Madison Rambles #15: The Plague That Plagued Humanity
Hello, everyone!
I have something special I want to share about myself: I actually love studying outbreaks. Not really the coronavirus pandemic, as it is a more recent, depressing, out-of-control pandemic, but more obesity and AIDS. Just researching the reactions around these non-flu-like diseases is fascinating to me, like a historian reading about World War II.
If the pandemic didn't have to be a historical pandemic, I would have chosen obesity or AIDS. But since those do not follow the criteria for a "historical pandemic," I will have to choose the Black Death. It was the pandemic, the one that makes the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 look like the common cold in comparison.
There were many Black Death outbreaks in history. For example, the Great Plague of 1665 famously led to Cambridge University temporarily closing, leading to Isaac Newton creating calculus. But the famous one, the one everyone points to when they mention the "Black Death," happened between 1347 and 1351.
It originated in China, just like COVID-19. But that was not the place the plague affected the most. In reality, ships brought the plague to the Mediterranean and it spread from there. It spread so much, only Iceland and Finland completely avoided the plague. Since the plague did not spread well during the winter, I believe that the cold climates may be part of the reason.
The deaths of the Black Death were unprecedented. Encyclopedia Britannica estimates that roughly 25 million people died from the Black Death. That would be nearly 2/3rds of California's population. Considering how the population back then was no where near the population now, that is a high amount of deaths. And they were just discovering quarantine!
There is much more to the Black Death, such as its use in biological warfare, but I want to highlight the medical aspect of the Black Death. Meet the plague doctors!
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I have something special I want to share about myself: I actually love studying outbreaks. Not really the coronavirus pandemic, as it is a more recent, depressing, out-of-control pandemic, but more obesity and AIDS. Just researching the reactions around these non-flu-like diseases is fascinating to me, like a historian reading about World War II.
If the pandemic didn't have to be a historical pandemic, I would have chosen obesity or AIDS. But since those do not follow the criteria for a "historical pandemic," I will have to choose the Black Death. It was the pandemic, the one that makes the Spanish Flu and COVID-19 look like the common cold in comparison.
There were many Black Death outbreaks in history. For example, the Great Plague of 1665 famously led to Cambridge University temporarily closing, leading to Isaac Newton creating calculus. But the famous one, the one everyone points to when they mention the "Black Death," happened between 1347 and 1351.
It originated in China, just like COVID-19. But that was not the place the plague affected the most. In reality, ships brought the plague to the Mediterranean and it spread from there. It spread so much, only Iceland and Finland completely avoided the plague. Since the plague did not spread well during the winter, I believe that the cold climates may be part of the reason.
The deaths of the Black Death were unprecedented. Encyclopedia Britannica estimates that roughly 25 million people died from the Black Death. That would be nearly 2/3rds of California's population. Considering how the population back then was no where near the population now, that is a high amount of deaths. And they were just discovering quarantine!
There is much more to the Black Death, such as its use in biological warfare, but I want to highlight the medical aspect of the Black Death. Meet the plague doctors!
The famous costume has been ingrained into the memory of the plague. However, this costume was not used in the 14th century plague. It was actually invented in the 17th century in France. Still, doesn't this bird-like costume look intimidating? The beak actually had a function; it had perfumes to keep the plague away!
The effects of the plague are still felt today. Now, we have quarantines and more developed medicine, precautions invented because of the plague. You could say that the plague was the reason for humanity's rebirth, the Renaissance. Humans wouldn't have to learn from the Greeks if everything was fine, so the plague taught them to learn from the past and create the road to the modern era.
And that was a summary of some of the most intense moments in human history. I could go on and on about the mystery surrounding the disease and the treatments used, but I don't want to make this post a thesis paper.
Next time... well, that's up in the air. There's only a month left until this blog ends, so I hope the next blog post topic is good!
Until next time!
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