The Black Death: The Most Terrible Epidemic in History

In the middle of the thirteenth century, the human race had to witness the horrors of an epidemic called the Black Death. Although it is called the Black Death, many of us also know this terrible claw of death as the Plague. The name of the Plague will come in the context of any terrible disease that has shaken the world map. Although the Plague has been embellished with various names throughout the pages of history, no name seems to have been able to express the horrors of the disease.

When the disease first invaded the Roman Empire, it was called the Justinian Plague. It is said to have been named after the Roman emperor Justinian. At that time, in the shadow of the black paw of this Justinian Plague, about two and a half to five crore lives had to be given to the head. This disease of starvation did not stop its torment even after taking so many lives. This Plague started another death festival by attacking the earth like darkness around 1347! It was then renamed 'The Black Death!

The disease arrived in Europe in 1347 from 12 ships returning from the Black Sea. When these 12 ships came to a halt at the port, the people in the vicinity were shocked to see a horrible sight. Most of the sailors on the ship died, and the survivors seemed to be dying in agony. Because all their bodies were filled with big boils mixed with blood and pus.

The authorities were shocked to see this terrible scene! Although the ships were immediately ordered to leave the port, it seemed to be a little late. In the next five years, about 20 million people died in Europe from this terrible Plague.

How did the Black Death portray itself?

Despite the advent of the Black Death by ship, there were strong rumors in Europe that the disease had already spread to China, India, Persia, Syria, and Egypt. But the Europeans may not have thought then that this epidemic would come from the Far East and turn everything upside down.

The disease is thought to have originated in Asia about two thousand years ago and spread slowly to many other countries through various trading vessels.

The symptoms of this disease were more alarming than the panic in the minds of the people. Even then, the Europeans were not ready to give their lives in the hands of such a horrible death. Yet the whole of Europe had to witness this horrible sight. The body of a person infected with this disease swells very strangely and blood and pus start coming out from there like boils in different parts of the body. In addition to this, fever, cold, and vomiting were seen in the infected person, and some even had diarrhea. But everyone had to endure terrible pain in their whole body. If this epidemic had infected anyone, it would have been a deadly blow.

The disease, which quickly became epidemic, was as contagious as any other epidemic. The Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio also wrote at the time: “At first, something like a tumor was seen under the affected person's wrist or armpits. And gradually it became so big that it had the shape of an apple. At one time it would burst and pus and blood would come out. It was a horrible sight, he could not bear such a scene but fate looked at him with the eyes of a crew. This unbearable and painful death was written in the fate of one-third of the people in Europe at that time because of the horror of that terrible vision! ”

What Kind of Disease Was This Black Death?

Yes! At present we know what plague is and how it spreads. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a French scientist named Alexandre Yarnis discovered the bacterium Bacillus.

This bacterium, called Bacillus, is spread from person to person through contact, air, infected flies, and rats. At that time, these flies and rats were found almost everywhere in European regions. There was no shortage of them, especially on merchant ships. In this way, in addition to human contact, the disease can spread very quickly from one city to another locally through flies and rats on ships.

The epidemic did not stop after the attack on the Italian Messina! Gradually the French port city of Moselis, along with another port city in northern Africa, spread to Tunisia. The virus also spreads to Rome and fluorescence. In June-July 1348, the death knell struck Paris, Neon, and now the famous city of London!

At that time people did not know how a disease could spread. Little did they know that apart from human contact, the disease was slowly spreading across the map of Europe through rats and flies. Different kinds of superstitions then overwhelmed the normal thinking consciousness of the people. Many physicians at the time believed that the disease could be cured by removing the accumulated pus and blood. Again, many people thought that bathing with perfume is the only way to survive the infection.

This terrible disease not only stopped the death of people but also the cattle of those who fled the city and fled to the villages to survive. No one could find a way to escape from this terrible disease, relatives were leaving, sheep, chickens, pigs all died!

God's Curse?

There was very little knowledge of biology among the people of that time. Many were completely ignorant of how a germ could spread. And so this infallible blow of destiny was considered by many to be a curse or punishment of God. Everyone at that time began to believe that God was punishing people with this disease because of the sins that were accumulating in society.

They began to think that the only way to get rid of this disease was to seek God's forgiveness, not medical science. The disease not only attacked humans but also affected human conscience. Some people began to believe that the curse of God was possible only by killing believers of other religions and unbelievers in God!

Many thought that it was because of the Jews that God had given them this disease as a curse. As a result, from 1348 to 1349, thousands of Jews had to die. No! They did not die of any disease, but thousands of innocent Jews were killed in the massacre of the unscrupulous due to superstition.

The Way the Death Hunger of the Black Death Gradually Began to Subside!

The Plague, known as the Black Death Plague, subsided somewhat in the early 1350s, but it continued to return to humans for hundreds of years. However, due to the gradual awareness and modern cleaning system, the disease may not get so severe. Many people think that the Black Death is not completely lost in the womb of time because there are still about one thousand to three thousand signs of Plague every year. However, due to modern medical science, those symptoms can no longer contain epidemics.