طاعون سیاه

The Black Plague

In the 1300s, a grim disease known as the Black Plague appalled the world, spreading rapidly from city to city like wildfire.

People from China to England fell ill—no one was spared, as the disease struck young and old alike, without mercy. The incidence of death was terribly high. One out of every three people in Europe perished. Some, however, believe it to be one out of every two.

Overall, between 75 million and 200 million people passed away, greatly changing the demography of the region. It would take 200 years before the population level rose again.

The Black Plague created fear that knew no bounds. The first symptom to occur was the onset of a fever, quickly followed by a terrible pain in the patient’s gut. The patient’s skin then turned black, their armpits swelled, and blood poured out of their bodies.

The victims were in great distress, which was worsened because those around them were afraid of any contact, making the victim’s suffering even more horrible. Loved ones would pray for a miracle with every dip in a family member’s health, hoping they would escape the need to mourn them.

Nothing could stop this terrible illness, and because so many people died, they had to be buried together in giant graves.

Without a proper or accurate diagnosis, physicians at the time were unaware of the existence of herbs or other medicines that could cure or help the ailing people. The doctors were negatively critiqued because of this perceived failing, so several efforts were made by others to find cures.

Most of these efforts were nonsense. For example, some believed that wearing special helmets shaped like birds would stave off or cure the disease. Other “cures” were dangerous and cruel. People of different religions were burned alive, as some thought that a religion was somehow responsible for the onset of the Plague.

The world in the 1300s was a dirty place in which few people bathed themselves. Germs and bacteria were easily transmitted to others. Rats were everywhere, and fleas living off the rats carried the Black Plague from house to house, defeating the population’s most militant efforts to stop it.