Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Black Death 1348-1350
- Spread
- Originally came from China,
spread through trade routes
- Hits Italy first then spreads northwards
- Italy had very high death rate,
some cities as high as 98%
- Logical conclusion was that God was punishing
European countries (before it hit UK)
- Arrives in England in 1348 -
Melcombe Regis - Weymouth
- 100 years war ongoing England vs France
- in 1347 England managed to capture Calais
- Many goods transported over from calais -
luxury goods - cloths etc, good for carrying fleas
- Plague spread via rats on boats or fleas on cloth.
- Starts to spread to many ports, then inwards, cases
coming from all directions made it spread more quickly
- Immediate Impact
- About a third of all people
died (25-50% accepted)
- Heavily affected Priests
- Had to carry out last rites for
sick and dying people
- Picked up plague through this
- Some church records show some went through 3
priests in a year - usually same one for years
- Ran out of space in graveyards
- Had to fill big pits with bodies
- No effort to face them the right way
- Types and Physical Effects of Plague
- Bubonic Plague
- Big buboes
- approx 90% death rate
- After 12 hours would
have high fever
- Usually die within 3-5 days
- Pneumonic Plague
- Lung Infections
- Sneezing
- Spread via bacteria in air
- Approx 98% Death Rate
- After 12 hours would feel
effects of sneezing
- Usually die within 2-3 days
- Septicaemic Plague
- Blood Poisoning
- 100% Death Rate
- Could die within 24 hours
- Spread to Scotland
- Through 1348/49 Scotland quite smug, no plague yet
- 1350 - Scots attempt to invade England
- Summer 1350 scot army musters on border of England
- Some soldiers start to die of plague
- Soldiers scattered taking plague with them
- Scotland hit hard in late 1350
- Problems with treatment
- Practiced 4 humours at time
- Plague showed imbalance of more than one humour
- Had no idea of how to treat it
- 1897 Plague in India - Case study
- Ruled by British - educated in spotting plague
- Created plague isolation wards for patients
- Patients isolated, treated by nurses who isolated themselves
- Nursed the patients, kept them clean, hydrated and comfortable
- Hardly any patients died, approx 20% death rate,
shows nursing as best cure