5 Spooky Plague Facts You Should Know

1. The plague was not only in the Middle Ages

It so happened that the word "plague" is usually associated with the dark and unwashed Middle Ages. It was then, between 1346 and 1353, across Europe sweptThe Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever / History Today a wave of disease, later called the "black death". But few people remember that this epidemic was not the first and not the only one.

Historians distinguish three plague waves. First pandemic originated1. M. Eisenberg. Justinianic Plague and Global Pandemics: The Making of the Plague Concept / The American Historical Review
2. G. A. Eroshenko. Yersinia pestis strains of ancient phylogenetic branch 0.ANT are widely spread in the high‑mountain plague foci of Kyrgyzstan / PLoS One in Central Asia in the middle of the 6th century - apparently, on the territory of present-day Kyrgyzstan.

The epidemic reached Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, under Emperor Justinian I - in his honor it was called the "Justinian Plague". Infection ragedM. Eisenberg. Justinianic Plague and Global Pandemics: The Making of the Plague Concept / The American Historical Review until the middle of the VIII century and killed from 15 to 100 million people, which is equivalent to 25-60% of the population of Europe at that time. True, it is unrealistic to establish exact figures - it was a long time ago, you understand.

The second wave is already the famous medieval “black death”. In the years 1348-1352, she went through all of Europe, reaching even England, Scandinavia and Russia. Bubonic plague mowed downJ. N. Hays. Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History, according to various estimates, from a third to a half of the population of Europe - that is, from 75 to 200 million people.

And finally, the third pandemic happenedJ. N. Hays. Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History already in the nineteenth century. She again originated in Central and Southeast China, but spread with merchant ships to Hong Kong, Bombay, Egypt, Australia, Paraguay, Venezuela and Peru, to the USSR, USA, Brazil, Bolivia, Cuba and others countries. The death toll worldwide evaluatedJ. Frith. The History of Plague - Part 1. The Three Great Pandemics/JMVH 15 million - much less than in the Middle Ages, but still the figure inspires awe.

And to this day the plague remainsJ. N. Hays. Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impacts on Human History undestroyed. All over the world from her annually diesPlague / WHO about 200 people, mostly in poor countries like Madagascar, Congo and Peru.

But even in the closer Mongolia, the plague feels good. It mainly affects various small rodents like shrews, marmots and ground squirrels, as well as some local residents who butcher and eat them.

In Russia, natural foci of plague areWhy does the plague exist in our time? / Rospotrebnadzor in Siberia, Tuva, the Urals, the North Caucasus and Altai.

2. The Mongols used the plague as a biological weapon

For a long time, scientists were generally not quite sure where the plague came from in medieval Europe. But modern research showedBlack Death is created, allegedly / Historythat the second wave of the disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, appeared in Mongolia in 1320. With nomadic tribes, she came to China and India, and from there, together with the trade caravans of the Great Silk Road wentR. P. H. Yue. Trade routes and plague transmission in pre-industrial Europe / Scientific Reports walk around the continent.

In 1347, the Kypchak Khan Janibek besiegedBlack Death - Origin and spread of the plague in Europe / Britannica Genoese trading port of Kaffa in the Crimea. Now this place bears the familiar name of Feodosia. And it seemed that the siege was going quite well, when suddenly a plague broke out in the Khan's camp.

A significant part of the personnel moved into the category of unfit for combat due to poor health, characterized by a complete loss of vital activity.

In general, Janibek had so many sanitary losses that his army simply crumbled. Khan waved his hand and retreated from the walls of Kaffa, throwing1. Black Death is created, allegedly / History 2. M. Wheelis. Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of Caffa / Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal catapults there a dozen or two plague-infected corpses. So that the Genoese would not be bored either.

It is from Kaffa that merchant ships smashedBlack Death - Origin and spread of the plague in Europe / Britannica contagion throughout the Mediterranean, from where it spread deep into Europe.

3. The causes of the plague were called the convergence of the planets, sins and the machinations of lepers.

It is now well known how the plague works. The bacterium Yersinia pestis is carried fleasliving on rodents, such as rats or marmots. The plague bacillus causes the formation of a special biofilm in the intestines of insects, as a result of which they lose the ability to defecate. Poor flea bitesb. J. Hinnebusch. Yersinia pestis Biofilm in the Flea Vector and Its Role in the Transmission of Plague / Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology some rat, can't digest the blood and regurgitates it back into the wound. But already with a plague wand.

However, microscopes had not yet been invented in the Middle Ages, so they did not go into the details of the life of all these creatures. And the best minds of that time did not consider such prosaic things to be the causes of the plague - they looked more and more up into the heavens.

Yes, by opinionBlack Death is created, allegedly / History 14th-century scientists from the University of Paris, the Black Death epidemic was caused by "the triple convergence of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars at 40 degrees Aquarius on March 20, 1345." Astrology in the Middle Ages wasR. Horrox. The Black Death important branch of medicine. After all, stars and planets have a direct impact on the fate of people, including their illnesses, right?

It was believed that three celestial bodies that were too close gave rise to miasma - poisonous vapors of the air, which, having descended to earth, caused the plague.

Other scientists believedR. Horrox. The Black Deaththat disease brought to earth with comets, which in the Middle Ages were revered as harbingers of trouble. Since 1300, six of these celestial bodies have been noticed in Europe, including Halley's famous comet.

Such a theory was dominant in medicine for a long time and explained the appearance not only of the plague, but of all diseases in general. They de were takenR. Horrox. The Black Death just from bad air and stench. Indeed, in the plague barracks, the atmosphere is actually somehow unhealthy and the smells are unpleasant. So the plague is caused by smells. Is it logical? Logically.

Therefore, many inhabitants of medieval Europe came to the conclusion that it is necessary to open windows less often, so as not to cause miasma from the street. And also - to improve the smell of the air in the house with the help of perfumes, flowers and odorous plants like garlic.

Priests and theologians categorically declaredJ. Kelly. The Great Mortalitythat the Lord sends sickness for sins, therefore, to get rid of the plague, one must pray, fast and listen to sermons.

At the same time, the Church did not recommend washing and removing fleas and lice: public baths were considered a source of debauchery, and “in warm water, unclean thoughts were born in good Christians.” And fleas were generally considered "pearls of God” and a sign of holiness, because they “participated in Christian blood.”

An example for believers broughtJ. Kelly. The Great Mortality Saint Benedict, who declared: "Those who are healthy, and especially the young, should rarely bathe." And also Saint Agnes of Rome, who died without having bathed even once, so as not to wash away the holy water from baptism.

Some believers who accepted calls to repent and pray too close to their hearts organized a sect in the middle of the 13th-14th centuries. flagellantsJ. Kelly. The Great Mortality, that is, scourged. It was especially popular in Switzerland and Germany.

These strange guys traveled from city to city, beating themselves and others with whips until they bled. With the help of austerity and mortification of the flesh, they sought to propitiate the Lord and stop the epidemic. But, unfortunately, they only sought to spread it, because they carried fleas on themselves. In particular, it is the flagellants infectedC. D. Lucie. Visages de la peste: Johannes Nohl, La Mort noire. Chronique de la peste d'apres les sources contemporaines / Persée plague Strasbourg, until then not affected by it.

And, finally, the medieval Europeans were the carriers of the plague considered1. D. Nirenberg. Violence et minorités au Moyen Âge / Persée,
2. H. Duples‑Agier. Ordonnance de Philippe le Long contre les lépreux (21 juin 1321) / Persée Jews who allegedly poisoned wells out of hatred for good Christians, and lepers who spread the infection on the orders of the devil.

This led to numerous pogroms both in Jewish quarters and in leper colonies. However, as you understand, the reprisals did not stop these diseases.

4. Plague doctors beat patients with canes and make wills

The "Black Death" is now associated with plague doctors - colorful guys in black cloaks, hats and masks with beaks that make them look like birds. In modern culture, they are considered villains who performed inhuman experiments on patients, then on the contrary, the first heroes of medicine, who sought to heal the sick, despite the imperfection of science and obstacles churches.

In fact, the image of a doctor in a characteristic mask and cloak appeared only at the end of the Middle Ages. Prior to this, doctors dressed up in all sorts of things.

Only in 1619, the doctor of King Louis XIII of France, Charles de L'Orme inventedPlague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts / Live Science clothes made of Moroccan goatskin: boots, breeches, long coat, hat and gloves modeled on a soldier's canvas robe, which covered the body from the neck to the ankles.

Doctors were asked to cover their faces with a mask with a beak, in which dried roses, cloves, lavender, mint, juniper berries, myrrh and other flavors. Pleasant odors were believed to protect against the plague carried by the miasma.

Part of the suit was actually useful, not because of the roses in its beak, but because it was covered in grease and wax and scented perfume that kept the fleas from crawling all over the doctor. A kind of first-ever chemical protection overalls.

Fleas with plague, true doctors not tiedJ. Kelly. The Great Mortality, and they were smeared with fat so that violent patients would not rip off their clothes. So the protective properties of the suit acquired by accident. True, the pulmonary form of the plague spread through the air without any odors, and the fragrant herbs of the doctors did not save in any way - the mortality rate among them was still high.

In addition to the fat on the slippery suit, a heavy cane helped doctors maintain social distance with patients.

In general, plague doctors in most cases wereJ. P. Byrne. Daily Life During the Black Death only apprentices of surgeons, trainees who started their careers, and sometimes even people who came from the street.

Therefore, often they did not even try to treat the sick, but instead they took out and buried the corpses, registered the dead and infected for statistics, and also accepted the last will of the dying and made wills. By the way, no one forbade robbing patients and extorting money from them.

Plague doctors bled the sick and put leeches, which, of course, were not particularlyThe Black Death - 10 Medieval Cures / The Collector effective. In addition, they rubbed human feces into buboes (inflamed lymph nodes) and let chickens peck out growths on the bodies of the sick, countingthat the bird can "suck out" the disease.

But some doctors were real surgeons and really helped the sick. For example, the French doctor Guy de Chauliac somehow contracted the plague. He not confusedG. de Chauliac. Guigonis de Caulhiaco Inventarium sive Chirurgia magna and went into isolation. And sitting locked up, he opened the buboes himself and burned them.

The pain was, of course, wild, but de Chauliac recovered and subsequently healed many more people with the same method. Opening and cauterizing buboes did not always help, but worked better than leeches.

5. The plague finally benefited mankind

It may seem crazy that a tragedy like the Black Death epidemic could have had positive consequences. However, modern historians believe that in the end, the plague contributed to the development of human civilization, since it was thanks to the plague that startedW. McNeill. Plagues and Peoples the era of the Renaissance, or Renaissance.

The upheavals caused in European society by a terrible disease made people more meditateW. McNeill. Plagues and Peoples about his life on earth and getting pleasure from it, and not about spirituality and afterlife retribution in paradise. It was thanks to the weakening of religious morality and the positions of the Church that the Renaissance was marked by outstanding successes in art and culture.

If Michelangelo had tried to sculpt a naked David in the 13th century, he would obviously have been in trouble.

In addition, the need to find a cure for the plague inspired the learned minds of that era to divert their attention from theology to more practical matters like chemistry and biology. And let no panaceas be invented, but came up with1. J. H. Lienhard. The Black Death 2. W. McNeill. Plagues and Peoples new types of gunpowder and medicines, as well as rat traps, distillation apparatus, glasses, chronometers and other useful gizmos.

And the medieval plague putR. S. gottfried. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe the end of the era of feudalism, because due to the reduction in the number of peasant labor, the cost of labor increased. A lot of lands previously allocated for agricultural land have been vacated. They were given to pastures, and as a result, even the poorest segments of the population were able to consume meat and milk, which were previously available only to the rich.