Nick Polk                                                     

Professor Dave

English 1101

15 October 2010

The Vermin of Death

            The days glimmered with life before that terrible shadow engulfed and shattered the European countryside in a whirl wind of ash, death and loss of hope. It was a highly unanticipated occurrence, something far beyond the comprehension of the fourteenth century civilization. The Black or Bubonic Plague was a stunning and intriguing mark of human perseverance during a time of anarchic time of death.

            With the gushing of a single blister great turmoil began. The plague arrived on the shores of Italy in 1348 and spread like a wildfire. Fleas had attached themselves to all sorts of vermin and transferred the disease from China aboard ships and started the gut-wrenching turmoil. The fleas and rats tore into the flesh of the inhabitants of the European countryside and from then on the plague would be widely contracted. The plague thrived in the sloven lifestyles of the citizens, making it almost impossible to quarantine. Back in this time no known cure for the plague existed and the only way to slow it down was to stay out of contact with the people infected and to burn the grimy flesh of the dead victims.

            The plague had many disturbing and graphic symptoms. If contracted, the victim would start out with an intense fever followed by extreme vomiting. The fever and vomiting was so excruciating people would pass out and die from dehydration. The area where the disease was contracted on the skin formed charcoal-tinted blisters, giving the plague its gruesome name. If the plague was ingested, the lungs would become infected with pus and caused victims to regurgitate blood that came from the lungs. The black blisters and blood gushing from the victim’s mouths became a way for the people residing where the plague existed to identify the infected. There were also other ways for the people to know who was infected and who to stay out of contact with.