Black Death: Deadliest and Aevastating Epidemic in History (Essay Sample)

Black Death
Black Death is cited as one of the deadliest and devastating epidemic in history ever to hit Europe in the years 1348 to 1350. This outbreak of plague is thought to have been caused by the bacteria yersinia pestis. But this allegation has caused a lot of controversies among the scholars thanks to the recent development of forensic science. The plague cradle originated from China and reached Crimea by the year 1346 believed to have been taken by Mongol armies. The disease was then spread by black rats that were found mostly in vessels carrying merchants. Through this means the plague spread like bush fire in Europe and the Mediterranean. The black death toll is believed to have reduced the population of the world by 375 million (R. Totaro, 2005) . To add on that Europe took 150 years to recover from the plague. This caused economic, social and religious upheavals. It is alleged that the plague returned on intervals eventually leaving Europe at the beginning of the 19th century.
The interpretation have attracted a number of arguments from known authors who have come up strongly challenging various theories trying to explain the history the plague. For instance, J.F.D Shrewsbury a bacteriologist was the first scholar to disrepute the bubonic plague theory. He noted that that figure recorded as the mortality rate in the year 14 00 to 1500 were not consistent with the bubonic plague. He concluded that the number of deaths caused by the black death was an exaggeration of the sort. He further casted his doubts on the identity of the cause of death.This assertion has received a number of support from several authors including David Herlihy (1997), Samuel K. Cohn, and Christopher and Susan Scott (2001). The authors recognized that the identification of symptoms is as valuable as an epidemiological account. Although most of these authors concurred, there is a lack of reliable statistics to sufficiently conclude the correct views of plague victims. Coupled with the fact that most works were done basing it on the plague that ravaged England. Rather than finding the estimates of the overall population affected by this scourge that spread through different continents.
In addition to these arguments, the scholars suggest that the rats were not that many to be counted as a primary culprit for the spread of the plague. Skeptics of the plague known as bubonic cited that the signs of the plague differ from bubonic plague. Moreover, the DNA testing on these fleas and their role in transferring the deadly disease may not have been done or repeated elsewhere thus the DNA account was flawed. Accountability of the death of rats had again thrown the bubonic theory on the Black Death in disarray that is before the outbreak that ravaged Europe between 14th and 17th century. The temperatures in Northern Europe is too cold to sustain the survival of fleas that were thought to have spread the plague. This throws a shadow of a doubt that the rate of transmission of the plague spread quickly than the plague known as bubonic that is widely suggested to be endemic especially in rural settings ( Walloe, Lars,2008).
Simonds’s infection model have received a number of complaint from various authors, it that suggests the black death was first carried by to black rat then to rat fleas finally to the victim’s body. The authors concur that there were other possibilities that lead to the transmission of the plague. For example, Twigg has concurred that the Black Death had symptoms same as those of anthrax that again received support from N.F. Cantor (2001) as a combination of anthrax and other causative pandemics. These two authors argued that the Black Death was an infectious disease that had the same characteristics of Hemorrhagic fever like the current Ebola affecting West Africa. Many scholars have argued that Y.Pestis as the causative culprit of Black Death, they further agreed that its signs is as a results of a mixture of diseases such as smallpox, respiratory infections and the bubonic plague. Another disease that they cited that had a hand in lengthening the duration of the plague and that accounted for the high mortality rate was septicemic a form of food poisoning coupled with pneumonia.
However, in October 2010 a new forensic investigation was instituted, and the results published on a scientific journal PLoS pathogens. The investigation was with the main aim of finding the role played by the Yersinia pestis in the plague pandemic after the disputed findings of Raoult and Drancourt in 1998. A DNA testing was employed on skeleton remains of mass graves archaeologically believed to contain bodies of victims who died of Black Death in southern, Northern and central Europe. After the analysis concurrently done in France and Germany the authors concluded Y. Pestis was the causative agents responsible for the spread of the Black Death and subsequently caused deaths of millions in Europe.
The study also led to another discovery of two types of Y.Pestis genetic types that were previously unknown that is the Orientalis and Mediavalis. This finding suggested that the Black Death might have entered Europe on two waves. The DNA analysis done on the pit remains found in England and France indicated that the first genetic type of the causative agent of Black death, may have passed and entered Europe through the Marseille port in the year 1347 and spread to France eventually reaching Europe in 1349. Where it is believed to have spread throughout the country in three epidemics. The other strain of the causative agent of Black Death that is Mediavalis was discovered on the remains of victims of Black death, found in pits in Bergen op in Netherlands. Implying that the different types of Y.Pestis was causative agents that led to the spread of the epidemic in Netherlands, Norway and other cities. The findings clearly show that the plague entirely originated from England before spreading to other parts of Europe.
In 1348, the plague spread like Bushfire before the government and the physician had time to pinpoint the exact origin of the plague. By that time already a third of Europe population had already been wiped out. The plague took toll especially in crowded cities where a half of the population living there had perished. Priests and monks were severely hit by the plague since they were the one taking care of the Black Deaths victims. Europeans tried in vain to find the exact cause of the plague. Others believed it was as a result of poisoning of the wells by the Jews (Cantor, Norman F,2001). Healers who were regarded highly in terms of knowing, treating and explaining the cause, symptoms and signs of various diseases were at that time at pain to explain the Black Death epidemic. In fact, the government of that time was in a crisis to respond to the overwhelming death caused by the plague. Interestingly the scholars argued that the disease devastating nature was little understood, this led to people believing that the plague was brought about as a result of God’s anger towards humanity. Through this believes, many of the Europeans attacked the Jewish communities of especially those living around Cologne and Mainz. They even despised the clergy and the church at large for their failure to protect them from the deadly plague. Thus, scholars argue that the church lost its power and influence, although it was much easier to blame other people than to loose faith.
Recent studies have demonstrated that post-plague period brought about good tidings to the English women. There was some moderation of their social ‘exclusion’ and they experienced an increment in economic and social opportunities. In 1377, the England population had decreased to 2.75 million that was a half of what was England population before the plague took toll. If the mortality rate of the medieval period had continued ravaging England at the same rate, it is argued that by the 1520’s the population of England may have reduced to barely 2.25 million people or less. This created social mobility of individuals, whereby people took advantage of the situation and took social position, jobs and land of the dead. These led to redistribution of wealth where labourers had an increase in their minimum wages. Women’s gain were notably experienced in this period cited by many historians like Jeremy Goldberg.With the rising shortage of skilled workers and low replacement rate especially by men, women were able to secure these jobs and opportunities that were a preserved for men Gottfried, (Robert S,1983).
During the medieval time, the scholars argued that the age at death varies sharply between the pre and the post-Black death times. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the post-Black Death had a high instance of deaths of older death. Moreover, these results indicated that mortality rate of the population had decreased during the post-Black Death. These phenomenons lead to improvement in health in the post-death population. (Russell: p465) Tried to compare pre and post black plague, drawing his conclusions on the analysis of Spanish and British documentary data on a number of medieval cemeteries. He found that the population of people who were aged above 60 years had significantly increased compared to those at the ages of twenty to sixty years concluding that survival rate had improved tremendously. However, his results are disputed by a number of scholars on different ways. For example, the dating of the sampled cemeteries were not clear, this is confirmed by Russell who agreed that the sample were representation of the early medieval time and there is no records for later medieval time (Benedictow OJ,2004). Therefore, the finding was not conclusive in comparing pre and post mortality rate. Furthermore, the samples were collected mostly in central, and Eastern Europe...