The Black Death Spreads

         The disease was spread by rats that scavenged on cargo ships and in warehouses. The rats had fleas which sucked their blood and humans could get the fleas on them and that’s how the disease could have been spread. Living conditions were not the best and unclean food and contaminated water could easily cause the disease to spread. Many people had left the cities they lived in and went to live somewhere away from all the people with plague. People were told not to bathe so that way their pores would clog and hopefully prevent the disease from getting into their body. Knowing this the smells in the city were not very pleasant. The people who had plague did not smell good at all! Not to mention all of the dead bodies of those who had died from plague. Whenever some people went out on the streets they would carry flowers up to their nose to avoid the terrible smell of the people with plague.

In some places they were very strict about having quarantine for people who had the symptoms of plague for one day to try and help the disease from being be thrown in a hole or placed which many others dead bodies since so many people were dying. spread. This was only enforced in several areas of Europe. Men and women during the time believed the disease was caused by God as a sin. It was clearly not the cause of the illness.  Many ancient people seemed to believe that either Gods, Demons, or Magicians caused diseases. The air was so polluted in the streets and smelt very bad it was called miasma meaning poisonous air. The disease spread so quick that the bodies of those killed by it would just end up on the streets of the city or disposed with all the others killed by the disease since such large numbers of people were dieing. The people suffering from this terrible disease were just waiting for a cure in hopes that the Black Death would not continue to spread.