The Black Death

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2011-05-18T08:30:00.005-07:00

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Works Cited

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"Black Death." The Middle Ages Website. Web. 12 May 2011.
"The Black Death." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 12 May 2011.
English, Edward D. "Plague during the Middle Ages." Ancient and Medieval History Online. Facts On File Inc., 2011. Web. 12 May 2011
Gies, Frances, and Joseph Gies. Daily Life in Medieval times. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 1999. Print.
Macdonald, Fiona. The Plague and Medicine in the Middle Ages. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2006. Print.
Nardo, Don. The Black Death. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1999. Print.

What was the Black Death?

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The Black Death was a deadly disease that invaded Medieval Europe. The disease came from rat fleas, believe it or not. Most of the rats in Europe at the time were carrying this disease; so once their fleas bit them, the fleas got the disease as well. The fleas began to become very hungry so they started feeding on humans. I know right!?! GROSS!

This disease traveled very quickly in your body; within the first 3 to 8 days, swelling creates egg-shaped lumps… ummm EWW!! 3 to 4 days after that the disease would move to your vital organs like your spleen and lungs, causing dark spots, bleeding from the skin, then if untreated…. DEATH! Since the disease spread quickly, thousands of people died during this horrible time. I wonder what the infected people were thinking… if I was infected, I would be screaming and crying. Especially if I was poor. Back then, poor people suffered more than rich… even though everyone suffered.

What caused the Plague?

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This disease started in the weirdest way EVER! The disease started by rat fleas, believe it or not. A complex bacterial strain called Yersinia Pests lives in the digestive system of rat fleas, but this bacteria can also live in human fleas too. The Y. Pests could not pass through healthy skin. So the Pests broke the skin... and began to feed.

People back then didn't know what was causing the plague. They thought it was god blaming them for their sins. The government blamed citizens for leaving trash and dead animals to rot on the city streets. Doctors believed that dangerous planets like Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were to blame. A lot believed that the Jewish were to blame. Because of this, many Jews were murdered. Jerks.

What were some of the symptoms of the Black Death?

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The plague had many symptoms... form sickening to almost normal. One of the grossest symptoms... also the one that was most common were the purple and black blotches all over victims bodies and when there skin started to lesson. Another were the very painful boils that aappeared. Also, when the infected coughed up puss and blood...... BLAA!!! :P That's absolutely disgusting!

Even though there were really gross symptoms, there were also some normal things too. For example, infected got dreadful headaches, which are like migraines. Others are fever, rash, and inflammation of the lymph glands. Now a days, when your lymph glands swelled up, it's very dangerous... I can't imagine what it was like back then. Scary...

How were the victims treated?

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The victims of the plague or Black Death were not treated effectively. This is because there was no effective treatment. The treatments that were used were both gross and disturbing. One of the grossest treatments is when they cleaned themselves with vinegar and blood. BARF! Another weird treatment is when they used tobacco to treat the disease. Last time I checked, tobacco was bad for you.
Don't worry, there were a lot of other treatments that weren't so strange. The doctors gave the victims medicines to take. See.. That's pretty normal. The only thing not normal about this were the doctors. The doctors wore bird masks. These masks contained herbs that were said to protect the doctors from getting the disease as well.

Back to the treatments. Many burned substances that supposedly purified the air. They also used concoctions of herbs to relive symptoms. Even after all these treatments, there was still no known cure. WEIRDOS.... Kinda

How did people avoid being infected?

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There were many weird ways to avoid being infected. Some of the easy ones were to just stay away from infected individuals and the infected homes. Another easy way was to avoid heating foods. It was believed that cool foods like cucumbers and spinach were safe to eat. Some ways were extremely strange... like not taking baths. CAN I SAY EWWW!?!

There were more ways to avoid being infected. Another way was to eat and drink very little, and to avoid having sex. One of the strangest ways in my opinion is to burn sweet smelling herbs and spices. This was believed to drive away miasmas. How fruity right!?!