Norman Cantor
... Canton begins by giving a historical account of the bubonic plague, or "the pestilence", which describes "the greatest biomedical disaster in European and possible world history" (p.3). Between thirty and fifty percent of Europe's population was wiped out by this pandemic. The plague was carried by parasites on the backs of black rats and spread by either rat bites of infected rats, or the parasites (fleas) themselves. Cantor points out that at one time historians believed that the plague stopped affecting Europe because the black rat was gradually replaced with another species of rat. Cantor does not believe that the disease could be carried by any rodent and even possibly cats. Cantor discusses a theory that perhaps the bubonic plague was not exclusively the cause of so many deaths. Because there were severe impacts in some thinly populated rural areas and there were high mortality rates in the winter months (both of which were not common with the activity of fleas), it has raised the question as to whether it was actually the bubonic plague that caused all these fatalities, and that perhaps it was a rare form of cattle disease such as anthrax. The first stage of the plague was marked by flu-like symptoms along with high fever. In the second stage of the plague, buboes (black welts and bulges) appear on the armpit and groin area. Diarrhea and vomiting also accompanies this. The third and often fatal stage of the plague was respiratory failure (pneumonia). Both anthrax and the plague had similar flu-like symptoms, and many that died from the plague did not have all of the symptoms or go through the complete stages of the plague. The anthrax theory suggests that the spread of the disease came from contaminated cows that were consumed. Cantor tells the stores of different people affected by the plague and the effects that their deaths had on Europe. The first story mentioned is Princess Joan, the daughter of Edward III. She died of the pestilence in Bordeaux on her way to marry Prince Pedro, the heir of Castile. The English lost their chance to establish a major position in Spain because of her death that they were unable to win by force of arms over the next hundred years. Two of the churches most advance thinkers; Thomas of Birmingham and William Bromsgrove were also victims of the plague. Cantor believes that their deaths caused science to advance much sooner. There were many other substantial changes that came about in Europe in the years during and following the plague as a result of the disease. The shortage of people caused the English forces to be weaker against the French. Dynastic deaths caused the Plantagenet family, the House of Lancaster and the House of York, to be at war with one another (The War of the Roses). Because they were divided, Joan of Arc led the French to Victory. Jews were often accused of poisoning the water, as a result many Jews moved to Poland. Throughout hi...