The Black Plague: The Greatest Catastrophe In Europe

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Is the bubonic plague the greatest catastrophe in history? The disastrous mortal disease known as Black Death spread across Europe in the years 1346 to 1353. The frightening name, however only came several centuries after its visitation. Chronicles and letters from the time describe the terror wrought by the illness. As the great Renaissance poet Petrarch wrote, ‘O happy posterity, who will not experience suck abysmal woe and will look upon our testimony as a fable.’ (14th century). Using specific references, The Black Death has undoubtedly served as the superior to other existing diseases and it caused a huge commotion and introduced itself to people as a black part in the Europe history, this essay argues that The Black Death is the most devastating natural disaster that has ever caused in the history of western civilization. The Black Death was an epidemic of bubonic plague, a disease caused by…show more content…
The legacy of The Black Death has not vanished, people made a rhyme which described the period when the disease strike Europe and has since been passed down, "Ring o' ring o' roses, A pocketful o' posies, Atishoo! Atishoo! We all fall down." This innocent rhyme had a macabre meaning. The 'ring o' roses' was the red rash that was the first sign of bubonic plague. The 'pocket full o' posies' was the bunch of herbs that people carried, because they thought the plague was transmitted by foul air. They would hold the sweet-smelling herbs under their noses in an attempt to ward off infection. 'Atishoo!', again sneezing violently was one of the first symptoms and was what spread the disease, although they did not know this. Despite it being claimed that bubonic plague had been eradicated, people should still take high safety precautions and prevent the history from reoccurring should the disease had
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