The Black Death

We have all learned for years the devastation caused by the Black Death. It was interesting to learn the details of the disease along with the so called remedies used for treatment. The plague was a particularly gruesome disease, and the symptoms seemed to incorporate everything associated with illness. For example you would have a fever, swollen glands, full body aching, and not to mention vomiting of blood. The plague was indeed the ultimate most powerful disease seen at this time. To think one third of the population of Europe was lost is unfathomable. It got to the point where family members avoided stricken family members, and had to hire others to remove the body. And although this action is very cruel the chances of transmitting the disease while making contact with the sick was extremely high. Avoiding affected persons was almost a matter of life or death. As we know if we are afflicted with the disease it can be treated if caught early enough. Back then however the remedies were in short supple, and usually were ineffective. People reverted to burning large amounts of incense, and even going as far as to shoot cannon and ring bells to use the sound to ward off the disease. I’m sure people tried a little bit of everything to find any relief for the victims. I was surprised to learn that for the most part most of the leaders and high ranking church members escaped these times plague free. Of course it was easier for them to avoid affected areas and people, but with the ease that the disease spread I was sure more kings or queens would have met their doom. As it turned out Pope Clement VI had the best solution by sitting between two large fires with the thinking he was breathing clean air. What he didn't know at the time was that the bacillus plague is sensitive to heat, and as it turned out the Pope had the best remedy. Professor Knox mentions that the plague still exists in remote areas in the Rocky Mountains, and I am wondering why it is centered primarily on this area? Is their something about the terrain and atmosphere that is conducive to the fleas that carry the plague?