Links to the Past: Course Sites for Dr. Christopher Lovett

updated as of 9 Feb 03

Yahoo! Groups TASK Teachers

History, Sex, and Syphilis:

Disease and History, Part I

Modern World Civilization

Spring 2003

The Wonders of Modern Medical Science

Man, Germs, and Steel

Environmental Situation in Europe on the Eve of the Plague

� Europe was a rural Society with few large population centers.

� Towns were located near rivers or other bodies of water.

� The public virtually lived over each other.

� Sanitation did not exist as we know it.

Expanding Population

� Population was increasing and so was food production.

� Europe was virtually disease free.

� Population grew from 25 million in 950 to 75 million in 1250.

� To support that population upsurge, more land was brought into cultivation.

� New sources of food production were found.

Man, Beast, and Disease

� Rule of thumb -- a successful search for food for one organism is a lethal infection for another.

� All living things feast on each other.

� If a parasite kills its host quickly then it must locate another in order to survive.

� The optimal relationship is a symbiotic one.

� We must remember that we are surrounded by �Germs.�

Types of Diseases

� Respiratory

� Enteric

� Venereal

� Animal to Human contact

Economics in the High Middle Ages
and Early Modern Period

� Reduction on emphasis on Feudalism.

� Manorialism was in trouble.

� Lords wanted payments to be made �in kind� rather than �service.�

� Emergence of an urban economy.

� Banking was introduced.

� Scutage was being paid rather than providing military service.

Medieval Manor

Climate Changes

� At first the world was warming up.

� The weather and rainfall improved for the better between 750-1250.

� **This is called The Early Medieval Warm or The Little Optimum.**

� Alpine glaciers were in retreat.

� Trees long vanished made their return.

� It was an age of �global warming.�

What Comes Around Goes Around

� Then suddenly and slowly the weather became colder and wetter.

� Food production was on the decline.

� Places like Greenland and Iceland were now cut off from the West.

� Still the population continued to increase.

Reasons for Population Growth

� Early first marriages.

� Women often married at 16.

� Few diseases served as a �population check.�

� Common diseases were of the enteric variety.

� Those included Typhoid, Dysentery, and Diphtheria.

The Justinian Plague

� First arrived in Europe in 541.

� Killed 40% of Constantinople�s population.

� In the rest of Europe it killed 20-25% of the population.

� The Plague turned Europe into a temporary reservoir of �Temporary Focus�

� There were still other diseases in Europe too -- Smallpox and Leprosy.

The Years of the Justinian Plague

Elements of the Plague

� The plague comes in Pandemics

� The disease is spread from animals to humans with fleas serving as intermediaries.

� **The fleas carry in their digestive tract a strain of bacteria called Yersinia Pestis (or Y-Pestis),**

� **The bacteria blocks the digestive tract and hence is called a Blocked Flea.**

� **Many rodents carry the flea required. The most common is the Black Rat or Ratus Ratus.**

� The flea regurgitates on the victim and through a break in the skin the bacteria is passed, probably from a flea bite.

What are Pandemics?

The Three Plague Types

� Bubonic Plague

� Pneumonic Plague

� Septicaemic Plague

Bubonic Plague

Pneumonic Plague

Septicaemic Plague

What Does it Take to Have an Outbreak of the Plague?

� Rats living near the public.

� The rats have to carry the flea.

� The fleas must be blocked.

� And Carry Y-Pestis.

Permanent Plague Reservoirs

� Central Asia

� Siberia

� Parts of China

� Iran

� The Middle East

� North Africa

� East Africa

� The Arabian Peninsula

Theories that Explain the Plague

Some Considerations

� With climate changes rodents migrated.

� In 1320 the plague broke out in China and killed between 90 to 125 million people.

� The plague followed the caravan routes out of Asia to Southern Russia.

� Rats climbed aboard the trading vessels and infected the crews.

Spread of the Plague

The Chronology of the Plague

� The plague first arrived in Constantinople in 1347 where it killed 1,000 per day.

� From Alexandria it went to Southern Italy and spread to the rest of Europe from there.

� It then spread northward killing as it went.

� Anywhere from 30 to 40% of the population perished.

Treatment of Plague Victims

The Public�s Fear

� The public blamed the Jews for poisoning the public wells.

� Cats were the agents of the devil and were collectively killed.

� People fled the towns and cities.

� **Some took to strange religious practices such as Flagellism.**

The Spread of the Plague in Towns and Cities

How Did The Plague Change Europe?

� Ended Serfdom and manorialism.

� caused mass migration to urban centers.

� Lords now lived off their rents.

� Increased use of technology.

� Led to innovation as a result of mass population decline.

� Changed trade patterns away from Europe.

� Increased Royal Power.

� Led to either a renewal in religious beliefs or a new skepticism concerning religion.

Where Did It Come From? When Did Arrive?

� Syphilis made its appearance in the late 15th Century in Italy with the Armies of Charles VIII.

� **VD is very old and has been around for a long time, especially Gonorrhea.**

� However the origins of the disease is open to historical debate.

Did It Come from the America�s

Was it a Gift from the Amer-Indians?

Three Theories on Syphilis

� The Columbian Theory involves the view that it came from the New World with Columbus.

� The Unitarian Theory centers around the view that it came out of Africa.

� The Third Theory, for wont of a better name, is the Crosby Theory, that disease came from both places.

� **The link was Yaws.**

The Cause of Syphilis

� Treponema Pallidum causes both Syphilis and Yaws.

� In order to survive it had to find a damp, hot climate in the human body.

� This process took years to accomplish.

� In order to survive, it buried itself deeper into the human body in order to survive.

� Sexual contact was the principal method of transmission.

The Disease went by many different Names

The First Arrival

� At first it killed quickly.

� Over time it changed and now took years.

� Consequently victims thought that they were cured when they were still infectious.

� The early cures involved mercury, which is highly toxic in its own right.

� The disease disfigured its victims too.

Medical Artists Depict Syphilis

The Most Sign of the Disease

Important Victims

� Francis I of France

� Henry VIII of England

� Ivan IV of Russia

� The father of Winston Churchill

� Al Capone

Early Treatments

� Mercury

� Potassium Iodide

� **In the early 19th Century, the English claimed that Condoms could be used to prevent the spread of the disease.**

History, Sex, and Syphilis:

Disease and History, Part I

Modern World Civilization

The Wonders of Modern Medical Science

Man, Germs, and Steel

Environmental Situation in Europe on the Eve of the Plague

� Europe was a rural Society with few large population centers.

� Towns were located near rivers or other bodies of water.

� The public virtually lived over each other.

� Sanitation did not exist as we know it.

Expanding Population

� Population was increasing and so was food production.

� Europe was virtually disease free.

� Population grew from 25 million in 950 to 75 million in 1250.

� To support that population upsurge, more land was brought into cultivation.

� New sources of food production were found.

Man, Beast, and Disease

� Rule of thumb -- a successful search for food for one organism is a lethal infection for another.

� All living things feast on each other.

� If a parasite kills its host quickly then it must locate another in order to survive.

� The optimal relationship is a symbiotic one.

� We must remember that we are surrounded by �Germs.�

Types of Diseases

� Respiratory

� Enteric

� Venereal

� Animal to Human contact

Economics in the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period

� Reduction on emphasis on Feudalism.

� Manorialism was in trouble.

� Lords wanted payments to be made �in kind� rather than �service.�

� Emergence of an urban economy.

� Banking was introduced.

� Scutage was being paid rather than providing military service.

Medieval Manor

Climate Changes

� At first the world was warming up.

� The weather and rainfall improved for the better between 750-1250.

� This is called The Early Medieval Warm or The Little Optimum.

� Alpine glaciers were in retreat.

� Trees long vanished made their return.

� It was an age of �global warming.�

What Comes Around Goes Around

� Then suddenly and slowly the weather became colder and wetter.

� Food production was on the decline.

� Places like Greenland and Iceland were now cut off from the West.

� Still the population continued to increase.

Reasons for Population Growth

� Early first marriages.

� Women often married at 16.

� Few diseases served as a �population check.�

� Common diseases were of the enteric variety.

� Those included Typhoid, Dysentery, and Diphtheria.

The Justinian Plague

� First arrived in Europe in 541.

� Killed 40% of Constantinople�s population.

� In the rest of Europe it killed 20-25% of the population.

� The Plague turned Europe into a temporary reservoir of �Temporary Focus�

� There were still other diseases in Europe too -- Smallpox and Leprosy.

The Years of the Justinian Plague

Elements of the Plague

� The plague comes in Pandemics

� The disease is spread from animals to humans with fleas serving as intermediaries.

� The fleas carry in their digestive tract a strain of bacteria called Yersinia Pestis (or Y-Pestis),

� The bacteria blocks the digestive tract and hence is called a Blocked Flea.

� Many rodents carry the flea required. The most common is the Black Rat or Ratus Ratus.

� The flea regurgitates on the victim and through a break in the skin the bacteria is passed, probably from a flea bite.

What are Pandemics?

The Three Plague Types

� Bubonic Plague

� Pneumonic Plague

� Septicaemic Plague

Bubonic Plague

Pneumonic Plague

Septicaemic Plague

What Does it Take to Have an Outbreak of the Plague?

� Rats living near the public.

� The rats have to carry the flea.

� The fleas must be blocked.

� And Carry Y-Pestis.

Economics in the High Middle Ages
and Early Modern Period

� **This is called The Early Medieval Warm or The Little Optimum.**

� **The fleas carry in their digestive tract a strain of bacteria called Yersinia Pestis (or Y-Pestis),**

� **The bacteria blocks the digestive tract and hence is called a Blocked Flea.**

� **Many rodents carry the flea required. The most common is the Black Rat or Ratus Ratus.**

� **Some took to strange religious practices such as Flagellism.**

� **VD is very old and has been around for a long time, especially Gonorrhea.**

� **The link was Yaws.**