Case study - the Black Death
In 1348 a new A disease spread from one person to another. spread throughout the British Isles. Thousands were killed. In England, the impact was huge. The disease became known as the Black Death or the Plague.
The Black Death affected both the rich and the poor. It also affected both those who lived in the towns and those who lived in the countryside. The main An indication or sign of disease and illness. of the Black Death were An inflamed swelling of a lymph node, especially in the area of the armpit or groin, that is characteristic of certain infections, such as bubonic plague and syphilis. in the armpit or groin, chest pains and a fever. When people caught the Black Death, they could die within days. Hardly anyone who caught it survived.
Approaches to treatment
When the Black Death arrived in England, it spread rapidly. Most people who caught it died within days and so there was not much time for treatment. We therefore do not have much knowledge about what treatments were used. However, it is known that the following methods were used, depending on what people believed about the causes of the Black Death:
| Belief about cause | Treatments |
| Sent by God as a punishment for sin | Confession of sins or prayer |
| Breathing in bad air | Smelling strong-smelling herbs, sweet-smelling flowers or lighting a fire |
| Imbalance of the four humours | Bloodletting or purging (eg vomiting or use of laxatives) |
| Belief about cause | Sent by God as a punishment for sin |
|---|---|
| Treatments | Confession of sins or prayer |
| Belief about cause | Breathing in bad air |
|---|---|
| Treatments | Smelling strong-smelling herbs, sweet-smelling flowers or lighting a fire |
| Belief about cause | Imbalance of the four humours |
|---|---|
| Treatments | Bloodletting or purging (eg vomiting or use of laxatives) |
Attempts to prevent the spread of the Black Death
Attempts by individuals
Because death happened quickly when people caught the Black Death, most people focused on trying to prevent the spread of the disease. Some of the methods used to try to prevent the spread of the disease were the same as the treatments. For example, common actions included confession, prayer, To abstain from all food and drink, typically as a religious observance. and carrying posies (bunches of flowers) and herbs.
Attempts by authorities
Some local authorities also took action to prevent the spread of the disease. A common belief today is that the Black Death was spread by the fleas on rats. Some disagree and suggest that the Single-celled microorganisms, some of which are pathogenic in humans, animals and plants. Singular is bacterium. was spread from human to human. Whatever is true, it is clear that if the following actions had been more widespread, they might have prevented more deaths in the medieval period:
- Under A period of time during which a person is isolated due to a contagious disease - to prevent the disease being passed to other people.laws, people new to an area had to stay away from others for 40 days. Houses were placed in quarantine where there had been an outbreak of the Black Death. Sometimes marks were placed on the doors of those believed to have been affected.
- Strangers were not allowed to enter a village.
- Local authorities stopped cleaning the streets because they believed the smells from the waste would drive away any bad air.
- Events that attracted large crowds, such as religious processions, were banned.
- Huge burial sites were created where the dead would be buried in mass graves. This was done quickly and without much religious ceremony.
However, all of these actions were difficult to enforce because the Church continued to have a lot of power. Individuals continued to follow the advice given by the Church, which meant they tried to prevent the spread of the Black Death with prayer, fasting and confession of sins.