The scars left by the "Black Death" lasted for 700 years. A small town about 70 kilometers east of the capital of Czech Republic, Prague, Kutná Hora has a famous "Bone Church" . The candlesticks, chandeliers and other decorations are all pieced together from different parts of human bones. In Europe, similar "bone churches" exist in many cities. Most of these human bones are from victims of the Black Death.
Kutna Hora "Bone Church"
Similarly, in the centers of many European cities, a statue or memorial column is erected to commemorate the victims of the "Black Death" outbreak.
European "Black Death" Memorial Column
The "Black Death", a frightening plague, caused about 75 million deaths around the world, of which more than 25 million died in Europe. At that time, the entire European population dropped by one-third. The "Black Death" is like the sign of hell left in the world. This pain is deeply engraved in human genes and affects it to this day.
" Black Death" is " Plague "
But did you know that "Black Death" is just another name for "plague", specifically referring to the plague that occurred in Europe from 1347 to 1353. Because infected people have dark spots on their skin, most of them will die within 48 hours of infection. People at that time gave this plague a vivid name - The Black Death (The Black Death) .
Photos of "Black Death" patients
"Plague" changed human history
"Plague" - an internationally "well-known" infectious disease, my country's Class A managed infectious diseases rank first, is a serious and severe infectious disease. According to conservative estimates, the "plague" has caused the death of more than 200 million people in history. The "plague" has directly or indirectly affected the development of world history.
Plague kills mice
There have been three major plague pandemics in human history, which were called "Justinian Plague", "Black Death" and "Yunnan Plague" by later generations. Every time, without exception, the outcome is a loss of life and death.
The First Plague Pandemic: The Plague of Justinian
In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was officially divided into two countries: Eastern Rome and Western Rome. In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire perished, but the Eastern Roman Empire survived for another thousand years.
Map of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire
527, Justinian became the new emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire . He was the greatest Justinian I in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. After Justinian succeeded to the throne, he began to reform vigorously, be aggressive, and constantly use troops abroad. He also conquered the Vandal and Ostrogothic kingdoms and recovered most of the territory of the Roman Empire.
Justinian Mosaic Mural
"Things have proved that in 541 AD, both Justinian's rule and the Byzantine Empire itself reached their most prosperous peak. In the west, Belisarius had recovered all of Africa and Italy; in the east, He successfully repelled the Persian attack, and now is almost about to capture the Persian capital. The huge wealth collected from the Vandals and Goths was used to build exquisite buildings throughout the empire. The city of Antioch was rebuilt, and Constantinople was graced with the splendid architectural wonder of Hagia Sophia. ”——Lost to the West
Justinian expanded his territory
However, just as he was sweeping across North Africa, conquering Italy, and preparing to restore the glory of the Roman Empire thousands of years ago, an unprecedented disaster suddenly struck. In 541 AD, a plague broke out in Egypt, within the empire, and then spread to the capital, Constantinople, and swept across the entire Eastern Roman Empire in a short period of time.
Justinian Plague
"In the early stage of the disease, people had a fever for a long time, their body was weak, and they were listless. The lymph nodes in the groin, armpits, sides of the ears, and thighs began to swell; in the middle stage, the symptoms were drowsiness, coma, or confusion, and the patients began to become crazy and hysterical; in the late stage, the lymph nodes of patients became rotten and suppurative, and there were irregularities in the whole body. A black pustule develops and then dies within a short period of time. "——Procopius, a famous Byzantine historian, "History of War"
Based on the above description, we can basically confirm that this plague is what modern medicine calls the "plague", and it is also the "Black Death" that will ravage Europe again in the next seven hundred years.
"The epidemic raged in Byzantium for 4 months, and the severe infection period lasted about 3 months. At the beginning, the number of deaths was only a little more than normal, but the death rate continued to increase. Later, the number of deaths per day reached 5 000 people, and later it reached more than 10,000 people." - Procopius, a famous Byzantine historian, "History of War"
According to historical records, the plague prevailed in Constantinople for 4 months. "Oxford History of Byzantium" estimated that the plague caused Constantinople to lose 1/3 of its population . Many scholars believe that the actual figure is much higher than this. The plague may have caused a mortality rate of as high as 57% in Constantinople.
The Plague of Justinian
Not only Constantinople, this plague swept almost the entire Mediterranean region. Plague broke out three times in southeastern Spain, Gaul and North Africa. Even the western coast of England and the eastern coastal areas of Ireland were also infected with plague twice. According to historians' estimates, about 100 million people died in this disaster..
The impact of the "Justinian Plague"
This epidemic, with its extremely high mortality rate, caused a significant decline in the population of the Byzantine Empire, a sharp reduction in labor force and military strength, and serious damage to the normal economic and living order. Complete interrupted Justinian's path of conquest and shattered his dream of rebuilding an empire around the Mediterranean. Without this plague, the Roman Empire might have been rebuilt, and European and world history might have been rewritten.
The Plague of Justinian
The Second Plague Pandemic: The "Black Death" in the European Middle Ages
This plague broke out in Europe in the 14th century and 1940s and 1950s. It is the most famous and most influential plague. Because of its great impact on future generations in Europe, this plague has always firmly occupied people's attention. "Black Death" became another name for "plague".
It is said that the source of the plague came from Mongolian soldiers during the Western Expedition. When they besieged the Black Sea trade center city of Kaffa, the Mongolian soldiers threw the corpses of plague-infected soldiers into the city, causing infection among the residents of the city. The caravans escaping from the city of Kaffa brought the plague into Europe.
Caffa City
1347 The first stop in Europe - the Italian port city of Messina - came to Marseille in November. In January 1348, he conquered Venice and Pisa, occupied Florence in March, and Paris "fell" in August 1348. In the summer of 1348, the Black Death invaded England, conquered London in August, and conquered all of Britain the following year. In early 1349, the Black Death crossed the Rhine River and arrived in Basel in May, Frankfurt in August, and Cologne in November. In 1350, it arrived in Hamburg, Bremen, and Danzig... Then it turned to Northern Europe and Eastern Europe, and finally arrived in Russia from 1352 to 1353.
Florence Epidemic
In terms of countries, Italy and France were the most severely affected in this great plague. Among cities, the hardest hit was Boccaccio 's hometown of Florence: 80% of the people died.
"Florence suddenly became a hell on earth: Pedestrians suddenly fell to the ground and died while walking in the streets; people staying at home died alone, and no one knew about it until the stench of the corpses was smelled; corpses were piled up every day and every hour Bodies were transported outside the city; cows roamed the streets of the city, but there was no trace of people..." The Italian writer Boccaccio, known as the three masters of medieval literature , experienced the Black Death personally, and he wrote this in the novel collection "The Decameron".
In this plague, a new profession even emerged - Plague doctors (specialized in treating plague patients) . In order to protect themselves from being infected by the "poisonous gas" carrying viruses , they wore a one-piece protective suit composed of a large piece of leather or batik canvas, a large piece of crystal glass , and a long bird's beak. The inside of the bird's beak was stuffed with spices, dried flowers, and even sponges dipped in vinegar. Plague doctors hoped that these strong-smelling items would dilute the poisonous gas.
The Plague Doctor with a Bird's Beak
However, this measure is obviously useless, so as long as this "human-shaped bird" appears at the door, it means that death is not far away. Slowly the image of the "human-shaped bird" has become a symbol of death.
Plague Doctors and the Grim Reaper
According to statistics from historians, the "Black Death" caused about 75 million deaths around the world, including more than 25 million deaths in Europe, which accounted for more than 1/3 of the total population of Europe at that time.
The impact of the "Black Death"
The "Black Death" was a huge catastrophe in human history and an important turning point in European history. During the epidemic, the people of Europe discovered that God could not solve the disease, and even a large number of priests also fell ill and died. The performance of the European Christian Church has greatly disappointed the people, and the control of Christianity has gradually been replaced by secular regimes. European people began to oppose the church's ideas spiritually, laying the ideological foundation for the subsequent Enlightenment . The "plague" has once again affected human history.
Plague Doctor
The Third Plague Pandemic: Yunnan Plague
In 1855, The third plague pandemic originated in Yunnan, China, and lasted until 1959. Because it was during the two world wars , the attention of this epidemic was significantly reduced.
This plague pandemic has obvious differences compared to the previous two times:
1. The speed of spread and the extent of the affected area far exceed the previous two times . In the past few decades, it has spread to more than 60 countries in Asia, Europe, America and Africa;
2. The mortality rate has been significantly reduced . Although the number of deaths is over
The biggest impact of the plague pandemic is that in 1894, The famous French biologist Yersin successfully discovered the true cause of the plague-Yersinia pestis, and developed an anti-plague serum the following year. Since then, humans have had scientific methods to prevent and treat plague.
Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pestis
Characteristics of plague
Plague is an ancient infectious disease, caused by Yersinia pestis. The host carrying the pathogen is mainly rats, marmots and other rodents . Rat flea bites are the main route of transmission, and they can also be transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets, causing a human plague pandemic.
Yersinia pestis
The current situation of "plague"
Now, although plague is rare, it has not completely disappeared. Currently, approximately 1,000 to 2,000 people are infected with plague each year. Even in the United States, an average of more than 10 people are infected with plague every year, and 1/7 of the patients die..Sporadic cases are reported in my country every year, mainly concentrated in some provinces in northwestern my country.
my country’s recent plague reports
As the environment improves, the number of wild animals increases, and our opportunities to come into contact with wild animals also increase. Don’t be fooled by the cute appearance of wild animals, stay vigilant. Everything tells us that the plague has never left, it is just waiting for opportunities to lurk around. As long as we relax, we may face the end of life.
A boy who comes into contact with a woodchuck in the wild
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