Strange Days Of Black Death

One day, the contaminated cargo shipment arrived in an economically significant port city of 100,000 inhabitants. This pandemic killed 300 people every day, and by the end of the month, 10% of the townspeople had already died. This pandemic is known as black death.

The exact cause of the black death is still unknown. As a result, men, women, children, the elderly, farmers, artisans, priests and knights died. There was no escape from it.

This is not a zombie story. The crown rulers of Aragon called it the Black Death in Valencia in 1348. In this article we learn how evil the Black Death was, and its evolution and effects.

Sick Europe

The Black Death arrived in Europe in the mid-14th century and became one of the worst demographic catastrophes in history. Most of the inhabitants of the old continent were aware of the plagues, they had lived with them for a few centuries and they still had to live with them. However, the Black Death was not as bad as the plague of Justinian the Great during the 5th century.

Historians have been reassured of how the Black Death arrived in Europe: through the city of Caffa on the Crimean peninsula. The Mongol army besieged the city and attacked it with something worse than swords. The Mongols themselves said they threw infected bodies over the city walls.

However, black deaths cannot be blamed only on the Mongols. The walls of any city cannot keep rats or fleas away. After this alert, Genoese traders returned to Italy, but it was already too late. The Mediterranean was now a bridge to disease and the West was doomed in just one year.

All roads led to black death

For a while, people believed black death would spread through the air. The smell of rotting bodies, as well as Greek medicine and astrological superstition, pointed in that direction. Rats and fleas were probably the reason for how fast the plague spread. Up to two weeks after infection, the disease was asymptomatic. Then five days later came death.

A new outbreak emerged in all ports or infected cities. People ran from the cities and brought a black death to the countryside, where the demographics of the disease became even worse. The Black Death filled all the main trade routes and pilgrimages.

Facing the Black Death

Historians today believe it was a contagious plague, but other diseases such as Ebola or pulmonary anthrax have not been completely ruled out. The symptoms have certainly been terrible. Black spots, coughs, delusions, and inflammation were warning signs of impending death. In addition to the animals and the airborne infection, the blood was also really dangerous.

This crisis had consequences such as famine, orphanage and crop loss. In addition, deaths caused by black death were really difficult to distinguish from deaths not related to this disease.

What happened after the black death?

In France, England, Italy and Spain, as many as 50-60% of the population died, and in certain areas the percentage was even higher. King Alfonso XI was one of the victims just as he besieged Gibraltar. It even led to a ceasefire after a hundred years of war.

After the Black Death, there was still chaos. It was typical of the time that Jews were used as scapegoats. They were accused of poisoning people; the crowds also attacked them. During the Black Death, there was more prostitution in addition to other evils that were perhaps a desperate form of the saying “Carpe diem” . Asking for forgiveness became the norm, people wanted to get rid of their sins before they died.

Interestingly, this resulted in the liberation of many lands. Many surviving farmers had access to these areas. In the new society, the death of other people was a gift to the survivors. Although after the Black Death, society welcomed the Renaissance.