During the 14th century, around 75 to 200 million people died because of the disease known as the Black Plague. These numbers show that around a third of Europe’s population was completely wiped out. Many terrible changes occurred including the rich and the poor going against each other, blaming one another for causing this horrific disease. The Black Plague was the worst epidemic that has ever been recorded in the world’s history because of the disease’s ability to spread rapidly, the terrible process of infection, and as well as the long term effects that it had on Europe.
The Black plague was thought to have started in Mongolia around 1320. Then, as it spread it ventured throughout China and other parts of Asia, killing anything that got …show more content…
The first symptoms are swollen and painful lymph glands on the armpit, neck, and groin. The swellings were known as buboes. These became horrific signs of impending death. Sometimes, hard knobs would spontaneously burst, causing drainage. If lucky, the victim could recover, if not totally exhausted or attacked by other infections such as high fever and agony. The victims sometimes died within just a few hours, others became extremely exhausted and/or wildly delirious. (World Book Encyclopedia P-15) In the eyes of the people, the disease was terrifying. Many people would avoid the sick completely. From the fear of being infected by coughs and sneezes, people would abandon their own brothers, sisters, spouses, and even children in the hopes of being spared from the disease. During this period of time, the church was seen as the “government.” They would force the rules in the country and act on punishments if broken. Because of this, many people blamed the church for their despair. They saw the Black Death as a punishment sent from God himself to penalize the evil people of the world. Christians wanted to assign blame to anyone that was different or believed differently from the church. Europe had many outcasts such as lepers, cripples, Gypsies, and Jews. These groups faced aggression from the other citizens of Europe. The group that received the most persecution were the Jews. People thought that they were the ones that caused the
The Black plague was thought to have started in Mongolia around 1320. Then, as it spread it ventured throughout China and other parts of Asia, killing anything that got …show more content…
The first symptoms are swollen and painful lymph glands on the armpit, neck, and groin. The swellings were known as buboes. These became horrific signs of impending death. Sometimes, hard knobs would spontaneously burst, causing drainage. If lucky, the victim could recover, if not totally exhausted or attacked by other infections such as high fever and agony. The victims sometimes died within just a few hours, others became extremely exhausted and/or wildly delirious. (World Book Encyclopedia P-15) In the eyes of the people, the disease was terrifying. Many people would avoid the sick completely. From the fear of being infected by coughs and sneezes, people would abandon their own brothers, sisters, spouses, and even children in the hopes of being spared from the disease. During this period of time, the church was seen as the “government.” They would force the rules in the country and act on punishments if broken. Because of this, many people blamed the church for their despair. They saw the Black Death as a punishment sent from God himself to penalize the evil people of the world. Christians wanted to assign blame to anyone that was different or believed differently from the church. Europe had many outcasts such as lepers, cripples, Gypsies, and Jews. These groups faced aggression from the other citizens of Europe. The group that received the most persecution were the Jews. People thought that they were the ones that caused the