The Black Death was a devastating pandemic that swept across Europe in the middle of the fourteenth century. It is believed to have killed about seventy-five million people, which was about half of Europe’s total population at the time. However, it is difficult to know exactly how many people were killed by the plague because of the period and lack of records. There are many different theories about the origins of the Black Death, although no one knows for certain what caused the horrible disease.
The most widely believed theory is that the plague broke out because of the Yersinia Pestis (Black Death, 1). According to this theory, the Black Death likely started in China and then spread along the Silk Roads. The Silk Roads were an ancient trade route used in ancient China. These roads connected China with nations to the west for trade. According to the Yersinia Pestis theory, which is now known as the Bubonic Plague theory, the plague was carried by fleas on the backs of rats on the Silk Roads. The fleas that carried the disease would spread to the rats, leading to the rats dying. After the rats died, the fleas were forced to find a new host, which was mostly people. Once a flea would bite a human the Black Plague was sent into the bloodstream, infecting the human (Lerner, 206). Then the horrible plague spread rapidly all across Europe killing massive numbers of people.
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While the Yersinia Pestis theory is the most commonly accepted, it is not the only theory about where the plague originated. One of the first people to challenge the Yersinia Pestis theory was a British bacteriologist named J. F. D. Shrewsbury. He believed that the number of people who died of the Black Death was greatly exaggerated during the outbreak. J. F. D. Shrewsbury thought that the mortality rates in the fourteenth century, were not consistent considering the death rate of the modern bubonic plague (Black Death, 6). Samuel K. Cohn Jr. is a historian who attempted to find the actual causes of starting the Black Death. Samuel K. Cohn Jr. does not agree with or support the Yersinia Pestis theory; however, he is not entirely sure what could have started the horrible outbreak that killed millions. Although it appears that Samuel K. Cohn Jr. spent much of his work attacking the commonly accepted Yersinia Pestis theory rather than forming his theory about the origins of the Black Death. Samuel K. Cohn Jr. seems to believe that the Black Death was not caused by fleas, but rather that it was a viral disease that infected humans. I do not believe that this theory makes much sense. If the plague were a viral disease, where would it have come from, and where did it go? The Black Death eventually disappeared, something that is not nearly as common with a vial disease. John Aberth also challenged the Yersinia Pestis or bubonic plague theory. John Aberth centers his argument around what he called Europe’s “little ice age” (Lerner, 209). His argument implies that he believed that it could have possibly been too cold for the rat fleas to survive in Europe during the plague in the fourteenth century. However, like several of the other theories, there is little evidence present to support John Aberth’s ideas about the cooler temperatures killing the deadly disease. There is an argument that argues that the Black Death should not be identified as a bubonic plague, but rather as a lymphatic disease. Buboes were a common symptom of the Black Death plague. They were swelled spots on an infected person’s groin, neck, or armpit and were usually very painful. However, the most common place for buboes to be found was in the infected person’s groin. In almost every circumstance, the buboes tended to only appear in one location on the infected person’s body (Lerner, 210). This is a direct contrast from what is seen in most medieval evidence. The medieval evidence tends to suggest that most people had buboes found in two or more places of the body including the groin, armpits, and neck all possibilities. This brings doubt to the idea of flea bites since they rarely jump high without a distinct motivation (Lerner, 211). Understandably, the majority of flea bites would be on the ankle or lower legs. Again, I do not agree with this theory either. Fleas could easily bite a person in the armpit or neck if they were lying down or sitting. Although fleas usually do not jump without motivation, they can. The fleas could have jumped high enough to reach the armpit or neck.
There are many different theories about the outbreak of the Black Death, and none of them can be proven or disproven. In my opinion, it seems that the original Yersinia Pestis theory is most likely to be the most accurate. It has been known that fleas and rats can carry diseases that spread to people, but there is no way to prove the origins of the Black Death.
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