A lot of impactful events occurred in the early modern societies of history that forever changed the way we go about our everyday lives. The Black Death, also known as the Plague, was definitely one of the most significant. The Plague not only changed the way we deal with public health and medicine, but it prepared us for dangerous health pandemics we encountered later in life.
Without modern medicine, a disease as lethal as the Plague was nearly impossible to keep under control. Killing millions in its first year of spreading, something had to be done to try and control this deadly disease. The medical department provided advice and rules on lifestyle and health and the work of government officials, and refocused efforts to stop the spread As seen in image one (above) a list of rules and orders were put into place to help stop the spread. “The practice of quarantine, as we know it, began during the 14th century in an effort to protect coastal cities from Plague epidemics. Ships arriving in Venice from the infected port must stay at the anchor for 40 days before landing. This practice, called quarantine, was derived from the Italian words quaranta giorni, which mean 40 days.” (CDC). As we know from modern day experience, quarantining on its own cannot eliminate a disease and additional medical efforts and treatments are needed to cure disease. Due to the lack of medical research at the time, other methods had to be attempted. “For those who believed in the Greek humors there were a range of cures available. ‘Blood-letting’ – deliberately bleeding a vein – was a way of reducing ‘hot’ blood, whilst blowing your nose or clearing your throat was a way of getting rid of too much ‘cold’ phlegm.”(BBC). Other methods included: Drinking vinegar, eating crushed minerals, sitting close to a fire to drive out the fever, and many other creative methods that we would consider ineffective today.
Looking at the second image above, (Plague broadsheet by John Dunstall- 1665 museums of London) we see the progression of the Plague depicted in stages from just a few infected to the return to London in 1665 when the Plague began dying down. These images are significant to early modern societies because they documented the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history. The first row of images depicts the beginning of many becoming sick and starting to panic. Row two shows the peak of death and transported the body to the mass grave. The last line shows that the plague finally slowed down and people began to return to London in October 1665. These images done by John Dunstall are one of the many pieces of art that provides an understanding of what living during this pandemic was like. “While the story of the Plague is well known, the artistic record from across medieval Europe offers a broad picture of various ways in which people coped with death, reflecting not only a keen awareness of its presence in daily life, but also of Christian belief in the afterlife and the desire to honor and memorialize the dead.” (Singrid Goldiner, MET). Art opened up a new way of understanding the Plague that we couldn’t get from texts and journals. The visuals of seeing people carry their own dead family members and the empty streets give an emotional and real insight as to what this time was like.
Art, laws, images, and official documents gave us not only insights on life during the Plague, but also forever changed the way we deal with public health and medicine forever. Though the Plague killed over 50 million people, it prepared our society for the pandemics to come and caused a huge evolvement for medicine and public health.
