Bubonic Plague/Black Death (jan 1, 1348 – jan 1, 1352)

Description:

This vector-borne disease originated in Central Asia, but then spread across Europe by 1350. The carrier of the disease was the black rat, and it was passed from person to person by fleas. With a 90% mortality rate, populations were decimated, and it took over society. People searched for a reason that something so terrible would happen and came to various conclusions; some people thought it was divine punishment, some blamed specific groups of people (ex. Jews), and some looked to astrology for an explanation. Sanitation measures, isolation, and quarantine were created in order to stop the spread; these terms originated from this time period and continue to be used today, even though the idea of miamsa (“bad air”) has progressed to germ theory since then.

Because rodents, fleas, and sick people tended to live in the same areas, people believed that the black death was contagious person-to-person. People also thought that certain populations were more likely to get the black death. Their susceptibility and living state was explained by immorality, when in reality, it was just the social conditions that they lived in/lack of city sanitation that made them more susceptible to the disease. This led to stigmatization, and the color yellow was used to mark diseased people or people of these susceptible populations.

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