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Bubonic Plague Dbq

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5 Paragraph Essay The Bubonic Plague was a spreading disease. It infected and killed most of the population of Europe within a few years. The plague began spreading in 1348 when fleas caused this infection when they bit animals such as rats. The bacteria entered the skin through the flea bite which soon infected the lymph nodes. These rats stowed away on trade ships which quickly passed this deadly disease to humans. The Bubonic plague was very disastrous to the European society until it finally began to slow down in 1351. It killed so many people due to its rapid spreading. It lowered the religious belief and trust in God by many people in the community. Also, the local physicians lacked the knowledge of the plagues symptoms and its cure. …show more content…

In document 7 it states, “Jews throughout the world were reviled and accused in all lands of having caused it [the plague] through the poison which they are said to have put into the water and the wells . . . and for this reason the Jews were burnt all the way from the Mediterranean into Germany, but not in Avignon, for the pope protected them there.” This shows that the Christians and Jews were already enemies and the plague gave the Christians a reason to attack and terrorize the Jews. Also, in the Black Plague Reference Article it states, “Members believed the plague was a judgement from God and tried to do penance to prevent themselves from getting sick. They organized themselves into groups that went from place to place throughout Europe. They sang hymns and whipped themselves.” This demonstrates that Christians didn’t just put the blame on other religions but also punished themselves because they believed that was what God wanted. The plague not only degraded the faith in God for Christians but also lead to the harm of other …show more content…

In document 2 it states, “To cure these infirmities neither the advice of the physicians nor the power of medicine appeared to have any value or profit; perhaps either the nature of the disease did not allow for any cure or the ignorance of the physicians . . . did not know how to cure it; as a consequence, very few were ever cured; all died three days after the appearance of the first outward signs, some lasted a little bit longer, some died a little bit more quickly, and some without fever or other symptoms.” This shows that many people died quickly because the physicians did not understand how to deal with the rapid spreading of this disease and how to treat it. Also, document 6 states “Medieval physicians wore outfits made of cloth or leather to protect themselves from the plague. The bird-like beak contained spices and vinegar-soaked cloth to mask the stench of death and decay.” This indicates the common belief back then that the smell of the dead bodies was spreading the disease. This also demonstrates the ignorance physicians had about germs which was a big part of why the plague affected so many people in such a short amount of

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