Skip to Content

Does the Black Death hurt?

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, killing an estimated 75-200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe between 1347-1351. But with a name like “Black Death”, many wonder – did this disease actually hurt its victims?

What was the Black Death?

The Black Death was an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It was spread by fleas carried on rodents like rats or marmots. The plague would enter the lymphatic system of humans or other animals via flea bites, traveling through the lymph nodes and causing them to become swollen and painful – these swollen nodes were called “buboes”, leading to the name “bubonic” plague.

There were two main forms of plague during the Black Death pandemic:

  • Bubonic plague – the most common form, characterized by fever, chills, body aches, and buboes swelling in the lymph nodes, especially in the groin or armpits.
  • Pneumonic plague – a more virulent form involving severe lung infections that could be spread via infectious respiratory droplets when patients coughed or sneezed. Pneumonic plague had a mortality rate over 90%.

A third form, septicemic plague, could also occur when plague bacteria multiplied in the bloodstream. Left untreated, bubonic plague had a mortality rate around 50-60%, while septicemic plague was almost always fatal.

What were the symptoms of the Black Death?

Contemporary accounts describe some of the painful and gruesome symptoms suffered by victims of the Black Death plague epidemic. Here are some of the most commonly reported:

  • Fever and chills – Sudden onset of high fever was usually the first sign of infection. Chills and body aches often accompanied the fever.
  • Swollen and painful lymph nodes (buboes) – The classic bubonic plague symptom was painfully swollen lymph nodes, most commonly in the groin, armpits, and neck. The swollen nodes were firm and sometimes as large as an egg or orange.
  • Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain – Plague bacteria multiplying inside the body could cause nausea, violent vomiting, and severe abdominal discomfort.
  • Skin Manifestations – Some patients developed purplish or blackish blotches or nodules under the skin from internal bleeding caused by the infection.
  • Coughing up blood – Victims with pneumonic plague would cough up bloody sputum due to lung damage from the infection.
  • Mental confusion and delirium – In later stages of disease, people often experienced delirium, hallucinations, and disorientation.

In short, those suffering from bubonic plague experienced high fevers, chills, searing pains from lymph node swelling, nausea, bleeding issues, and eventually mental confusion. The disease progressed rapidly, with most dying within 2-7 days if untreated.

How was the Black Death treated?

Medieval doctors had limited understanding of infectious diseases, and no treatments of the time had any real impact on the high mortality rates of plague. Some common medicinal approaches included:

  • Bloodletting – Bleeding patients to try and “balance the humors” was thought to treat many ailments.
  • Lancing and draining buboes – Sometimes lancing swollen lymph nodes to drain pus and blood provided temporary relief.
  • Hot poultices or cupping over buboes – Attempts to draw out the infected “poisons.”
  • Purges and enemas – Trying to cleanse the body by forcing vomiting, diarrhea, or fluid loss.
  • Painkillers like opium – To relieve some of the agonizing symptoms.

None of these treatments had any measurable effect, and most victims of the Black Death died regardless of efforts to treat them. Improved sanitation, hygiene practices, and quarantine of the sick helped slow disease transmission, but medical science at the time was essentially powerless against it.

What was the societal impact of the Black Death?

Beyond its horrifying medical symptoms, the Black Death had profound social, economic, and political impacts across medieval society. Some major consequences included:

  • Massive death toll – The Black Death killed an estimated 30-50% of Europe’s population. Such staggering losses caused societies to collapse in many regions.
  • Economic turmoil – With huge parts of the workforce dead, industries ground to a halt, wages increased for laborers but prices also spiked, and the economy went into crisis.
  • Political upheaval – Authority was destabilized, as nobles, clergymen, and royalty died alongside commoners. Revolts and power struggles emerged in the chaos.
  • Persecution of minorities – Jews and Romani minorities were often scapegoated and faced waves of persecution related to the plague.
  • Psychological trauma – Witnessing so much gruesome death left medieval people emotionally scarred, fueling despair, religious fanaticism, and superstition.

In essence, no part of medieval society was left untouched by the devastating outbreak of plague. Its effects rippled for generations afterwards.

Could anything reduce the pain and suffering?

For those actually infected with plague during the Black Death, there was very little that could be done to ease their suffering and enhance their chances of survival. Some measures that may have provided slight relief include:

  • analgesics like opium to dull pain from swollen lymph nodes or body aches.
  • Cool baths or compresses to lower fever.
  • Clean water, broths, or mild foods to prevent dehydration.
  • Caring nursing care to keep patients clean and comfortable.

However, the virulent disease ran its course regardless of efforts to treat symptoms. The most effective ways to curb the Black Death were public health measures to prevent infections in the first place, through actions like:

  • Isolation of the infected to prevent further spread.
  • Quarantines of areas experiencing outbreaks.
  • Improved hygiene practices among the general population.
  • Controlling rat populations in urban areas via traps/poisons.

With no effective medical cures available, palliative symptom relief and public health prevention were the only real ways to combat the pain and devastation of the Black Death.

How does the Black Death compare to modern pandemics?

While the Black Death was grim and exceptionally lethal, modern plague outbreaks have become far less deadly with improvements in public health, medical care, and antibiotic therapy. Looking at death tolls, the Black Death dwarfs recent pandemics:

Pandemic Years Estimated Death Toll
Black Death 1347-1351 75-200+ million deaths
Flu Pandemic 1918-1919 20-50 million deaths
Asian Flu 1957-1958 1-2 million deaths
Hong Kong Flu 1968-1970 1-4 million deaths
HIV/AIDS (global) 1981-present 25-35 million deaths
COVID-19 (global) 2019-present 6.5+ million deaths

Modern medicine has rendered pandemic threats much less existential in nature. However, COVID-19 has served as a reminder that infectious disease remains a serious global health challenge requiring vigilance and research to control, even with today’s medical tools.

Could an epidemic like the Black Death happen today?

Due to advances in sanitation, hygiene, vector control, vaccines, antibiotics, and epidemiological surveillance, most experts think a pandemic on the catastrophic scale of the Black Death is unlikely today, though not impossible. Key factors that reduce the likelihood include:

  • Better understanding of germ theory – We know plague is caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria, not miasmas or spiritual causes.
  • Ability to halt spread – Quarantines, travel restrictions, social distancing, and isolation of the sick could control contagion.
  • Pest control – Insecticides, rodenticides, and eliminating breeding grounds restrictions rodent populations that spread plague.
  • Antibiotic therapy -Bubonic plague can be treated with modern antibiotics, reducing mortality substantially if caught early.
  • Vaccines – A plague vaccine exists today which provides some protection against Yersinia infection.
  • Advanced care – Modern hospitals and critical care units improve outcomes for severely ill patients.

That said, risks remain if pathogens mutate or antibiotic resistance develops. Continued public health preparedness is essential even with medical advances. But another plague on the devastation scale of the medieval Black Death remains highly improbable in the modern era.

Conclusion

The Black Death was one of the most infamous and fatal pandemics in human history, infamous for both its gruesome symptoms and massive societal disruptions. Those infected with bubonic plague suffered greatly from high fevers, painful swollen lymph nodes, bleeding issues, nausea, and other problems before usually dying in a matter of days. With no effective treatments available at the time, palliative care and public health measures were the only real ways to curb the pandemic’s terrible impacts. While modern medicine makes another catastrophic pandemic plague unlikely today, the Black Death remains a sobering reminder of infectious disease’s power to inflict pain, death, and upheaval across human populations if left unchecked by medical knowledge and public health safeguards.