Plague During The 14th Century

The Plague, or “Black Death,” during the 14th century brought mortality rates the world had not seen before. With death coming as quickly as three days for some of the victims, the plague not only brought sickness but fear as the result of unknown causes and lack of a cure that created additional victims from within the Jewish population that became scapegoats. During the 14th century, the origin of the plague was unknown and many theories arose in this absence. According to an account of the plague by G. Cortusio, there was a belief that the plague arose as punishment for the human race from God himself. Cortusio’s account states that God created the plague having first warned the Christians and then installed the disease first in the east amongst infidels followed by an earthquake that terrorized the Christians. Soon after, the plague arrived in the west carried by travelers. Another belief recorded by the physician Guy de Chauliac demonstrates that the plague resulted from the alignment of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars as such alignments were believed to produce events such as changes in authoritative power, the rise of prophets, and powerful diseases. Because the date of the alignment occurred during the human zodiac sign of
In an attempt to prevent catching the disease, cities rejected visitors and citizens fled affected areas. Many also attempted to cleanse themselves with pills and fire to clear the air, practiced phlebotomy, and fortified their bodies with fruits, tyriac, and good-smelling and sharp-tasting things. Once one fell ill to the plague, however, curative measures were conducted through bleedings, evacuations, electuaries, syrups, and cauterizing abscesses that appeared in the armpits and the groin. Nonetheless, even with these preventive and curative actions, death frequently occurred in as little as three to five