The Effects of the Black Plague on Christianity
The Effects of the Black Plague on Christianity
By
Marilyn Griffin
REL 387 AL Christ’s People through the Ages
10 October 2011
The Effects of the Black Plague on Christianity The Black Plague, also known as Black Death, the Great Mortality, and the Pestilence, is the name given to the plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. It is said to be the greatest catastrophe experienced by the western world up to that time. In Medieval England, the Black Death killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. There was no medical knowledge in England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it stroke England another six times by the end of the century. The Black Plague is said to have been caused by fleas carried by rats that were common in towns and cities. The fleas literally injected their victims with the disease by biting them. The symptoms of the Black Plague were terrible and swift moving. The symptoms included: painful swellings (known as buboes) of the lymph nodes. These swellings would appear in the armpits, legs, neck, or groin. A bubo was at first red in color. It later turned a dark purple color or black. There were other symptoms, as well: a very high fever, delirium, vomiting, muscular pains, bleeding in the lungs, and mental disorientation. It also produced an intense desire to sleep, which could quickly prove fatal, if yielded to. Victims of the plague died quickly, usually between 2-4 days after contracting the disease. There were three forms of Black Death:“The bubonic, the pneumonic, and the septicemic plagues” (www.wordfocus.com). According to the website, “Focusing on Words”, the bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black Death. “The mortality rate is said to have been 30-75%. The symptoms included enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes around the arm pits, neck, and groin” (www.wordfocus.com). The plague had severe consequences. In his book The Story of
By
Marilyn Griffin
REL 387 AL Christ’s People through the Ages
10 October 2011
The Effects of the Black Plague on Christianity The Black Plague, also known as Black Death, the Great Mortality, and the Pestilence, is the name given to the plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. It is said to be the greatest catastrophe experienced by the western world up to that time. In Medieval England, the Black Death killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. There was no medical knowledge in England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it stroke England another six times by the end of the century. The Black Plague is said to have been caused by fleas carried by rats that were common in towns and cities. The fleas literally injected their victims with the disease by biting them. The symptoms of the Black Plague were terrible and swift moving. The symptoms included: painful swellings (known as buboes) of the lymph nodes. These swellings would appear in the armpits, legs, neck, or groin. A bubo was at first red in color. It later turned a dark purple color or black. There were other symptoms, as well: a very high fever, delirium, vomiting, muscular pains, bleeding in the lungs, and mental disorientation. It also produced an intense desire to sleep, which could quickly prove fatal, if yielded to. Victims of the plague died quickly, usually between 2-4 days after contracting the disease. There were three forms of Black Death:“The bubonic, the pneumonic, and the septicemic plagues” (www.wordfocus.com). According to the website, “Focusing on Words”, the bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black Death. “The mortality rate is said to have been 30-75%. The symptoms included enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes around the arm pits, neck, and groin” (www.wordfocus.com). The plague had severe consequences. In his book The Story of
Cited: Focusing on Words: The Black Death. Part 1 and 3. Web. <http://www.wordfocus.com/word-black-death-pt1.html>. Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. 1. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010. 390-92. Print. Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1983. 77-103. Print. Meiss, Millard. Paintings in Florence and Siena after the Black Death: The Arts, Religion, and Society in the Mid-Fourteenth Century. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1951. 74-93. Print. Snell, Melissa. The Great Mortality, Part 2: God 's Wrath and the Devil 's Triumph. Web. <http://historymedren.about.com/od/theblackdeath/a/greatmortalityb_2.htm>. The Black Death and Religious Impact. Web. <http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/churchhistory220/lecturen/blackdeath>.