Friday, 26 October 2012

The Black Plague, London, 1665

Medicine During The Black Plague
 London, 1665

 
 
There was little early medicine in London, 1665 and thousands died because of it. Many people were affected by the plague and all feared it, looking for proof and to science to discover how it started and spread. There were many victims of this horrible disease, and stories of such victims created reasons for many of the theories about the plague. There were also quite a few "cures", many of which were not real and held only grains of truth, if there was any truth at all. In London, there were many cures and theories for and about the plague, the trick was seeing them for what they were and separating the truth from the lies.


In London, 1665, there were between 75 and 100 thousand people killed by the Black Plague; the reasons for why the plague started however, were the main reasons for so many deaths. Although they did not know it at the time, science has proved that the carriers of the Black Plague were the fleas living on rats. The rats who were infested with fleas travelled throughout London. The disease spread from having fleas bite humans and transferring bacteria into their blood, which the humans could then spread through breathing, physical contact, or even just speech. The rats made living in London a horrible experience for everyone, killing approximately 20 percent of the population in only a year. Some of the contributing factors of why and how the plague started and spread included poor general hygiene, and warm weather, which were prime conditions for the carriers of the Black Plague.

 
Nobody knew why the Black Plague started, however there were plenty theories, most with little to no truth, but all interesting. One of the most believed causes was that cats and dogs carried the disease throughout London, which led to 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats being killed. Another theory for why the Black Plague started was that it was caused by the French because two French men died from the plague at the corner of Drury Lane and Long Acre inside of London, which was believed to be the cause of all subsequent cases. A last theory was taken from a book (Life in Tudor England) where Shakespeare quoted: "...as a planetary plague, when Jove will o'er some high viced city hang his poison in the sick air." this statement was based on the belief that the reason for the plague was a mixture of "Planetary conjunction, miasma and divine vengeance". Although I find all of these theories interesting, I believe them all to be wrong, as since the plague ended, science has proved that the plague was a simple but deadly disease carried by rats.
 
 



There were few medieval medicine's during the Black Plague, although, none were very effective against the disease. One man, in the book: The Black Death, by Daniel Cohen, stated "Every pronounced case of plague is incurable" which very well may have been true if they didn't leave the city almost immediately. One cure was a form of surgery often called bloodletting, in which doctors would open veins with knifes or sharp instruments, and catch blood in a bowl, where they then searched for diseases, or irregularities; if a patient had contracted the disease then doctors would administer herbs as medication.
 
An important part of surgery during the Black Plague, was that doctors would use anaesthetic on their patients by covering their mouth with a sponge soaked in strong, and typically dangerous drugs, or patients could consume large volumes of wine or pigs bile. There were many believed cures, although not very many were actually effective, aside from leaving the city to live in the country, making the late 17th century a horrid time to live in London.


There was very little medicine during the Black Plague, and countless victims died because of the lack of knowledge. How people thought the plague started was a large part of why so many people died. There were dozens of theories for the reason people were affected by the plague, and such theories led people to think they were safe when they actually were more vulnerable than ever. There were several "cures" as well, many of which were lies built upon the slightest grain of truth. In 1665, in the city of London, devastation struck, as the people believed they were safe, the plague killed thousands, their only defence was to separate the conjecture from the grains of truth.

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