In October of 1347, twelve ships dropped anchor at a Sicilian port. Those who eagerly approached were met with a grisly sight — almost all aboard were either dead or barely alive, their skin erupting with blackened boils that dripped blood and pus. The Black Death had arrived in Europe, and millions would die in what is considered one of the greatest disasters in human history.
🌍 Where Did the Black Death Begin?
Europe was hit hard by the plague, but it was not hit first — and it was not entirely unaware. Before the infested ships arrived in Sicily, rumors of a frightful sickness had already been spreading. The disease had been devastating the populations of China, India, Egypt, Persia, and Syria. It seemed to follow trade routes spanning the Near and Far East, and wherever it appeared, it was by all accounts unstoppable.
The Black Death followed ancient trade routes from Asia all the way to Europe, making global commerce one of history's deadliest spreaders of disease.
☠️ What Were the Symptoms of the Black Death?
Those struck by the Black Death would begin to swell at the lymph nodes located in their groin area or underarm regions. The growths would soon develop into large blackish-blue egg-sized lumps — or for the even less fortunate, expand to the size of apples. These would then fester and ooze various bodily fluids.
Beyond this, those with the disease could develop any combination of additional symptoms including fever, pain, chills, sweating, upset stomach, and diarrhea. Almost always, this was followed by death. It was uncommon, though possible, for someone to survive a week or two before dying.
Compounding problems further, those with the disease would typically be asymptomatic for the first few days. No one would be aware that they had caught it, making isolation from the rest of society all but impossible.
💀 How Much of Europe Did It Kill?
Few areas — other than some islands cut off from the rest of Europe by the sea — made it through the pandemic plague-free. The bacterium infiltrated virtually every European city's defenses. Many who appeared perfectly healthy one day could be dead just a few days later.
While many European areas had a death figure of around 30%, a staggering 90% of the Italian city of Florence perished. Sometimes, bodies of the deceased remained where they had died, as there were not enough people still living to bury them. Thousands of French villages were left without a single remaining soul — the Black Death had mercilessly transformed them into ghost towns.
In some instances, nature eventually took over, and areas that people once called home were reclaimed by surrounding forests. It took aerial photography following the end of World War I to rediscover these locations as places where men, women, and children once lived.
Most estimates place Europe's death total between 50 and 70 million — around 30% of the population. The CDC claims it may have killed as much as 60%. Worldwide, estimates range from 155 to 200 million deaths out of a global population of only 500 million.
🐀 How Did the Black Death Spread So Fast?
The bacterium behind the Black Death — Yersinia pestis — is highly contagious and can spread in many ways. Many believe that in its later stages it had the ability to morph into an airborne strain that could be passed on via a simple sneeze or cough. However, all strains are believed to have originally been transferred through flea or lice bites.
The Rat Theory
Many animals serve as hosts for the bacterium and blood-sucking pests — squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, and mice. However, many in the scientific field have argued that by far the worst contributor to the spread of the Black Death was the urban rat and its flea. Rats develop symptoms similar to those in people, and in cases of modern-day plague many sick people had accompanying flea bites. The most prevalent theory is that the plague began when infected rats died and their fleas then sought blood from another readily available source — humans.
Ships during the mid-1300s were commonly infested with rats who thrived in their dark, moist environment. Following the death ships' arrival in Sicily, the plague continued to spread further along trade routes to other port locations throughout Europe and as far as North Africa.
The Human Flea Theory
More recently, scientists have proposed tweaks to the rat-based theory. Europe's Black Death spread much faster than modern outbreaks, and historical records show no mention of a mass rat die-off preceding it. Some scientists now suggest that human fleas and lice were the true culprits. In this case, fleas would bite infected people and then move on to others nearby. When information was plugged into simulations, the human-flea model more closely matched data from seven of nine plague-hit European cities.
🦠 Was the Black Death Alone?
The Black Death may not have been causing mass devastation all by itself. When victims' bodies were exhumed from mass graves in England, anthrax spores were also discovered. If anthrax was occurring at the same time as the plague, this would definitely have made things much worse. Anthrax can be passed not only through contact with sweat, saliva, or tears but also through mere skin contact.
It is possible anthrax and other diseases made people extra susceptible to the plague due to already compromised immunity — and the body count of those claimed by the Black Death may have included victims who actually died from anthrax or other diseases.
💉 How Did Medieval Doctors Treat the Plague?
The way the Black Death was treated failed to help — and may have actually helped kill victims or spread it further unintentionally.
Bloodletting
At least initially, medical practitioners would perform bloodletting on patients — cutting into veins or arteries in the necks or arms so that blood flowed freely. Historical figures believed that to be healthy, the body needed the right balance of blood, phlegm, and bile. Bloodletting was believed to correct a possible imbalance. Unfortunately, the procedure appeared to be completely ineffective.
Boil-Lancing
Boil-lancing was another technique — someone would lance, or stick a pointy object, into the boils to drain them. If left untreated, they would continue to grow larger and poison their host due to the buildup of dead blood and pus. However, popping them could also cause death due to toxic shock — and the boils contained highly contagious matter that potentially spread the disease further.
Other methods such as burning various herbs or immersing the sick in vinegar or rosewater were also, unsurprisingly, ineffective. In time, after failure upon failure, many doctors simply stopped accepting patients. Even priests began refusing to perform last rites out of fear for their own safety.
🧬 Were People Genetically Vulnerable?
Where man failed, nature did little to help either. Studies of the remains of the European population at the time determined that only 0.2% had a gene that offered any form of immunity. The other 99.8% had none whatsoever.
Since so many of those who were susceptible died from the plague, they did not pass their genes on to following generations. Many of those who did have the gene lived on to procreate. This is why Caucasian Americans today have a 15% chance of having some resistance to the disease — a direct legacy of the Black Death survivors.
The modern form of the plague still exists today. Because of natural selection during the Black Death, some people today carry a genetic resistance to the disease — passed down from the rare survivors of the 14th century pandemic.
⚡ Final Thoughts
One encounter via twelve so-called death ships would go on to wipe out men, women, and children to such an extent that it changed the tide of history forever. The Black Death remains one of the most catastrophic events in human history — a perfect storm of a deadly bacterium, poor medical knowledge, genetic vulnerability, and rapid transmission through trade routes. Whether it was passed on by human or rat fleas remains a subject of ongoing scientific debate — but what is certain is that its impact on civilization was permanent and profound.
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