The Black Death

The Black Death. Known today as one of the deadliest diseases in the history of mankind. It has ravaged the Eurasian Continent and accounted for the deaths of over half the population of Europe during the 14th century.

This is what this wiki page will try to cover.

## Origins

Information regarding the origins of the Black Death is a bit......... wishy-washy, due to the substantial lack of evidence of exactly when and where the Black Death began, as well as the first victims.

We do know that the Black Death was caused by the Bacteria known as "*Yersinia Pestis"*. This is the Bacteria which would cause *The Plague* (more on the different types of the Plague later on in the page).

This Bacteria originated in a bug which is more of a nuisance today: The flea, yeah, the kind of bugs you would find on your Dog or Cat if it ever goes outside.

The flea likes to feast on Mammalian blood (blood of Mammals), but as it feasts, the Flea than acts like a Hypodermic Needle as it injects Yersinia Pestis into its host.

At first, Yersinia Pestis became what would be infamously known as "Bubonic Plague". The Bacterial disease which can cause fatigue, sweating, fever, gangrene, and vomiting blood.

But its most distinctive symptom is that the victim's skin will erupt into these lymph nodes (or bulges) called *Buboes*. These things can form anywhere on the victim's body, but mostly on the neck, armpit, or groin area. These things are also filled with blood and black colored pus, and even applied with the slightest amount of pressure can cause excruciating pain. The Bubo would swell to the size of a Major League Baseball and then rupture like an inflatable toy.

Just a bit over a week without treatment (which didn't exist in the 14th century) the victim dies.

As said before, a lack of evidence exists on where and when the Black Death began, but some reports suggest that the Black Death began in the year 1333 in a small village near the lake called "Issy-Kul*"*(in modern-day Kyrgyzstan).

The first victims (again due to a lack of evidence) were........nearest that this page can tell.................are merchants, that traveled along the *Silk Road.*

The Silk Road (as covered in previous wiki pages) was built by the Romans as they wanted to open a market for trade with China as the Romans were interested in Chinese Silk. The road itself was abandoned as both the Roman Empire and China fell. But as the Mongols were tearing through the Eurasian Continent, they re-used the road to use as a highway for travelers, messengers, and especially merchants.

It all began with these traveling merchants across Asia who are either staying at Issy-Kul or live there, but more and more people were starting to contract the Plague. By 1335, around 100 people in Issy-Kul would die.

## It spreads

Within a few years after the initial infections, the Plague would begin to spread out of Issy-Kul and onto the Silk Road along with some of the merchants.

The Fleas wouldn't just travel with the Merchants, they also would get some travel help from the *Rat*, which can carry as much as 6 Fleas that carry Yersinia Pestis.

Pretty soon, the Plague would spread into the Far East, infecting people in China, Mongolia, and Korea. But, it would also spread west and into the Middle East by the 1340s.

In the Middle East and even some parts in Africa (such as cities like Cairo and Damascus) reported around 10,000 to 20,000 people dying \*per day\* from this disease. The Plague would also spread into the separate Khanates (which was the Mongol Empire) and Novgorod (modern-day Russia) infecting the people of Moscow.

The Plague also doesn't discriminate, no matter your class of wealth was (whether you were a peasant or a wealthy noble) if you got bitten by a Flea, you'll contract the Plague.

## Heading to Europe

By 1345, the local Khanate that is close to the Genoese Port Town known as "Kaffa" (Modern-Day Feodosia in Crimea) wanted to spread its influence.

The local Kahn, "Jani Beg" was determined to capture Kaffa by any means necessary, and he meant it. The Plague struck his army.......hard, and just when it seemed that Jani Beg was beaten, he gets an idea.

He decides to use the bodies of his dead men as ammunition against Kaffa. He orders Trebuchets and uses them to launch the dead, infected bodies. As this is happening, the Genoese traders and citizens of Kaffa began to run for their lives, and flee the city.

Those who are lucky to flee Kaffa head either north to Novgorod or West to Europe. But, little do these people know that they are bringing the disease with them.

The 14th Century's deadliest disease is now heading to the 14th Century's most densely populated continent. People living in really close quarters to each other, places where rats and fleas were a part of everyday life, and poor sanitation were the optimal recipes for a disaster.

## Plague in Europe

The Plague formally arrived in Sicily in October of 1347. But as it invades Europe, the Plague would mutate and infect people differently than the Bubonic Plague did.

The Plague would take on 2 new forms. First, it was "Septicemic Plague"which causes excessive bleeding externally \*and\* internally, nausea, vomiting, and organ failure. Then, there's "Pneumonic Plague" which causes severe respiratory problems as well as fatigue, and fever.

Of the 3 forms of the Plague, Bubonic had a kill rate of around 70-80%, whereas both the Septicemic and Pneumonic Plagues had a much higher kill rate of nearly 100%.

But it was the Pneumonic Plague is what caused the pandemic in Europe as it was more easily contracted, even just breathing close by to an infected person can get you sick.

A journalist and father of 5 named "Agnolo DiTura" after losing not just his wife but his 5 children to the plague wrote.

> *"I, Agnolo DiTura buried my family with my own hands. There was no-one who wept for any death, as for all awaited death. So many died, that many believed it was the end of the world."*
>
>

As the Plague continued to ravage Europe, and with much dying every day, the people of Europe now believe that it is the Christian god *Jehova* was punishing them for their sins. In the French town of Avignon, Pope Clement the 6th said that he will "absolve" all who died from the Plague, and decreed that the Rhone River be a burial ground.

In fact, with so many dying per day, people in many European towns and cities have dug what would be known as *"plague pits"* where those unfortunate to die from the disease would be buried and most of the time without a proper funeral.

As more people continue to die from the disease. People in Europe began to develop an irrational state of mind, and even try to find a scapegoat as to why the Plague is so deadly. People began to blame the minorities in Europe, namely those of the Jewish faith.

In 1348, and the town of Strasburg in the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany), the angry masses are now outside the city walls, rumors are going out that the Jewish people are poisoning the drinking water and causing the Plague. A riot soon broke out, and the angry mob sacked Strasburg. Around 2,000 Jewish people would die

## The End?

It is unknown when exactly the Black Death ended. However, by the mid-1350s, the "Bubonic" Plague began to wane when most of the Black Rat Population died off from the disease, but the "Pneumonic Plague" was still rampant. In the end, the Black Death would kill around 70 million people in 15-20 years throughout the Eurasian Continent, and also wiped out around 40-60% of the population of Europe.

According to modern medical historians, the Black Death never ended (or at least the disease), in the decades following the Black Death, there have been "aftershocks" of smaller outbreaks of the Plague in both Europe and Asia which would last for a few more centuries.

In 1665, the *"Great Plague of London"* would kill around 90,000 people. In 1709, there was the Baltic Outbreak caused by the Great Northern War which would kill 400,000 people. The last known Plague Outbreak was in 1876 in Baghdad which would kill 20,000 people. Now, thanks to a series of antibiotics, the Plague is no longer a problem. But the disease is still very much alive. Could it come back, could it kill more people than it did in the 14th century? Who knows.

That'll do it for this wiki page. Now, I have made a special blog page regarding the "cures" for the plague. Click here to check it out. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis as well. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.