The Middle Ages: The black death

The Middle Ages have many interesting parts to it. The one I found most interesting was the time during the Black death. The Black Death reached the shores of Italy in 1348, unleashing a huge percent of death across Europe. By the end of the three year period, 25% to 50% of people had been affected or killed by the plague. The plague was spread by fleas that attached themselves to rats who then attached themselves to humans which caused the time of the black death.

The plague was in three forms. The bubonic variant which was the most common of them was the swellings that appeared on a person's neck, armpits, or groin. These tumors ranged in size from the size an egg to the size of an apple. Some survived the painful time but usually the person had a life expectancy of up to a week. Infected fleas that attached themselves to rats and then to humans spread this bubonic type of the plague. The second type was the pneumonic plague, it attacked the respiratory system and could be spread just by breathing the exhaled air of a sick person. It was much more life threatening, a person only lived up to one to two days. And the last one was the septicemic version of the disease which affected the blood system. The population decreased because of the plague and this eventually led to an economic depression. Merchants and tradesmen had less and less people to whom they could sell their items too. The economic hardship spread throughout the community and made a huge effect on all of the people. The only ones who could avoid the disease and hardship were those who were wealthy and could travel and leave the city for the country.

I think this time, during the middle ages is so interesting because it shows me what the people had to deal with and go through. Its also interesting because, it goes to show me that I should be thankful for the technology we have and for the medical system we have today. There were many effects from the plague. One was that art was greatly affected by the plague. During the time of panic and fear, artists were inspired to draw and their drawings reflected what they were going through. Therefore the plague benefited art. Another thing that was effected was the way people looked at children after this. After this time children were not considered important and not worth the trouble. It took Europe four hundred years to regain the same population before the Black death.

I think the black death was interesting because i found out that scientists think the plague and HiV are similar. I also learned that though many people died from this disease, some survived. For a disease to infect a human body there must be a gateway through which the disease enters into human cells. The plague works by attacking the white blood cells sent to fight it off. It then travels inside the white blood cells to the lymph nodes. From there the bacteria breaks out and attacks the immune system. It is said that maybe, CCR5 gene or delta 32, may have prevented the disease from being able to enter a person's white blood cells. This topic really held my interest and showed me things from the past can be linked to things in the present time.

There were many reasons to why the plague was worse than it might have been. Europe was too overcrowded, the cities were crowded with people living in unsanitary conditions. Their bedding was made from straw which provided a perfect nesting place for rats and the fleas. In general conditions of health were very poor.Also the food supply could not keep pace with the population growth. The result of this was a series of devastating famines that had left Europeans weak and vulnerable to a any kind of diseases. The plague did not entirely disappear but instead had occasional local outbreaks, especially in central Asia. When it did return it create a widespread of panic in populations. Social order was weakened under the stress, and the hungry and exhausted people became more vulnerable to this plague or any plague for that matter. ( bookrag and online book/ encyclopedia)

Online book: http://www.bookrags.com/history/black-death-hf/sub6.html
online book/ encyclopedia: http://www.deathreference.com/Bl-Ce/Black-Death.html