The Black Death The Bubonic Plague Of The Thirteen...

Taylor Hurst Dr. Reedy College English 13 October 2016 The Black Death The bubonic plague of the thirteen hundreds swept through Europe, claiming the lives of one-third of its population in merely three years. This was the most horrific epidemic the world has seen to date. Poor sanitation practices, improper burial of corpses, and insufficient systems for waste removal were important factors in allowing the plague to manifest (Byrne 31). Infected fleas and rats, brought by trade ships and the Mongols, initially brought the disease and allowed it to spread throughout Europe with immense speed and terror (The Plague). Infection brought vomiting, multi-organ failure, black boils and even blackened limbs which inspired the term black plague (Eastman 10). Many sought answers as to why they were being cursed with the black death and looked for ways to channel their despair. Religious zealots looked for answers outside of Roman Catholicism which created a divide in the church (Boccaccio 8). Emotional turmoil and a search for a cure led to a re volution in art and medicine that brought the world into the Renaissance. While the far-reaching black plague vanquished much of Europe, it also brought about positive changes to society. During the fourteenth century, knowledge of germs and the spread of illnesses was almost nonexistent. Bathing and washing occurred infrequently for average civilians, allowing fleas to run rampant. The housing that many peasants had was roofed with