What exactly is the bubonic plague and where did it spread? To be specific, the bubonic plague is caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. This virus was carried by rats who were hosts to fleas on board trading ships from China during 1345-1348. The plague was extremely contagious due to its nature of spreading through moisture droplets floating through air. By the time 1348 had come to an end, the plague had hit Marseilles, France. By 1350, the plague had spread from the eastern steppes of Asia to Europe, into central Spain.

The plague was a terrible disease. Symptoms of the plague included a high fever, muscular pains, severe headaches, and circular swellings of lymph glands called buboes in the groin, armpit

Interestingly enough, Jean wrote the poem just months after he himself recovered from the plague.

While the plague did not have any effect on the later writers of the Renaissance, it had a profound impact on 14th century literary works. First, since so many monks died during the plague, scribes and literate people who weren’t part of the guild of scribes were employed to copy books. Because of that act, the publication of books nearly doubled after the plague. During this time, the printing press was also developed. People who read Dante’s works saw that he understood death as a “sister.” By this, Dante meant that people should accept death with grace and dignity, as would one act around a sister. However after the plague, Death was a “ravishing monster” (Burks, Lit.). Dante saw people die in the most ungraceful and undignified way, as explained by the aforementioned symptoms. During this time period, the poem “Dans Macabre” was written by Jean le Fevre which drew a whole new image of death. His poem portrayed the image of a skeleton fiddling away his tales of death and sorrow in a church graveyard. This image was used frequently during comedies and satire

Some topics in this essay:
British Isles, Asia Europe, Lit Dante, Black Death, Yersinia Pestis, Friar Lawrence, Europe Bodies, Interestingly Jean, Europe Europe, Romeo Juliet, black death, 14th century, bubonic plague, tap tap, 14th century europe, plague spread, ravaged europe, plague hit, plague ravaged, death plague, british isles, plague ravaged europe,