Essay On The Black Plague

Words: 671
Pages: 3

The bubonic plague, aka the Black Plague or Black Death, spread throughout Europe in the mid-14th century, killing of millions. Trading empires and market streets were shut down and religious beliefs were challenged on a daily basis. No one was safe from the Black Plague and everyone everywhere is Europe was affected in one way or another. Although Europe suffered greatly during the time of infection, there was one positive lasting effect, the improvement of sanitation and health care in the medical field. The Black Plague had both positive and negative effects on Europe. In 1446, fur trade ships from the north carried rats with fleas, which in turn carried Yersinia pestis, the cause of the Black Plague. Once the plague hit the ports in the …show more content…
Doctors and medical personnel of the time didn’t link bacteria or germs to the spread of disease. “In fact, disease was believed to proceed from an imbalance in one of a person's four humors.” (Transcript 2) There was no quarantines or isolation during the Black Plague. Most doctors handled blood, skin and other samples from their patients with bare hands, so many caught the plague and died. Soon, some doctors refused to treat patients for fear of becoming sick themselves. At this time, many people began to doubt the medical field and it’s knowledge but after the Black Plague medicine and medical theory began to evolve. Governments established different medical organization for early warnings, quarantines and health care regulation. Medical theories and practices changed greatly as the link of germ and disease began to form. Although the Black Plague was a devastating time for Europe, at least one good thing come forth. The economy was greatly weakened as trading ports and farming fields were shut down everywhere and the surviving rich only became richer as the poor lost all they had. Doubt spread like the plague through religious communities. Jewish people died not only from the Black Plague but from burnings and massacres. Improvement of healthcare and sanitation is one of the very few positive outcomes of this