The Black Death

Paper Summary:

The paper refers to Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio's first-hand account of the horrors of the Black Death. The paper discusses how the Black Death completely mystified the medical community and its doctors. The paper also explains how the destruction and chaos created by the Black Death in Europe greatly impacted society and their leaders.

From the Paper:

"The Black Death is most commonly referred to as bubonic plague and comes in two forms--pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. The most common form is characterized by painful buboes or inflamed lymph nodes in the groin, under the arms or on the neck. These and other symptoms are caused by an endotoxin which is released by a bacillus or bacteria known as Yersinia pestis, usually introduced into a person's body through the bite of a rat flea that has bitten an infected rat. Environmental conditions which favor plague epidemics, such as that experienced in Medieval Europe in the 14th century A.D., include a large infected rodent population within a non-immune human population in a damp, warm climate, such as found in the Mediterranean basin and Asia."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kastenbaum, Robert. "Black Death." Encyclopedia of Death & Dying. Internet. 2007. Retrieved from http://www.deathreference.com/Bl-Ce/Black-Death.html.
• "The Black Death, 1348." EyeWitness to History. Internet. 2007. Retrieved from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm.
• Williams, Thomas. The Black Death and Its Impact on European Systems. New York: Random House, 2003.

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