Bubonic Plague Dbq

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The Black Death
TRANSMISSION FROM ASIA TO EUROPE
Bubonic plague that caused an epidemic named Black Death in Europe came to this part of continent from Asia. Sources believe its birthplace located China, but they argue about the region. There are evidences the disease “erupted initially in 1331 in northeastern China and had reached the Middle East and Western Europe by 1347” (Strayer 537). Mongols played a significant role in the transmission of the plague. The Empire’s trade routes covered a big territory; traders spread the disease as their vehicles carried rats that had fleas infected with Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the plague. Mongolian army made its contribution too. Experts are not sure about the adequacy of the story, but …show more content…

People contributed to tolls by attempts to seek out an “author of the crime”. As Western Europe was highly religious, they believed the plague was a punishment for sins. The opinion made people to go after “major sinners” like homosexuals, prostitutes or Jews. Campaigns often led to violence, “massacres, burnings, expulsion, and seizure of property” (Strayer 551). European countries lost a major part of their Jewish population as representatives of this nation were killed or forced to run to Poland and several other regions with more appropriate conditions. Bad hygiene and people’s behavior also help to explain why the epidemic was so deadly. Some scientists suggest the plague was airborne (Pruitt), so people’s tendency to gather in crowds contributed to the spread of the disease. Citizens often wanted to stay together regardless of their attitude to the …show more content…

It reflected in art, literature and events. For example, people gathered for Dances of Death; they started “in France in 1348 as a ritual to prevent plague or to cure the afflicted” (Strayer 554). The event justified its name as participants often fell and were trampled by other dancers.
The epidemic made people to question religion’s authority. Partially it happened because disruption of traditional funeral rituals. Priests feared to contact with ill people, did not want to confess them and fulfill an appropriate ceremony. As people believed these rituals help souls to achieve Heaven and reunite with friends and relatives, priests’ behavior could be treated as a “betraying”. Mass deaths made citizens question God’s good attitude to them or even the ability to affect the outcome of the epidemic. Many authors, like the Italian scholar Francesco Petratch suggested “that God does not care for mortal men” (Strayer

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