The first . The rats were merely carriers for the bacteria that caused the infection; a bacteria in the fleas that were hitching a ride in the rats. To fully understand diseases during the Elizabethan era, it is vital to understand the cause, type, and treatment of the illnesses that were common during that time period. A ship came from China that brought rats infested with fleas, carrying the plague to Sicily. By the end of the fourteenth century, the Black Death killed nearly 60% of Europes population. The trade connections in the past among China, India, central Asia and Europe were the main reason behind spreading of this terrific disease. These reports were then sent directly to the Privy Council. While this sounds like a Bible reference, it is also a reference to the bacterium that caused the plague: Yersinia pestis. Households with any infected members were to be quarantined until five weeks after the last sign of infection, and inns and alehouses where infections appeared were ordered to close. The summers and winters were harsh not helping with the crop harvesting. Modern genetic analyses indicate that the strain of Y. pestis introduced during the Black Death is . Dan talks to Helen Castor about her book on Elizabeth I and the way she governed. The Globe Theatre was built between 1597 and 1599 in Southwark on the south bank of London's River Thames, funded by Richard Burbage and built by carpenter Peter Smith and his workers. William Shakespeare. Information about the Elizabethan Cure for the Black Death or the Bubonic PlagueIn the Elizabethan era various concoctions of herbs were given and used for the medical treatment of different parts of the body and the varying symptoms of the disease. History of Britain from Roman times to Restoration era. The plague Orders did more than mandate quarantines, however. It started to spread from Eastern China, to Europe in the early 1300s, and it reoccurred multiple times during the years to come. The fever started spreading soon all over the European nations , especially Italy and England and hence , people started calling this as the black death ; black being the colour of negative vibe and ominous aspects . Shakespeare's life also overlapped with the Jacobean Era . Elizabethan Physicians wore long dark robes with pointed hoods, leather gloves, boots, and the most bizarre masks featuring long beaks which were filled with bergamot oil. Doctors at the time were extremely busy, and -- unfortunately -- completely ill-equipped to deal with the Plague. The plague reached Europe through the sea in October 1348. The dead were to be buried in a secluded part of the graveyard at twilight, to minimize the chances of passersby contracting plague from the bodies. The above picture is of an Elizabethan Physician. These rodents spread the Bubonic plague from China to Europe and lastly, it hit Britain in 1348. Overall, life there wasn't exactly the greatest, we would have medical care, better hygiene, and a much better health care system overall. It would not have been certain when it would be safe for Theaters to re-open. People were instructed to carry something with a sweet smell, such as a pomander or a handkerchief dipped in rosewater, to ward off this miasma. It first showed up in Europe in October 1347. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. However, criminal activity by nobles, persecution by lords, war, and disease eventually caused oppressed peasants to revolt. Stopping the spread of the infection through the body is the first and paramount goal. People could not go to Catholic services. Queen Elizabeth herself, then 29, was attacked by the virus that causes high fever, vomiting, excessive bleeding, and pus-filled scabs that leave deep pitted scars. However, the air was not the problem. Of those who contracted the bubonic plague, 4 out of 5 died within eight days. At the heart of the problems confronting Elizabethan England was the challenge of feeding its soaring population. Common Religion and Religious Diversity in Elizabethan England, We March on our stomachs a dishefull of snowe, Elizabethan Ireland as Seen by Elizabethan England, Defining Witchcraft in Elizabethan England. Yes, this talks about death and epidemics that used to kill hundreds and thousands in the medieval ages that had no specific cure and hence, was really terrifying. A few ramifications were self-evident, such as trade, others were concealed within the fear that the population had lost so much already, they could no longer afford to lose anything else, whether that be dignity or pride. There was a total lack of a structured sewage system in Elizabethan London. But even so terrible epidemics of Black Death ( Bubonic Plague ) during the Elizabethan period still occurred. It is clear that they believed that God would have mercy on them if they fled, or that the Plague would decline outside of the city walls. Sailors on the ship were infected by this deadly disease, most were extremely ill, while many were already dead. Innumerable cows, sheep, pigs, goats, and chickens perished along with people. Due to the food shortages and closure of businesses those who were not struck down by the Bubonic plague (Black Death) often resorted to stealing from the dead bodies. Some measures, like perfume and bloodletting, have ultimately proven to be useless. These assemblies were empowered to levy emergency taxes on the towns and villages of their respective counties in order to fund relief efforts, to appoint officials to collect and disburse these aid funds to affected communities, and to impose and enforce further preventative and relief measures as they saw fit. In the first episode of BBC historical drama Wolf Hall, based on Hilary Mantel's novel of the same name, Thomas Cromwell returns home to find his wife and two daughters have all died . Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. There was no town cleansing department in the Elizabethan era. The black plague was not only a biological issue but also a mental issue as people then was really panic stricken and did isolate the affected ones. The disease also spread frighteningly quickly, wiping out entire villages before anyone could do anything to stop it. The Elizabethan Black DeathIn the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries victims of the Bubonic plague (Black Death) would be sealed in their houses. In 1500 there was around 2.5 million people in England. 3,000 people died in Danzig and many again in Lbeck and other cities as the Sweat spread along the Baltic coast into Denmark, Scandinavia, and Russia. The country, before the plague ravaged it, was under the feudal law system. It was their custom to douse themselves with vinegar and chew angelica before approaching a victim. This kind of bacteria is typically found in rodents such as rats and also in the fleas that feed on the rodents. The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, was a disease that devastated Medieval Europe, between 1346 and 1352 it killed 45 million people, wiping out a third of Europe's population. Blood and greenish pus seeped out of them. The Black Death was a plague pandemic which devastated medieval Europe from 1347 to 1352 CE, killing an estimated 25-30 million people. One of the worst outbreaks of smallpox occurred two years before Shakespeare's birth, in 1562. Do you want to advertise on Facty.com?Lets talk aboutthis! Just the sight of an Elizabethan Physician in his strange clothing, especially the weird mask, was enough to frighten anyone to death. Abandoning the affected ones was the real ecstasy them. Even the animals could not escape its deathly hold. When the government passed the Statute, the poor felt that the law served to keep them from this equality. It was at pandemic or epidemic proportions in England and Europe for roughly four years. Because living conditions were often cramped and dirty, humans lived in close contact with rats. At this time of desesperation and agony in most homes religion such as Islam and Christianity became the most powerful force in the lives of people. This particular epidemic claimed between a quarter and a third of the total Elizabethan London population. What caused the Bubonic plague in the Middle Ages? Fleas living on rats that came from Asia on a trade ship spread the bubonic plague, the septicaemic plague is created by the entrance of bacteria from their multiplying place into the blood vessels. The plague ' 'was know by the Great Pestilence, The Great plague, and the Black death ' '(Intro Doc). Even the animals could not escape its deathly hold. People formed communities, isolated from each other. A group transporting the spoils of a Spanish carrack from Dartmouth couldn't get further than Greenwich due to the . Although this might sound pointless today, these precautions would have protected the Elizabethan Physician. Alas, the disease had gripped the city and a large number of people were already infected. 20 July 2012. Authorities in Sicily ordered the fleet of death ships to leave the harbor, but it was too late. The Black Death spread extensively through Europe, affecting both nobility and peasants. Swollen, painful lymph nodes gave way to enormousblack tumors (known as buboes) that could grow all over the body and gave the disease its most famous moniker. However, this loathsome disease resurfaced many times throughout centuries killing almost 100 million people in the world by the end of the 18th century. The citizens in Europe, at the time, were unaware of what the cause of the plague was, leading to many different responses. During the late 1330s in Europe the population was growing dramatically. This manifested itself particularly in two ways. The houses would be locked and bolted from the outside. The Black Death spread so quickly due to poor hygiene and overcrowding in major cities. The victims were not allowed to leave and neither was anyone else allowed to enter. The Black Death began in the Himalayan Mountains of South Asia in the 1200s. A supplemental set of directions for worship in the Church of England was released in 1563, mandating that Wednesdays be dedicated to fasting and prayer in times of plague. Soon, black spots began appearing in the skin and huge boils started developing in the groins or armpits. Soon after China, the outbreak of bubonic plague spread all over Europe and Western parts of Asia. It is both fascinating and grotesque, so it is no wonder people are still intrigued by it today. When Henry VIII began dissolving these religious institutions in 1536, however, sickness and infirmity were not abolished with them, and so English authorities had to find new ways to address public health. The death cart labourers generally undertook their gruesome work at night and the bodies were hurried out of the house wrapped in any kind of improvised shroud. As a response to the plague that took place. Elizabeth I's England consolidated its position with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and firmly established the Church of England (begun by her father, Henry VIII, after a dispute with the Pope). In this system, the lord owned the land in small communities, and the peasants living there farmed the land and gave him a portion of their crops as a form of payment. As mentioned, modern populations are not out of the woods yet. People all over Europe believed that this black plague was airborne a disease and hence, were leaving their homes to take shelter in rural remote county sides. BY Brita Voris. It was the first and most severe manifestation of the second pandemic, caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria.The term Black Death was not used until the late 17th century.. The plague was the most devastating disease in world history. People formed communities, isolated from each other. Europeans had reacted in various ways towards the black plague like using it as a means to collect money, strengthen beliefs, & causing deaths. Still others had the infected person sit near a fire or in the sewer in an attempt to drive out the fever with heat. Vinegar was widely used as a cleansing agent as it was believed that it would kill disease. And there would have been the constant fear of contacting the Black Death (Bubonic Plague ) or seeing friends and family dying from the deadly disease. See Also: 10 Facts about Life in Ancient Egypt Facts about Life in Elizabethan England 9: the bread crumbs Rate this book. The plague attacked and kill around 25% and 45% of the societies it touch and/or encountered.The plague was made of three bacterial strains which created the three plagues called bubonic, pneumonic, and septimic. Animals and human beings contract dangerous disease from flea or rodent bites. 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