preview

The Plague Dbq

Decent Essays

It was in the 14th century that a catastrophic and deadly Plague hit Europe. The Black Plague killed up to a 3rd of Europe’s population. This lead to medieval science changing dramatically as people began to question how much authority the church should be given, and began to turn to science for logical answers. The plague also contributed to the Peasants anger that evolved into the Peasants Revolt, and ultimately, the breakdown of the feudal system. Multiple factors contributed to the spread of this deadly plague, that historians believed originated in Asia and then spread along trade routes to Europe and England. Infected rats carrying fleas that were infected with the Plague took rides on boats and travelled through the routes. While this is how the Plague …show more content…

The first and foremost action taken was praying, as people originally believed that the Plague was a punishment from God, so they relied heavily on him saving them. But as the death numbers grew, people began to realize that the church could not explain the Plague, or help them survive. People began to try and experiment, with bazaar remedies. Doctors encouraged patients to carry sweet smelling posies, suffice the nursery rhyme, ‘Ring a Ring a rosy’, a rhyme about the Black Plague. Some people would eat rotten treacle, others would live in sewers, believing that the Plague was only in the air. Eating crushed emeralds, was an expensive yet popular remedy. But worst of all remedies, were the urine bath and the poo paste. These particular remedies involved bathing in human urine, and rubbing a poo paste into the infected buboes. It just goes to show how desperate people were during these times, although unfortunately none of these remedies worked, and symptoms continued to show. For the bubonic Plague, this included fever, weakness, shocks and chills. The main symptom, buboes, often grew around the armpits or

Get Access