The Effects of the Black Death on The Crown of Aragon
For my artistic representation, I decided to create a collage/poster that represents the various medical concepts during the Black Death. I chose this specific medium because I wanted to incorporate a visualization of what was going on that could help readers understand how the Crown of Aragon survived through the Black Death. My initial intention for this assignment was to create an entire poster board collage, but I decided to break specific topics into their own sections and categories for a better understanding of what is being presented. I chose to include this collage into my assignment because I find that having visual aids alongside the text, allows historians to better understand what it is they are reading and allows them to get a different view of the topic at hand. I thought that by incorporating this into my project, readers would be able to grasp some of the ideas that medieval physicians took into consideration with their medicine, as well as what the citizens of Aragon should have done to try and avoid getting sick.
The Black Death began during 1346, and immensely impacted the population of Medieval Spain, specifically focusing on the Crown of Aragon. The symptoms of this disease were “The characteristic buboes or swellings from along the lymphatic system, accompanied by fever, pain, swelling, and hemorrhages beneath the skin.”[1] Most patients that had been affected by this plague had died a very painful death. The main objective of examining this topic is to take a closer look at the different medical idea’s that physicians had implemented in order for the citizens of the Crown of Aragon to survive this deadly plague. I focused my topic on a couple of research questions. The main question being, during the Black Death, what did the lives of the Crown of Aragon citizens look like regarding the medical aspects of surviving this plague? The sub-question that I wanted to add was what kind of medical practices did the citizens of the Crown of Aragon take part in? With these questions in mind, there were various ways in order for the people of Medieval Spain to try and avoid being affected by the Black Death. However, I am only focusing on some of the medical practices that were taking place during this time. The main reason why I chose to examine this topic is because we are currently in a pandemic ourselves. Therefore, I thought it would be interesting to focus on one specific area, and to learn about what physicians during the 14th century did in order to help their community with staying as safe as possible during the Black Death.
When it comes to the different sections in my artistic representation, I wanted to focus on five specific categories that help readers understand what the public should or should not have been doing to avoid the plague in the Crown of Aragon. When it comes to the first section, this category represents bloodletting and how the zodiac signs affect the outcome of this practice. This idea reflects the amount of the people in Medieval Spain that had tried to prevent the possibility of contracting this disease by extracting a specific amount of blood from their body. It was explained that when one was to take part in this practice, they should first speak to a physician before continuing and then “…one can shortly after bleed the median vein or some other in order to withdraw blood, 3 or 4 ounces, more or less according to the condition of the person or according to major or minor necessity.”[2] This practice was used by many, but with doing so people had to take into account some specifications. People had to keep their zodiac signs in mind as well as what position the moon is at during the time of extraction. It was recommended that an individual should pay attention to whether the moon is in its third quarter because that is when it would be the best time to let blood, and it is in favour of most signs including, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Capricorn as well as some others.[3]
When examining the second section of my representation, this category represents the types of food and beverages people should have been consuming. There were very specific items that people should have incorporated as well as avoided when it comes to their everyday meals. People were supposed to drink and eat as little as possible during the plague.[4] This was because even though they are doing everything they could to avoid the disease, anything that they consumed could have been contaminated.[5] When people were to cook meals, they were supposed to always use vinegar, lemon and orange juices as well as anything else acidic.[6] This was because acidic ingredients come with health benefits that could slow the possibility of contacting the plague. People were also allowed to eat other acidic fruits like pomegranates and drink specific wines, along with different types of fish including salmon and flounder, which were to be fried or grilled over coals.[7] However, there were also some foods that needed to be avoided, these included, geese, ducks and lamb, different types of marine animals, including tuna fish, eels, dolphins, and sharks.[8] The last thing that was taken into consideration to avoid the Black Death was that “One should take three times a week in the morning one drachm or three dinars [the weight of three coin] of fine theriac.”[9] This was an extra precaution from the possibility of contracting the plague.
The third section in my representation reflects the specific emotions and moods people should have. Trying to stay as happy and joyous as they could during the plague was really important, this was because it deflected the moods that could attract the plague.[10] This means that people should avoid emotions like fear and being imaginative because this attracted bad energy which would increase the possibility of getting sick.[11] It was also explained that for this reason, no bells should be rung in the case of someone’s death because people associate death with bad feelings and imagine the worst.[12]
When examining the fourth section of my representation, this category represents the amount of exercise and sleep people should have been getting. When focusing on exercise, people would be exercising everyday just by taking part in their regular activities, but it was explained that “In such times one must avoid violent exercise because such exercise causes much air which is foul and poisoned to be drawn to the heart.”[13] Meaning that people should be decreasing their regular exercise schedule in order to avoid breathing too much contaminated air into their lungs. When it comes to sleep, it was explained that people were to make fires in their rooms with wood such as rosemary or cypress, and they should clean their floors with vinegar and rose water, this way they can be breathing in the beneficial fumes why resting.[14]
When it comes to fifth and final section of my representation, the aspects of social distancing and quarantining are being examined. Some physicians were skeptical on whether or not quarantining actually did anything to stop the spread of the plague.[15] However, as it can be seen throughout Agresta’s article, even though the Black Death had spread with ease across Medieval Spain in the beginning, having people isolate themselves was one of the best things that the citizens in Valencia could have done in order to decrease the spread of the disease.
Each of the sources that were used throughout this assignment were extremely beneficial and influenced this representation. They all had provided the evidence needed in order to prove the point being made. When it comes to Jacme D’agramont and Alfonso De Córdoba these was the most helpful of all my sources. This is because, D’agramont was a physician himself, which provided firsthand evidence of what he was trying to accomplish during the Black Plague. Justin K. Stearns’ book was also helpful during this assignment because it explains how different areas were able to know which diseases were contagious or how they were transmitted through specific medical writings.[16] Each author that was used for this assignment provided an abundance of information on the Black Death.
Bibliography:
Primary:
Córdoba, Alfonso De. “Letter and Regimen concerning the Pestilence.” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, 45-46. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
D’agramont, Jacme. “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics.” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, 51-55. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Secondary:
Agresta, Abigail. “From Purification to Protection: Plague Response in Late Medieval Valencia.” Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies 95, no. 2 (2020): 371-395.
Phillips, William D., Jr. “Peste Negra: The Fourteenth-Century Plague Epidemics in Iberia” in On the Social Origins of Medieval institutions: Essays in Honor of Joseph F. O’Callaghan, edited by Donald Kagay and Theresa Vann, 47-62.
Stearns, Justin K, Infectious Ideas: Contagion in premodern Islamic and Christian Thought in the Western Mediterranean. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011.
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Photographs:
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[1] William D. Phillips, Jr. “Peste Negra: The Fourteenth-Century Plague Epidemics in Iberia” in On the Social Origins of Medieval institutions: Essays in Honor of Joseph F. O’Callaghan, edited by Donald Kagay and Theresa Vann, 48.
[2] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 53-54.
[3] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 54.
[4] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 52.
[5] Córdoba, Alfonso De. “Letter and Regimen concerning the Pestilence.” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 46.
[6] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 53.
[7] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 53.
[8] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 53.
[9] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 53.
[10] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 54.
[11] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 54.
[12] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 55.
[13] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 52.
[14] Jacme D’agramont, “Regimen of Protection against Epidemics,” In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1359. A Brief History in Documents, edited by John Aberth, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,) 52.
[15] Abigail Agresta, “From Purification to Protection: Plague Response in Late Medieval Valencia,” Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies 95, no. 2 (2020): 388-389.
[16] Stearns, Justin K, Infectious Ideas: Contagion in premodern Islamic and Christian Thought in the Western Mediterranean. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011), 39.
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