by Hazel Taintor
Of the current pandemic, many say they have never seen anything like it in their lifetime. To practically everyone in the country, this is something entirely new. And yet, while it is new to the people living in this current time, it is not new to history.
The Black Death, the deadliest bubonic plague outbreak in history, began all the way back in 1346. The bacteria Y. pestis emerged in Mongolia and was carried to the Black Sea by the Mongolian army. The army laid siege to the town of Genoese and, after an outbreak in their ranks occurred, proceeded to catapult their dead over the city walls, causing a new outbreak in the besieged town. Both the Mongolians and the town of Genoese were almost completely decimated, and the survivors escaped by sea to Constantinople, causing yet another outbreak and another annihilated town. The plague then spread to the island of Sicily off the coast of Italy, next traveling to mainland Italy and proceeding to France.
As the bubonic plague continued to travel across Europe, some cities implemented practices to slow the spread. In Venice, for example, ships were to be inspected and then burned if sickness was found. Taverns closed, and wine from unknown sources was restricted. Some of the practices are similar to those currently being implemented.
Because of panic and a lack of adequate scientific knowledge, blame sprouted everywhere. In Europe, Jews shouldered much of the blame for the outbreaks, and massacres of Jewish people began to spread. As a result, many non-European countries opened their doors as a safe haven to Jews.
Over the next few years, the plague spread farther. During this time, the Vikings halted their exploration, and the Scottish planned an attack, hoping to take advantage of England’s weakness. Instead of invading though, they also became infected, bringing disease into Scotland. By the time the spread had begun to dissipate, half of Europe’s population was dead, and society was completely altered.
The massive death rate and amount of consequential migration made it easier for people to get work for better wages, and the average standard of living rose significantly. The ones who seemed to be facing the most difficulty in the wake of the plague were nobility. Efforts to emphasize the distinction between social classes and maintain noble status included resetting the working wage to what it was before the plague as well as forcing laborers and commoners to wear a certain material of clothing. Both tactics were ignored and promptly failed. Two uprisings of the working class in England and France came from this effort towards social division.
Despite similarities the two may share, the Black Death and COVID-19 are still far from the same. For example, in untreated cases, which was every case in the Middle Ages, the bubonic plague had a fatality rate of around 50%, whereas the fatality rate of COVID-19 is only 1%. While this number is still devastating and the severity should not be taken lightly, it is 50 times less than that of the bubonic plague. Severity of cases is also a major difference in the two. COVID-19 symptoms and cases vary from person to person. The cases of bubonic plague, although not all fatal, were very similar.
The wealth of scientific knowledge and prevention methods also contribute to the drastic difference between the two. COVID-19 is treatable through medical interventions now available, whereas those infected with bubonic plague had no medical support available to them. Personal hygiene is also practiced as a standard way of life now. In the 14th century, it was virtually nonexistent. There have also been travel restrictions put into place in an attempt to slow the spread, whereas those in the 1300s would travel when fleeing from the disease, thus spreading it further.
Though this is no bubonic plague, these are still hard times, and we must continue to strive for both physical and mental health as well as empathize and be selfless towards those around us.