‘The Black Plague’ – History’s Worse Pandemic?
By Tom Morrow
As bad as we think our society is being challenged thus far this year, things have been worse – far worse.
Compared to the 1918-19 “Spanish Flu,” “The Black Death,” also known as “The Pestilence,” or “The Black Plague,” was the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history. It peaked in Europe in the 14th century (1347-1351). The pandemic resulted in the deaths of some 75 million to 200 million people in Eurasia (Europe and west-central Asia) as well as North Africa up into Western Europe and the British Isles. (The continents of North and South America were yet to be discovered and colonized).
Historically speaking, the Black Death was the second pandemic ever recorded. The first was the “Plague of Justinian” (542-546 B.C.). The Black Death created religious, social, and economic upheavals, especially with profound effects on the course of European history.
Beginning in 1331, many natural disasters led to widespread famine with the deadly black pandemic arriving soon after. Other conditions, such as war, famine, and turbulent weather contributed to its severity.
Studies show circa 1347, the Black Death probably originated in Central or East Asia, from where it travelled along the “Silk Road,” reaching the Crimea on the Black Sea circa. From there, carried by fleas living on black rats, it likely travelled the trade routes on merchant ships, spreading throughout the Mediterranean Basin reaching North Africa, Western Asia, and the rest of Europe via Constantinople, (Turkey), Sicily, and the Italian Peninsula.
The Black Plague is estimated to have killed up to 60 percent of Europe’s population, reducing the known world population from an estimated 475 million down to 350 million. It took 200 years for Europe’s population to recover to its previous level.
Isolated outbreaks of The Black Death kept recurring at various locations around the world until the early 20th century. Research in 2018 found evidence of the culprit bacteria in an ancient Swedish tomb, which may have caused an early pandemic around 3000 B.C. Archeological evidence at that time period indicates European populations fell significantly.
Muslim religious scholars taught the Black Death was a “martyrdom and mercy” from God, assuring the believer’s place in paradise. For non-believers, it was a punishment. Some Muslim doctors cautioned against trying to prevent or treat a disease sent by God. Others adopted preventive measures and treatments used by Europeans.
In 1894, the Black Death bacteria was discovered by Alexandre Yersin, a pupil of Louis Pasteur, during the bubonic plague of Hong Kong. Yersin proved this bacillus was present in rodents and determined the rat was the main vehicle of transmission.
The spread of disease was far more rampant in communities of poverty. Epidemics leveled cities, particularly affecting children. It was easily spread by lice, unsanitary drinking water, and military movements.
The policy of community and home quarantines is nothing new; it was a 14th century medical advance. After continual Black Death outbreaks, quarantines began in 1377, in the city-state of Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik, Croatia).
After The Black Plague began circa 1347-1350, it came to England first in the towns and ports leaving almost none of the population alive. The mortality rate of The Plague in the 14th century was far greater than any 20th-century pandemics. The resulting population decline in the 14th century caused wages to soar in response to the labor shortage.
It wasn’t until late in the 19th century the importance of hygiene was recognized as the germ theory of disease developed among scientists and physicians. Until the late 1800s streets were filthy with horse droppings as well as live and dead rodents of all sorts. Humans were infected with parasites facilitating the spread of transmissible disease. This knowledge brought about the habit of washing one’s hands and body. Historians have found that poor sanitation by doctors and nurses during the U.S. Civil War (1860-1865). It caused more soldiers among both the Union and the Confederates to die from disease and infection than from actual combat.
In 1959, riding a Tokyo-bound train in Japan, I first observed many people wearing white surgical masks. As many as a third of those walking along streets, in stores, and riding public conveyance were doing the same. Air quality wasn’t bad – no smog to speak of, but like 60 years ago it was a way of life for the Japanese and now may be part of our future.
The Black Death of the 14th century registered history’s largest number of casualties as there was little knowledge and no medicines or research. With world travel and socialization being what it is today, if we aren’t cautious it’s quite possible humanity could easily be erased from the planet.
Go wash your hands and cover your face before going out in society.