The Black Death

The Black Death, also known as the Pestilence, the Great Motality or the Plague was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Europe and north Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history and caused the deaths of around 200 million people.

The origin of the Black Death is disputed. Historians have found that the pandemic was reportedly first introduced to Europe during the siege of the Genoese trading port of Kaffa in Crimea. From here, it was most likely carried by fleas living on the rats that travelled on the ships, which spread the disease through much of Western world.

Once ashore, the Black Death spread person to person as a pneumonic plague, which explains the quick spread of the plague. It is believed that the Black Death was the second great natural disaster to strike Europe during the Middle Ages and reduced world population by several million. Outbreaks continued around the world until the early 19^th century and in Europe, the population didn’t return to pre-plague levels until 1500.

Beginnings of the plague

It is believed that the plague first arrived in Europe in the summer of 1347, starting in Turkey. From there is spread rapidly across the continent striking Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and England before reaching Germany, Scotland and Norway. It reached Russia in 1351. It was somewhat less common in places that had less developed trade routes, so places like Belgium and some areas of the Netherlands remained unscathed. The first known case in England was of a seaman who arrived in Weymouth from a trip to Gascony, which at the time was an English province, in June 1348. In just a few months it reached London and by the summer of the following year covered the entire country. The first major city to be struck was Bristol. Conditions in the city were ideal for the plague as the streets were overflowing with people and sewage and buildings were poorly ventilated.

At the time, the idea of hygiene in stopping the spread of infection hadn’t occurred to anyone and across the world, streets were commonly filled with waste, live animals and both human and animal excrement. This was so common in fact, that in Europe, street names were actually inspired by the contents of the street, imagine giving your address as Rue du Pipi!

In London, homeowners were supposed to keep their own house fronts clean, but most did not bother and reports from this time featured complaints of blood being found on the streets outside of slaughter houses, horse dung piled around homes and a lack of cleanliness. The lack of cleanliness however came from a belief that bathing was considered a vice or a temptation and was to be avoided. Some religious figures claimed to have never bathed in their lives.

Signs and symptoms of the plague

The Bubonic plague had a variety of symptoms, including a high fever, headache, joint pain, nausea, vomiting and a feeling of general malaise. 80% of people infected died within 8 days. One of the most common symptoms was the appearance of buboes which oozed pus and blood. Freckle like spots and rashes were also common.

The pneumonic plague infected the lungs and resulted in fever and coughing up blood. This had a mortality rate of 95%. The septicaemic plague was the least common of the plague and had a mortality rate of 100%. With these two variants, the progression of the disease was so rapid there would often not even be time for the buboes to develop.

The plague repeatedly returned to Europe throughout the 14^th and 17^th centuries and was present in at least one place every year between 1346 and 1671 according to historians.

The mortality rate was so high that mass burial sites were needed to get rid of the piles of bodies that were mounting in the streets. Many of these plague pits have been discovered around the UK, with Aldgate tube station being one such site.

Treatments

Various methods were used to help cure the plague, including sweating, blood letting and forced vomiting. Sweating was another way of helping to cure symptoms, doctors would wrap a naked patient in a blanket drenched in cold water which would then make the patient sweat violently and purge the plague from their system. Or so they thought.  Another treatment was to pop the lumps with the feather of a pigeon in order to draw out the venom. If it was too late to pop them, doctors would cut the pigeon open, while still alive and place the insides over the swelling.

Beliefs surrounding the plague

Renewed religious beliefs occurred during the Black Death with many targeting various groups including Jews and Romani people. Others suffering from skin diseases like psoriasis or leprosy were also victimised and killed during this time. Many began to think that the plague was a punishment from God.

The plague disproportionately affected the poorest people who were generally in a worse condition healthwise than wealthier members of society. Poorer communities tended to live in closer proximity to each other too, which helped the spread of the disease. It also had a negative impact on the economy, with many trades having their whole workforce wiped out and rampant inflation.

The plague returned to England in 1361 and caused the death of around 20% of the population, the last outbreak in England was the Great Plague of London in 1664-1666.