Black Death Inquiry Question #4

What were some of the cures for the Black Death?

There were many strange ideas as to what would cure the Black Death. Some of these included human poo, chickens, religion and self harm. 

Lancing the Buboes
The swellings on the groin or in the armpit of the victim was cut. A strange mixture of tree resin, flower roots and human poo was then sometimes smeared inside of the open wounds before the cut was wrapped tightly to keep the mixture inside. 
The image on the right shows St Sebastian lancing the buboes of a victim of the bubonic plague. http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/51/7.cover-expansion


Vicary Method
Named after the inventor, Thomas Vicary, this method consists of plucking all feathers off of a live hen's bottom before strapping it to the armpit. Once the chicken became sick, they would wash it before strapping it back on, and repeated the victim was no longer ill. 


Bloodletting
Perhaps one of the most popular ways to rid yourself of the plague was to remove the infected blood from a victim. The wealthier people at the time could afford to have leeches placed over their body so that the leeches could suck the blood from them; a fairly painless method in comparison to having to cut yourself and drain your blood into a bowl. 



Religion
Many believed that the disease was punishment from God, sent to them for their sins. Crying out and begging for God's mercy, the Catholics whipped themselves. 
The image on the left portrays two men whipping themselves for the reason explained previously. 


Medicine
Grounded roast egg shells into a powder, chopped up leaves and petals of marigold flowers were all put together into a pot of good ale before treacle was added and the pot was warmed over a fire.This was drunk twice a day.



http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/westciv/blackdeath.html
http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/black-death2.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cures_for_the_black_death.htm

Black Death Inquiry Question #3

How did people try to prevent the Black Death?

One of the well known ideas as to how the Black Death spread was the idea of the disease being transmitted through the air, most likely because of the horrible smell. This caused the living to carry scents with them to ward off the stench of the dead and to make loud noises to drive away the disease.

Many types of incense were burned, including juniper, laurel, pine, beech, lemon leaves, rosemary, amber, musk, camphor, sulfur etc. When outside of the home, many carried packets of herbs with them to keep the smell away, or wore handkerchiefs that had been dipped in aromatic oils to cover their face.
Another remedy was the cure of sound, which were any sounds that caused your ears to ring. Town or church bells were rung, and cannons (relatively new at the time) were fired.

The pope would sit between two large fires; these could also be found burning at many street corners.
People were advised to avoid activities that would open their pores, including any physical activity or bathing, as well as not to eat meat.
Other strange ideas were passed on as well, including supposedly 'plague-proofed' by glazing the southern windows to block the polluted southern wind, not sleeping during the daytime and avoiding negative thoughts.

"If the epidemic occurs during hot weather it becomes necessary to adopt another regimen, and to eat cold things rather than hot and also to eat more sparingly than in cold weather. . . . You should use cucumbers, fennel, borage, bugloss and spinach, and avoid garlic, onions, leeks and everything else which generates excessive heat."
- French physician, John of Burgundy. He also suggested that during the colder months aromatic spices should be inhaled.

https://sites.google.com/site/theblackdeathmary/medical-prevention
http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/black-death2.htm

Black Death Inquiry Question #2

How did the Black Death Spread to Italy?

"Tell, O Sicily, and ye, the many islands of the sea, the judements of God. Confess, O Genoa, what thou hast done, since we of Genoa and Venice are compelled to make God's chastisement manifest. Alas! our ships enter the port, but of a thousand sailors hardly ten are spared. We reach our homes; our kindred and our neighbours come from all parts to visit us. Woe to us for we cast at the the darts of death! Whilst we spoke to them, whilst they embraced us and kissed us, we scattered the poison from our lips. Going back to their homes, they in turns soon infected their whole families, who in three days succumbed, and we buried in one common grave. Priests and doctors visiting the sick returned from their duties ill, and soon we numbered with the dead. O death! cruel, bitter, impious death! which thus breaks the bonds of affection and divides father and mother, brother and sister, son and wife. Lamenting our misery, we feared to fly, yet we dared not remain."
- The first page of the narrative of Gabriele de' Mussi


The Black Death first struck the northeastern Chinese province of Hopei in 1334, taking the lives of around five million people. Victims of the Black Death traveled west along trade routes to India, Syria and Mesopotamia.
In 1346, the Tartar army besieged Kaffa, a Genoese cathedral city. The Tartars catapulted the dead bodies of Plague infested men over the walls into the city. Kaffa was quick to dump the bodies back into the sea before boarding four Genoese ships in a hurry to escape the quickly spreading disease, as described by Gabriele de' Mussi in the text above. Unfortunately for them, the Plague had already come upon them. 

http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/de_mussi.php
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/origins/spread.php

Black Death Inquiry Question #1

What were the symptoms of the Black Death?

There we three forms of the plague. These included the Bubonic plague; which was the most common of the three, as well as the Pneumonic Plague and the Septicemic Plague. 

Bubonic Plague
Victims of this plague would usually only still be living for five days, if not less.
The first symptom was painful swellings (buboes) that appeared in the victims' armpits or groin. From there, they would develop a fever, as well as large headaches and chills. The buboes would cause bleeding underneath the skin, which would turn the surrounding area blue or purple. Closer to death, the plague would attack the nervous system, causing the victim to suffer body spasms, or seizures. If the buboes burst, black liquid would ooze out of them and the victim may live. 
The image on the right shows a man revealing a buboe on his leg. From a 14th illumination.

Pneumonic Plague 
Most victims of this plague would only survive up to three days. There wasn't any buboes, however they suffered from severe coughing and chest pains, the fever, usually had difficulty breathing and would cough up blood. Barely anyone would recover from the peumonic form. 

Septicemic Plague
Victims of this form of the plague would die the most swiftly, and symptoms won't often appear before their death. However, victims may have experienced abdominal pain, nausea and bleeding due to blood clotting problems. 

“The first sign of the plague was that swellings appeared in the groin or the armpits. Some of the swellings became as large as an apple, sometimes they were the size of an egg. The deadly swellings then began to spread in all directions over the body. Then the disease changed. Black or red spots broke out, sometimes on the thigh or arm. These spots were large in some cases; in other they were almost like a rash.”

-The Decameron, Boccaccio


http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/000596sym.htm
http://historymedren.about.com/od/theblackdeath/a/death_defined.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/symptoms_plague.htm
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm