Summary Of The Black Death Ziegler

For my book report, I read a book called “The Black Death” by Philip Ziegler. The book itself, not including the “notes” at the end of the book, is two hundred and seventy nine pages long. This edition of “The Black Death” was published in two thousand nine. It is a book that informs you not only about how the Black Death begun and how it was caused, but also about what went on during the Black Death and about the aftermath of this pandemic that ravaged Europe during the fourteenth century. The Black Death was one of the worst events that ever occurred throughout the history of Europe.
The Black Death, also known as the “Great Pestilence” to the people of medieval Europe, was a pandemic that was estimated to have killed off thirty to sixty
percent of the people in Europe during the fourteenth century. Although the pandemic is known for its effect on Europe, the Black Death actually originated in Asia. In thirteen thirty six during a Mongolian siege on the Crimean trading city of Caffa, the Mongol Army launched their infected corpses into the city, thus transmitting the disease to the inhabitants of Caffa. The fleeing survivors then spread the disease from Caffa to the Mediterranean Basin and eventually to the rest of Europe via ship and trade. This was the most spectacular event of biological warfare ever.
In the fourteenth century, there were multiple theories as to what caused the Black Death although a majority of the people believed that God was punishing them.
At the time, this seemed to be the most logical and valid theory for many people but that was due to the lack of scientific and medical knowledge that the people had during the fourteenth century. We now know that the Black Death was caused by rats that were carrying the Yersinia pestis bacterium and that oriental rat fleas would bite the resistant carrier rats and become infected with Yersinia pestis. After a few days the Yersinia pestis would multiply creating blockage in the flea’s midguts starving the fleas. The fleas would then begin to feed aggressively and would continuously try to rid of the blockage by regurgitating, causing hundreds of bacterium to enter the wound. This would infect the host, and as the population of non-resistant rats died out, the fleas would then move on to different hosts such as humans, causing a human pandemic. This was the most common way that a human would become infected during the fourteenth
century.
Once a person was infected, they would notice painful swellings called buboes in the lymph nodes in the groin, armpits, and the neck.
Each bubo would become inflamed and start out as a dark red color. Over time the bubo would change color from red to purple to black. Also, the victim would experience a high fever resulting in some mental disorientation as well as causing the subject to become delirious. The victim would also experience other symptoms such as muscular pain, vomiting, and bleeding in the lungs. It was also quite possible that the victim would experience gangrene of the toes, fingers, tip of the nose, or the lips, causing the skin to die and turn black. All of these visual symptoms earned the pandemic its nickname, the Black
Death.
The Black Death peaked in Europe between the years of thirteen forty seven and thirteen fifty three. The pandemic eventually died down though it never completely disappeared and it took about one hundred and fifty years for the population of Europe to recover from the Black Death. The aftermath of the pandemic resulted in several religious, economic, and social changes. The Black Death was the worst pandemic outbreak to ever occur throughout the history of the world.
I chose to read the book “The Black Death” by Philip Ziegler for my book report because I was interested in learning more about the Black Death and how it was caused and spread throughout Europe. The subject just fascinates me and I thought that it would be a fun book and topic to do a report on. I also wanted to read a book on a topic that would not bore me and as soon as I saw “The Black Death” at the book store, I knew that I would not be bored reading and doing a report on this book.
“The Black Death” is an important book to read because it teaches you a lot about the Black Death. The book informs you about how the Black Death begun, how it was caused, what went on during the midst of the pandemic, and about the aftermath of the Black Death. “The Black Death” is definitely an important book to read if you are fascinated in learning more about the pandemic that crippled Europe during the fourteenth century.
This book and this event, the Black Death, help people to live differently because it teaches us that hygiene is extremely important in order to prevent diseases. During the fourteenth century, the people had no clue that it was the lack of hygiene that caused the spread of bacteria and diseases. Due to this fact, the people in the fourteenth century did not care much about hygiene; we now know that hygiene is very important. “The Black Death” by Philip Ziegler and the pandemic that it is based off of definitely helps people to increase their understanding of history and the present through the knowledge that it shares with you about the Black Death.