The Documentary Efficiently 'Black Death'

The Black Death disease was a pandemic of bubonic plague whose cause was unknown back in the days. However, with the evolution of research, it has been established that the Black Death plague was caused by Yersinia pestis bacterium. The bacterium is largely found in wild rodents. The symptoms of the plague were seen by swelling of the skin which would ooze both blood and pus. Consequently, the plague resulted in foul-smelling of the victims due to the skin being decomposed while they were still alive. The Black Death plague emerged in Europe in 1348 and lasted for three years.

It is uncertain how the plague got to Europe. Prior to the advent of the plague in Europe, there were rumors of the impending catastrophe from the Far East. The information was delivered by the traders and merchants who sailed from the Asian world to Europe. Despite the rumors of the plague, Europe had not been prepared to face the challenge and they were incapacitated to diagnose the plague as well as treat it. Caffa was the Black Sea being operated by the Italian merchants. It was in 1347 that the Italian merchants realized that the soldiers surrounding their city had been affected by the plague. Upon the knowledge of the plague, the military decided to backlash against their opponents by throwing the bodies of the dead victims to the center of the town in order to succeed in retaliating against the Italians.

The consequences of the Black Death in Europe were alarming as there was a shift of focus from development to nursing the plague. The existing war between nations was temporarily stopped as the population was affected including the soldiers. There was a drastic decline in population as the plague killed around 40 million people reducing the population from 90 million to 50 million. This caused hatred towards the Jews as they were blamed for the spread of the Black Death plague in a movement referred to as Anti-Semitism. There was an emergence of a religion known as Flagellants which believed in punishing its members when they sin to avoid the wrath of God. They perceived that the Black Death was God’s punishment. The Flagellant’s religion performed bizarre and terrifying rituals. Some of the individuals that escaped the Black Death engaged in pleasures of the world to enjoy life before being devoured by the plague. Conversely, there were other people involved in charity work helping the affected families.

Overall, the documentary was impressive because it managed to capture the actual state of the events that transpired during the Black Death period. The use of painted images as opposed to real images reduced the impact of being negatively affected by the documentary. Normally, disturbing real images tend to disturb viewers psychologically. The documentary efficiently managed to demonstrate the burden and impact of the Black Death. It conveyed a message of how this plagues destroyed and killed numerous people within a short period of time.

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