Illness During the Feudalism Era
During the feudalism era (11th-14th century), death from disease was a constant fear for most. The disease most feared was leprosy. Leprosy did not always kill its victims, however the effects of the disease were horrifying. Leprosy was also known to be highly contagious, so those who were exposed to the disease were shunned and not considered members of the community. Smallpox and measles also caused a great deal of suffering to those living in this era. By the end of the 14th century adults had developed an immunity to these diseases, however children did not have strong or well developed immune systems so unfortunately they suffered greatly (Kelly).
Other common diseases during this era included typhoid fever, dysentery and diphtheria, however none of the above mentioned diseases compares to The Black Plague, which occurred roughly between 1348-1351. This globally known epidemic wiped out an estimated 2/3 of the European population, which can be calculated to 75-200 million people killed (Byrne). The name "black death" is a more recent name for the epidemic. While it was taking place it was referred to as The Great Mortality. Most experts agree that the plague was caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacillus carried by fleas that live primarily on rats and other rodents that were common in medieval dwellings (Kelly). Still to this day there is no cure if such an epidemic should occur again (Byrne).
During this era medical knowledge was solely based on remaining Greek and Roman texts. Many people would link disease with destiny, sin and astral influences (Getz). There was such a low amount of knowledge when it came to such serious diseases that the victims of such diseases went without proper treatment and were basically forced to just lay there and take it.
We live in such a different time it is unbelievable what some people were forced to suffer through. In Canada we tend to boast about our free health care over those countries without free health care, however I don't think everyone realizes just how lucky we are to have health care at all. Back in the feudalism era there was no such thing as health care and I have so much sympathy for those who lived and suffered through such hard times.
References
"The Strassburg Chronicle." In The Black Death by Joseph P. Byrne, 186-188
Kelly, John. 2005. The Great Mortality. New York, NY: HarperCollins
Getz, Faye. Medicine in the English Middle Ages. (Princeton University Press, 2008).
Paisley
Paisley
Your blog was really informative as to the extent of which people suffered in that era. It is crazy to read that if there were another epidemic of the sort there would be no cure. One would think after all the medical advances weve had since that time then there would be something to counteract such an epidemic. Its unbelieveable to see how weve advanced in the field of medicine.
ReplyDeleteTrista
Good topic choice. This is a sad topic and we really have to be thankful for all of the medical and technological advances we are gifted with today. Reading this blog really makes one appreciate our health care in Canada a lot more.
ReplyDeleteAlexandra
It is so difficult to imagine a world without health care. I would consider myself a fairly healthy individual and I have had to fill out many prescriptions over my life span. To experience illness when there was no cure was probably terrifying, people most likely came to terms with the fact that they were ill and knew they didn't stand a chance is heart wrenching. It is really amazing the amount of medication we have now, and we really are so lucky to have the services we do. The black plague is the scariest thing in my opinion, and I cannot believe the song "ring around the rosie" is actually about this disease. As kids we sing that thinking it's some sort of harmless nursery rhyme; morbid.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Cassandra