs, the two faiths did not act similarly. You can see in Document 3 that the people of Siena, Italy (Europe) were "stupefied by seeing the pain." They abandoned family members, dug mass graves, and avoided each other all in fear of coming down with the malady. On the other hand, Middle-Easterners in Damascus were terrified. They became scared when they saw the effects of the …show more content…
Both had similar beliefs, but what they did in accordance differed. Europeans bluntly saw the plague as the Apocalypse and the people did what they could to avoid the plague. Muslims in the Middle-East accepted the plague as a blessing and turned towards God. The Black Death was such a big phenomenon that it drastically affected the lives of Christians and Muslims in different ways. The Christians and Muslims knew so little about a disease that they did not know how to cure