History of the Bubonic Plague 1348-1350

In the mid-14th century, the population of Europe was nearing 450 million.
After 1350 however, it was reduced to an estimated 350 million. This was because
of an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague or Black Death. This was the first time the
plague had been seen in Europe and it was untreatable. It is believed that this
particular outbreak started in the China/Mongolia region where the infected bodies
were used as biological weapons in war. Through unsanitary
trade and travel the plague spread through infected fleas.
However, recent studies have shown that
it might also have been airborne due the
rate at which people became infected.
Before it came to Europe, the Bubonic plague infected people in
the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa. The first countries in
Europe to become infected were Italy and Greece in 1348. The
following year the plague swept northwest and infected the majority of Europe. The
final countries the be infected were Norway and Sweden in 1350.

Typically, a person infected with the plague would die within 2-7 days. It
seemed random as to who would recover or who would die but scientists can agree
that only 10-40% of people recovered. At the time,
there was hardly any treatment if not at all. Some
treatment that people went through was lancing
the buboes, being washed frequently with vinegar
and rose water, and, changing their diets. People
with the plague were abandoned by family
members and left to suffer a terrible death. For containment, anyone who could
afford it was encouraged to flee Europe, while others were told to stay indoors and
away from people. For those who couldn’t flee, the protection of the healthy far
surpassed that of the sick. This time in history for the Europeans was dark and filled
with horrible memories because of the Bubonic Plague.
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Revealed.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 1 Nov. 2010,

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206309.php.

Bubonic Plague Map. Wikimedia Commons,

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bubonic_plague_map.PNG.

“1320: Section 6: The Black Death.” Welcome to Utah State University,

www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320hist&civ/chapters/06plague.htm.

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plague.