France During The Spreading Of The Plague example essay topic

Analyze the various responses to the outbreaks of plague from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Discuss the beliefs and concerns that these responses express. The Plague struck Europe in a series of waves beginning from the mid 1300's and ended in the eighteenth century. During that time, people didn't know the filth they lived in and the un sanitized streets caused the spread of the plague. 25 million people died in the first wave of the plague, which is about one third of the population of Western Europe.

During the time of the plague, there were many different responses from the people. Many showed concerns yet some were just ignorant and greedy during the time, taking advantage of the situation by spreading the plague to others for ridiculous reasons. The concerns about the plague from the 1400's to the 1800's were all almost identical. Students in the Netherlands stayed away from school because of the plague, which killed 20 students according to the schoolmaster at Deventer.

The Renaissance scholar Erasmus says that the plague in England was caused by the filth in the streets and houses. At the time, people didn't know keeping clean would have prevented the spreading of the plague. Nicolas Vers oris says that the rich were able to leave France during the spreading of the plague, leaving death pointing only to the poor in France. In the late 1500's, people went to desperate measures in fighting the plague from spreading to others.

Henrich von Staden, Court of the Palatinate says that houses were immediately locked with the infested person inside to prevent spreading. He also added that highways and roads were off-limits for people as a means of defense to prevent it from spreading to foreign land. In 1722, Daniel Defoe says that other nations did not want to trade with the ports of France, Holland, Spain, or Italy because they did not want the plague to spread to their land as well. Nehemiah Wallington, an English Puritan writes in his diary about his concerns of the plague and what would happen if he and his family were diseased.

Father Dragon i, a priest tried to help in the situation by feeding the people recovering from the plague in pest houses. According to Miguel Parets in 1651, nurses were in a high demand because they were believed to have a cure for the plague. Samuel Pepys says that people were so afraid of getting infected; they refused to buy wigs because they believed that the hair came from the heads of the dead of the plague. M. Bertrand of Marseilles says that the plague was an act from the God because he was angry and wanted to punish the sinful and the people who have offended God. There were ignorant and greedy act from the people during the spreading of the plague.

At the time, people didn't take care of their streets, leaving it filled with garbage and urine. This was probably the main cause of the spreading of the plague. In France, the rich were able to flee France during the spreading but the poor were not able to, leaving them the targets to die next. According to Johann We yer, town gates were smeared with an ointment that would spread the plague and anyone who touched the gates would die.

This act was paid by the children of the dead just to obtain an inheritance quickly. From what Heinrich von Staden said before, the diseased people were locked up in their own houses, left there to die as a method to stop the spreading from increasing. This act was inhumane and there were other options they could of used to at least have the diseased person treated right. Gio van Filippo's motto was about Gold, fire, and gallows.

He said the gold was used to lock up the diseased. The gallows to punish diseased who were not following health regulations, and fires to burn the infected things. Miguel Parets explained that nurses were in a high demand because they probably had a cure for the disease. The fact was that the doctors actually tried to kill diseased in order to collect money quicker from the people. The plague brought out a rampage in Europe. The epidemic killed almost 33 percent of Europe.

The many concerns showed how much some people cared for themselves and families. The ignorance and greed showed how vile certain people can get at times like this; especially the greedy people who would deliberately try to infect others for money. The plague brought out the true colors of the people in Europe.