black death ritual profound echoes of the end

Black death ritual profound echoes of the end trial#

Muslims should not enter nor should they flee from plague-stricken regions but should remain in place.

The plague was a merciful gift from God which provided martyrdom for the faithful whose souls were instantly transported to paradise.

The plague was contagious and could be passed between people but one could protect oneself through prayer, penitence, charms, and amulets.

Christians – especially in the early period of the outbreak – could leave a plague-stricken region for one with better air which was not infected.The plague was a punishment from God for humanity's sins but could also be caused by “bad air”, witchcraft and sorcery, and individual life choices including one's piety or lack of it.The disease maintained this pattern in the East, seeming to disappear only to rise again, until it picked up momentum beginning in 1218 CE, further in 1322 CE, and was raging by 1346 CE. 588 CE), an eyewitness to the plague, notes that the people of Constantinople were aware of the plague for two years before it came to the city but made no provision against it, believing it was not their problem.Īfter Constantinople, the plague died down in the East only to appear again with the Djazirah Outbreak of 562 CE which killed 30,000 people in the city of Amida and even more when it returned in 599-600 CE. This outbreak, however, was simply the furthest westerly occurrence of a disease that had been stalking the people of the Near East for years before. The first recorded outbreak of bubonic plague is the Plague of Justinian (541-542 CE) which struck Constantinople in 541 CE and killed an estimated 50 million people. The plague originated in Central Asia and spread via the Silk Road and troop movements throughout the Near East. YouTube Follow us on Youtube! The Black Death Origin & Spread After the plague had run its course, religious response in both East and West was generally credited with appeasing God who lifted the pestilence but Europe would be radically changed while the Near East was not.

Black death ritual profound echoes of the end trial#

In the East, Islam remained intact, more or less, owing to its insistence on the plague as a gift which bestowed martyrdom on the victims and transported them instantly to paradise as well as the view of the disease as simply another trial to endure such as famine or flood.Īlthough many of the religious ideas concerning the plague in West and East were similar, this one difference was significant in maintaining Islamic cohesion, even though it most likely led to a higher death toll than official records maintain. In Europe, the perceived failure of God to answer these prayers contributed to the decline of the medieval Church's power and the eventual splintering of a unified Christian worldview during the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648 CE). No matter how many Jews, or others, were killed, however, the plague raged on and God seemed deaf to the prayers and supplications of believers. The perceived failure of God to answer prayers contributed to the decline of the Church's power & the eventual splintering of a unified Christian worldview.