The Black Death spread from China into Europe in the 14th century. It entered England in 1348. Spreading along trade routes, the Black Death killed a huge number of people. Estimates suggest that roughly a third of the population of England perished as a result of the disease. Medicine and science were not advanced enough to identify the actual cause of the disease. As a result a wide range of beliefs about it’s causes can be seen in surviving evidence. This also affected attempts to prevent the spread of the disease and treatments of those infected. The Black Death is one outbreak of the plague, it has returned since and was a major killer in earlier civilisations.
The Black Death
The Black Death is the name given to a form of plague that spread across the northern hemisphere in the 14th century. The pestilence spread along trade routes from China into India and then Europe.
How did the outbreak spread?
The Black Death is commonly described as being a form of the Plague. One form is spread virally, by people coughing out the germs, for example. Another form of the disease is spread by fleas. Infected fleas would pass the infection on to humans when they bit them. The latter of these is the explanation offered by most historians, however this has been challenged in recent years by a number of scientists and historians. (See here for a discussion of alternative theories).
What did people believe was the cause of the Black Death?
In the 14th century many explanations were offered. These included explanations based on religion, astronomy and on simple common sense. This meant that some people thought the epidemic was the result of unholy behaviour; as a result of tolerance towards heretics or non-christians; by movements of the stars and planets or as a result of bad smells and miasma.
How did medieval people try to prevent or cure the Black Death?
The variety of beliefs about causes of the epidemic resulted in a wide range of preventative measures and attempted cures being used. These ranged from cleaning the streets, burning rubbish and lighting aromatic fires to tackle miasma through to prayer, flagellation and religious procession to please god.
Ten Facts about Plagues
What did people think caused the Black Death before the true cause was known?
Plagues have hit civilisations for as long as records have been kept. This gives us a breadth of source material about different theories about the causes of the disease. Most of these can be applied to the Middle Ages in some way.
Miasma.
Miasma is bad air. Think of overcrowded towns with poor sanitation. Even in towns and villages where the rules, and there were rules, were kept, there was bad air. It comes from all kinds of waste. It comes from the tannery. It comes from swamps and stagnant water. It comes from a lot of places. Simple observation led people to realise that you are more likely to become ill if you are in contact with bad air. They didn’t know why this was the case, and let’s face it, not all bad smells do cause disease, but the connection was made. Solution? Simple, try and make the air smell better. There are examples of perfumes being burnt. Slaughterhouses had to be maintained and waste couldn’t simply be tossed into the gutter. In a nutshell, the people in the 14th Century, the time of the Black Death, weren’t stupid.
Heaven sent.
If you are familiar with the Old Testament you will be familiar with the stories of plagues being sent as punishment. The Old Testament, as the name suggests, is very old. The same beliefs that existed when these events happened, were pretty much the same in the 14th Century for lots of people. If there is evil in the world, a plague is a punishment from god. There was evil in the world. Plenty of it. Wars were ongoing in several parts of Europe. The Papacy was often divided into Pope and Anti-Pope. Much of the Holy Land had been lost to the Muslim empire. That is a lot for god to be angry about. So, a plague would be a fitting punishment. Solution? Pray. Pledge to the church. Prepare for Crusade. Punish yourself to repent for your sins. The latter saw Flagellation occurring. This needs more explanation than I have space for here but it’s basically whipping yourself whilst undertaking religious rituals. It’s still practised today by some people.
Consequences of the Black Death
Lots of people died across Asia and Europe. This had a huge impact on society. In some parts of Europe up to 90% of the population had died. Whole settlements could be wiped out. Across a region, or country, this had consequences. Labour was in demand but there were fewer workers to do the jobs. Wages rose. This made life hard for those employing people, so laws were imposed to limit pay. In England, this was a contributory factor in the Peasants Revolt of 1381.
The Black Death arrived in England in 1348. This was during the reign of Edward III. It was at pandemic or epidemic proportions in England and Europe for roughly four years. The Black Death occurred during the Hundred Years War. It affected the armies of both the French and the English. The disease killed people of all classes. Archaeological evidence suggests that people with poor diets were more likely to have died of the disease. Plagues also hit England in the 15th century and another ‘Great Plague’ struck in the 17th century.
External Link
Timelines.tv – Brief documentary about the Black Death. Ideal for school aged learners.
Medieval Medicine – Medieval Surgery – Change and Continuity in Medieval Medicine – The Black Death
Our Medieval Medicine simulation can be found in our teacher resource centre.
Medicine Through time – Resources for Medicine Through Time – Prehistoric Medicine – Ancient Egyptian Medicine – Ancient Greek Medicine – Medicine in the Roman Empire – Medieval Medicine – Renaissance Medicine – Public Health in the Industrial Revolution – Fight against infectious disease – Modern Medicine