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Black Death Breakout

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A breakout of a disease in a civilization can not only shift the fabric of a standing civilization, but an outbreak can also change or shape the history of that civilization and subsequently, the world. Usually it’s said that a civilization is impacted economically, socially, or politically. However, a key concept that is overlooked when discussing the impact a disease outbreak is the concept of mortality. The first thought in the human psyche when it relates to a disease outbreak is usually “Will I die from this disease?” It’s not surprising that the next few trains of thought are probably “How can me and my family (or civilization) survive this breakout”. Sometimes the very breakout purpose is question along the lines of “Why is this breakout …show more content…
However, a disease breakout signaling your impending mortality can be traumatizing spiritually. This spiritual effect was evident in the breakout of the Black Death in Europe. With the Black Death raging Europe, God’s wrath was blamed for the outbreak with Robert Tignor assessing “Many believed god was angry at mankind (Tignor 2014 407)” as a “possible” reason for the plague’s outbreak. This gives a peek into the questioning of mortality in humans affected by the plague, questioning if a higher power is responsible for the plague. This spiritual connection was also shown in the plague of Central America with “Many families [bowing] their heads before [succumbing to the plague]” Humans had the tendency to come to terms with their mortality and religion was a common method of doing so as compared to some at the time “[turning] to pleasure, even debauchery, determined to enjoy themselves before it came their turn to die”. Humans facing death changed their outlook on life spiritually, but at one point, humans figured out how to abuse

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