Black Death: The Symptoms

There are three types of plague that clouded the spirit of the Middle Ages, Bubonic Plague (Or the more commonly known Black Death), Septicemic Plague, and Pneumonic Plague. The Black Death was the most common plague. After obtaining the disease you should experience a fun mix of sneezing, rashes, swollen armpits, groin, or neck, fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion. WOW! I sound like those commercials for depression medicine. Cymbalta can help… KILL YOU!  Sorry, anyway, the person’s skin would have black and blue splotches due to internal bleeding. Which is always fun! NOT. By the way, did you know that the song “Ring Around The Rosies” was about the black death? Ring around the roses, is about the red ring that would sometimes appear on victims skin. Pocketful of posies symbolizes when people would walk around with herbs in there noses to protect them. Ashes, ashes was talking about how plague victims were often cremated. The third line is sometimes referenced to as Atischoo, Atischoo, which was to stand for sneezing; another symptom of the disease. And we all fall down, the plague was not selective of its victims the rich and the poor fell. Now isn’t that interesting? You probably won’t sing that to your baby sister anymore!

Modern Day ring around the rosie was based on Black Death symptoms