Bubonic+Plague

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= The Bubonic Plague = The Bubonic Plague occurred and effected many people in 1300’s AD. The bubonic plague is an infection of the lymph nodes.The bubonic plague used to be the most common form of the plague. The plague, also known as the “Black Death” became a pandemic in Europe and Asia. (Drotman 264-265)

In General
Scientists called the plague, Bacterium Yersinia Pestis.(CDC) The plague may have been contagious but, it would spread from an infected animal or insect’s bite, not spread from human to human. Most commonly the rats and rat fleas spread the plague. (Drotman 264-265) The plague was thought to have been a punishment from god = = . = =  Hence the name, plague.

People Effected By The Plague
It took twenty years for the Plague to spread from China to Italy. Because they became infected with the plague before the rest of Europe, many people thought that Italians were at fault for spreading the plague. They banned the Italians from the other European cities and towns. (Senker ) = =  Death by the Plague may have been horrible but surprisingly, the death was quick. An Italian writer said, “Many times the victims ate lunch with their friends and ate dinner with their ancestors in paradise.”(qtd. “Middle Ages”) The only way to stop the Plague from spreading had to have been quarantine. In Milan, Italy, Giovanni Visconti ordered the first three houses with the Plague to be condemned. With the dead, the sick, and the healthy in their house locked. Those who had not been dead, left to die. One eyewitness said, “ Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them, the people quickly drove the Italians from their city. But the disease remained and soon death was everywhere. Fathers abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to make wills for the dying. Friars and Nuns were left to care for the sick, and monasteries and co = = nvents were soon deserted, as they were stricken too. Bodies were left in empty houses, and there was no one there to give them a proper Christian Burial.” (qtd.” The Middle Ages”)

[[image:http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/files/images/Plague_doctor.jpg align="right" caption="Plague Doctor"]]
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Plague Doctors
Plague doctors had been known as heroes for curing the Plague. Many doctors died from illness though. These doctors would wear a special uniform composed of a long robe and a beak. The beak contained “disinfectants” that would supposedly prevent them from getting the plague. A pomander would be used to carry mainly deodorants to mask the smell of rotting flesh. A pomander is an eight fold gold container doctors used to carry herbs and spices. Lavender supposedly if worn, would prevent the Plague. The End Of The Plague Pandemic Finally, by the year 1400 twenty to thirty million people died of the plague. One third of Europe’s entire population died. The rate of mortality then, would have been around seventy five percent. ("CDC")