Black Death

A common misconception held by many is that there was only one single outbreak of Black Death. Unfortunately, the worst effect Black Death had was its capability of reoccurring again, and again, and again. In some cases it was able to spread through out all of Europe. Yet, the first outbreak of Black Death was the widest spread and the most devastating of them all. In late October of 1347 the Genoese fleet entered the harbor of Messina. All crew men were either dead or on the verge of death. The sickness was clinging to their very bones(Gottfried1). Upon arrival at Messina Harbor the Harbor Master enforced a strict quarantine on the crew, fearing anyone who only spoke to them would be seized by a mortal illness and in no manor could evade death. The infection would spread to everyone who had any contact with the diseased (Knox4). This was one of the first accounts of the plague. Unbeknownst to many at the time, human to human contact was not the primary factor aiding the spread of the plague. Fleas and rats were. In as little as six months of the fleets arrival in the harbor half of the surrounding population had either died or fled from the plague. This outbreak was one of thousands of what present day cultural has come to know as Black Death. The original origin of Black Death is not known. In the late 1320s Black Death appeared in the Gobi Desert. Yet the virus causing the disease was alive long before then . The spread of the plague and its approach to Europe can be tracked along the lower Volga river in 1345. It then traveled into The Caucasus by 1346, reaching Constatinople by 1347. By the year 1348 thousands of people a day were dying in Alexandria. What exactly is a plague? Websters dictionary defines a plague as any deadly epidemic or disease. Yet, there are three varieties of plague: pneumonic, seoticaemic and, bubonic. The Black Death is class...