The Plague

Everything changes. Even germs change. Some people say that we use too many antibacterial soaps, wipes and hand gels, plus too many antibiotics. These people warn that we’re just making the germs stronger because only the really tough ones survive to reproduce. It is proven that germs and bacteria change. Every now and then, they get lucky and change into something that we can’t control right away. Then the bacteria run wild like a bunch of university students on spring break. Look out Miami.

Anyway, once upon a time — in the 1330s — some bacteria did change, and they hit the jackpot, the auto lotto and the mega millions numbers all at once. These bacteria managed to wipe out almost half of the known population at the time. It happened in China, but because China had a big trade business, the bacteria hitched a ride on a trading ship and landed in Sicily, below Italy, in 1347.

Discussion: Consider the time period: We are still 145 years from Columbus sailing. What other events can you use to help build a timeline in your mind and correctly connect this time fact into historical place?

Fleas that managed to move easily on the backs of rats began to spread the bacteria. The rats didn’t get sick, so they were a great means of transportation. The rats’ favorite place to go was wherever there were lots of people, because that meant food was nearby. Crowded cities and sailing ships naturally had lots of rats, which meant they had lots of fleas, which meant they had lots of those nasty bacteria along for the ride and just looking for a place to jump off.

Let’s get back to the trading ship waiting at the dock in Sicily in 1347. By the time the ship did get to shore, most of its sailors and travelers were already dead or dying of a mysterious illness. Those who survived were helped ashore and cared for as they died. No one helped the rats ashore; they just came on in. The fleas on them and the monster bacteria came on in, too.

It only took a couple of days, but soon people in that overcrowded town and surrounding towns were dropping over dead in a matter of hours. They’d go from healthy in the morning to dead by midnight. No one understood what was happening.

Let’s take a look at what really was happening.

There were three types of plague and all three were working together. One is called bubonic plague. It takes about six days to show itself once it enters the human body. The plague germs jump inside the white blood cells sent by the body to kill them off and then travel to the nearest lymph glands — the neck or armpits or groin area. Those lymph glands fill with blood and pus, forming “buboes” or large, blackish lumps that swell up from the body. That’s why it is sometimes called the black death. That infection eventually moves through the body, killing cells and attacking the nervous system. The victim loses control of his physical actions and mental abilities. The bubonic plague kills 60 percent of the people who are attacked.

The second form of this plague is called pneumonic. It happens when the germs go inside the white blood cells and then directly to the lungs instead of the lymph glands. The problem with that is the suffering victims cough up a spray that can spread the plague directly from human to human. Now the rats and fleas don’t have to be around at all. This one only takes about three days to appear. The victim runs a high fever, falls into a coma and dies. Almost 100 percent of the people who get this type die. It’s not as common as bubonic plague, but it sure does kill faster and more efficiently.

The third kind isn’t found often, but it was around. It is called septicemic plague. In this one, the bacteria now inside the white blood cells release directly into the bloodstream. A rash shows up on the body and the person dies within one day — before anything can move to the lungs or show up as buboes. It’s always fatal. Always.

The bacteria that cause plague aren’t active in the cold or in extremely dry weather. They also aren’t as effective in extreme heat. All three forms of the plague are still around today, but we have antibiotics that can control them for now.

Discussion: Scientists believe a DNA genetic cell mutation called Delta 32 may have allowed some of Europe to survive the plague by making their white blood cells resistant to invasion. They think this also may be why some people survive HIV infections today and never contract AIDS. Archaeologists are now digging up medieval mass burial sites and finding the genetic structure of the victims by looking in the ancient pulp of the discovered teeth. That pulp or nerve manages to hold whatever was in the blood at the time of death. Also, family lines of direct descendants of people who are known to have survived the plague are being examined and their DNA is being tested. Is work like this worth the money, or are we participating in a wild goose chase?

We may have antibiotics now, but the people back in 1347 did not. They didn’t have the best of hygiene or sewer systems or storage containers. They didn’t understand how bacteria move or what cross-contamination is. In general, the people were not scientifically minded. Superstition was in charge, and superstition is an incredibly strong leader. The medieval people fought the plague in the best way they knew how with the limited knowledge they had.

Some simply ran. Rich people such as kings could take their courts and families far out to a secluded countryside home. They were protected somewhat from the person-to-person spread that way and many of them survived. It didn’t always work though.

Discussion: Money saved people then. Does money save people now?

Some people fought with fire. It was believed that fire could burn out the germ and, considering what we now know, that may have been a good guess. One pope was surrounded for weeks on end with large fires. Day and night, he sat safely in the middle of a large circle of individual metal tubs that each held raging fires. It couldn’t have been too fun or comfortable, but he was spared and never contracted the disease.

Of course, that old standby of bleeding was happening everywhere. People assumed poisoned blood had to be removed from the body, so arms were cut and allowed to bleed into basins. The person doing this was the local barber who also served as a surgeon.

Many turned to prayer, saying that the disease was the result of mankind’s sinful ways. This took some ugly turns. People decided that the Jews were sinners and were the cause of the plague, so many Jews were burned alive throughout all of Europe. Even when Pope Clement begged the people to consider that Jews were dying of the plague as quickly as Christians and to have mercy, the crowds didn’t back down. The area we now call Poland was the only safe place for Jews and many moved there. Of course, that came into play later in history — 1939 to be exact.

Discussion: What happened in 1939?

A second ugly turn caused by thinking the plague was the result of a sinful life was the rise of the flagellants. They were bands of 50 to 500 men who wore white hooded robes and traveled together. Whenever they would enter any town or populated area, they would put on a display of whipping themselves over the shoulders until blood flowed freely down their backs and arms. They used short, thick sticks, wrapped in leather with the ends of the leather braids extending a foot or more beyond the stick. The free leather strings or whips at the ends were studded with iron spikes.

The flagellants claimed to be paying or atoning for all the corrupt church leaders and their sinful followers who were causing the plague, and their twice-daily shows were pretty mind-bending. People followed them like groupies follow rock stars. These flagellants were considered to be heroes on earth, so chances are good that it didn’t take long for that power to go to their heads. The self-torturing men who claimed to be paying for out-of-control behavior were soon pretty out of control themselves.

It’s going to be a little tough to wrap your mind around this, but give it a shot. Within two years, every single person living in Europe died or watched a loved one die a horrid death. There was no sure-fire escape and no good way to deal with the bodies that piled up. The smell must have been atrocious. Family members deserted sick loved ones. Children were left without parents. The people who knew how to care for animals died. The people who knew how to tan hides into usable leather died. The people who knew how to card wool, spin that wool into yarn and weave that yarn into cloth died. The blacksmiths died. Knights, millers, groomsmen, falconers, innkeepers, tax collectors, kitchen workers, soldiers, cooks and bread makers — they all died.

Reason, knowledge, civility and sanity took a pretty hard hit, too. Survivors of the plague or those who hadn’t yet been infected had little evidence to suggest that they might survive. They probably figured they’d be dead by the evening as well, so they might as well take what they wanted or needed. Looting, drinking, raping, fighting and murdering were attractive ways to spend your last hours on earth since prayer didn’t seem to be doing much. Not everyone went completely evil, but Europe was not a safe place to be.

What brought it all to an end? Some theorize that the population got so low that the plague couldn’t sustain itself any longer. There just weren’t enough people left to keep it alive. But by 1350, nearly half of the known population was gone. Some say the numbers are as high as 60 percent.

Discussion: What factors allowed the plague to spread so quickly throughout Europe? What factors do we have today that would slow that down? Speed it up?

Discussion: Look at the class around you. What changes would happen if in just a few weeks half the room died? What changes would happen in your school community if that occurred in every classroom at your school? Consider the bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers. Would it affect the city? Sales of certain merchandise? The existing power structure?