Essay on This Is the End of the World the Black Death by...

â€Å"This is the End of the World: The Black Death.† by Barbara Tuchman History reveals the mid-14th century as a very unfortunate time for Europe. It was during this period when the continent became afflicted by a terrible plague. The source of the pathogen is known today as bubonic but was colloquially known as â€Å"The Black Death† to Europeans of the day. The plague caused a tremendous number of deaths and was a catalyst of change, severely impacting Europe’s cultural, political and religious institutions. Not unlike many of today’s flu outbreaks, bubonic is thought to have also originated in China. As early as 1346, rumors surfaced in Europe of a terrible plague which had ravaged Central Asia, India, Asia Minor, the Middle East and†¦show more content†¦With the graveyards filled to capacity, some resorted to throwing their dead into the dark waters of the Rhone. Eventually, mass graves were dug and provided a place to dump the corpses. In London, such burial pits sometimes proved inadequate to receive the dead, with bodies overflowing their layered stacks within the trenches. (684) Despite the erratic mortality rates, ranging locally from 1/5 to 9/10 of a given population, they were nonetheless very high overall. Bohemia and Russia were untouched by the first round of the plague, but eventually were impacted in 1351. (684) In rural areas the plague would typically last from four to six months and then subside. In urban areas the plague would sometimes disappear during the winter months, only to re-emerge in spring and continue its rage, unabated, for another 6 months. (684) Certain classes of people seem to be at increased risk of contracting the disease. Those who were most at risk were in situations that demanded close contact with the infected: prisoners, doctors, clergymen and nurses. It was reported that women were more susceptible, (689) also the young and all persons who were weakened by poverty and a hard life. The malady was said to have â€Å"attacked especially the meaner sort and common people—seldom the magnates.† (688) However, it cannot be said that the ruling class escaped the plague unscathed. Among the causalities of this terrible disease was Alfonzo XI of Castile.Show MoreRelatedFeminine Mystique12173 Words   |  49 PagesSupplemental Reading for US History 2 From Rosie to Lucy Questions students must answer in a 500-word (minimum) essay: 1) Describe the post-WWII frustrations felt by women such as Betty Friedan. 2) During the era of â€Å"Rosie the Riveter†, what gains did women make in the workforce? How did these women feel about themselves and their contributions? What did society as a whole think? 3) What role did mass media play during the 1950s and 1960s in regard to supporting or undermining theRead Morewisdom,humor and faith19596 Words   |  79 PagesTwain, quoted in Opie Percival Read, Mark Twain and I (1940), 17. â€Å"Humor offers both a form of wisdom and a means of survival in a threatening world. It demands that we reckon with the realities of human nature and the world without falling into grimness and despair.† Roger Shattuck, The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France—1885 to World War I, rev. ed. (1968), 248. â€Å"Humor is, in fact, a prelude to faith; and laughter is the beginning of prayer. . . . The saintliest men frequentlyRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pages10/12 Weidemann-Book Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on appropriate page within text. Copyright  © 2011, 2007, 2005, 2002, 1998 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited