The Black Death (1348-50) vs. The Great Plague (1665)

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  • Created by: accro59
  • Created on: 21-04-19 18:13

The Black Death (1348-50) vs. The Great Plague (1665)

Similarities

  • Both believed that the epidemics were a punishment from God
  • Both believed that the movement of planets caused the plagues
  • Miasma was still a common belief as a cause for diseases, including the plague - some people believed that the air contained small insects that were invisible to the eye - they carried dried flowers or nose-gays to surround themselves with good smells so they don't catch the plague
  • People prayed to be cured or to not catch the plague - BD: people self-flagellated, prayed and asked monks to pray for them - GP: they held public prayers as well as days of fasting.
  • Doctors were still limited to the rich - no ordinary people could afford doctors so they went to barber-surgeons (who's knowledge was limited to bowl-cuts).
  • They both believed in bloodletting to remove the excessive humour - the 'Four Humours' theory was still a significant belief at the time.
  • Apothecaries and wise women were popular at both the time of the Black Death and the Great Plague. Wise women were mainly visited for special plants and herbs, which they worked with over a long time. Wise women passed down knowledge from generation to generation on traditional or folk medicine.
  • Both times, they quarantined people to avoid the spread of the plague. During the Black Death, people prevented the movement of a newcomer for about 40 days whereas during the Great Plague, they marked red crosses on the doors with infected people with 'Lord have mercy upon us' underneath to warn people not to go near that place.

Differences

  • Although people at the time had no knowledge of what caused disease, they had a brief idea of contagion - they avoided physical contact through coins and meat. Rich people sent their servants to visit the affected instead of going themselves (snakey-bakey) so they don't breathe in the bad fumes of the plague.
  • They also rubbed chickens' butts on their sores (Nicki Minaj should do a song on that).
  • They made this plaster made of egg yolk, honey and herbs to put on their buboes.
  • They also introduced purgatives and emetics (made you vomit) to help balance the humours.
  • Quacks were travelling salesmen who sold herbs and plants as 'medicine' - they cheated their way through villages by making people buy their medicine, and when people realised that they were phonies, they were already in the next village, selling their parsley as ibuprofen.
  • Some people believed in the 'King's Touch' where the king, who was placed in that position by having the divine right (God-given right), had a healing touch because God blessed him.
  • Extra knowledge: This was the time where voyages happened - Sir Francis Drake brought back opium (a herb used for pain-killing) and tobacco which was used as a cure for toothaches and the plague.

Overall comparison

Although in the Great Plague people introduced new cures or ways to treat the disease, they weren't effective or progressive as they were still based on old ideas like the 'Four Humours' and miasma, which meant that medicine at the time didn't progress. Religion was still prevalent and that affected a lot of their beliefs regarding medicine e.g. the King's Touch and praying for health.

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