Historians
\nare unanimous in describing epidemics as a strong factor influencing human
\ncivilization just like any other major
\nevent. The epidemics that had the strongest impact were those of plague,
\nsmallpox and cholera. The plague, also called ‘the black death’, known in the
\nRomanian Principalities as the black ulcer, has killed the biggest number of
\npeople throughout history. According to some historians, the great plague epidemic
\nof the mid 17th century left around
\n75 million people dead. It was not until late 19th century,
\nin 1894 , that the French Alexandre Yersin discovered the bacteria causing the
\npest, and with it the remedy against the most terrible disease ever. Before Yersin’
\ns great discovery, the only cure against the plague was the ‘survival of the
\nfittest’, which meant that the only people who could save their lives were
\nthose immune to the bacteria or those developing a less serious form of the
\ndisease.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian
\nterritories were also hit by epidemics that had a strong impact on how people
\nviewed the world. Professor Octavian Buda, currently teaching the history of
\nmedicine at the Carol Davila Medicine and Pharmacy University in Bucharest,
\nspoke about plague in the 15th century on Romanian territory,
\nactually a follow-up to the great plague epidemic in the previous century.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Octavian Buda: There is a series of
\naccounts provided by foreign physicians who were employed by various courts of
\nthat time, like those of Stephen the Great, Matei Basarab or Vasile Lupu. The
\nbig problem is to identify the clinical picture, since the meaning of the
\ngeneric word ulcer, for instance, was rather broad. In demotic parlance,
\nulcer means disease, precisely. And then it is something rather hard to
\ndefine. We do not have specific information on Iancu of Hunedoara’s case. Most
\nlikely, it was linked to the theatre of operations in the south. One of the
\nextensions of the latest plague epidemics in Western Europe occurred through the
\nDalmatian ports of Dubrovnik or Ragusa. The Romanian medicine historian,
\nNicolae Vatamanu, has even come up with an unusual idea, but based on evidence,
\nnamely that in the famous battle of Razboieni, known to have been won by the
\nOttoman Sultan Muhammad the 2nd, against Stephen the Great, which
\nwas a Pyrrhic victory, an episode of a pest coming from Urals and Crimea
\ninterfered. It is a take on the event which deserves to be examined very
\ncarefully. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Plague
\nepidemics occurred periodically in the next centuries. The 1666 London plague
\nepidemic was horrendous, although of a smaller-scale than the previous ones. In
\nthe Romanian Principalities, the 18th century saw the beginning of
\nthe Phanariot rule, and the first Phanariot ruler, Nicolae Mavrocordat, was
\nkilled by the plague in 1730. But the epidemic with the highest impact started
\nin the period 1813-1814 during Caragea’s rule, being called Caragea’s plague.
\nThus the Phanariot rule was metaphorically considered ominous in Romania’s
\nhistory, given that it started and ended with a plague epidemic. Octavian Buda
\ntalked about the measures taken by the Wallachian authorities and the methods
\nused to fight the epidemic. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Octavian Buda: Quarantine
\nmeasures were taken down the Danube River up to Bucharest, slum bailiffs were designated
\nand the number of gravediggers was increased. They were assigned to take care
\nof corpses and to administer the places where the victims were buried. The
\ngravedigger’s guild became very active and they earned very high salaries.
\nTheir job was to gather the corpses and bury them. Gravediggers
\nwere recruited from among the people who were infected with the plague bacteria
\nand had survived the infection, this being considered a very good anti-epidemic
\nmeasure. It seems that the then rulers empirically became aware of the fact
\nthat the survivors of the plague had acquired some immunity. Historian Ion
\nGhica referred to the gravediggers in very negative terms. When they passed by
\nthe houses of rich people they tore rags from the plague-infected people to
\nspread the infection. Even if they risked the death penalty, they killed the
\nplague-infected people in the street or buried them alive to no longer take the
\npain to transport them to hospital. An interesting story is found in the report
\nof a gravedigger: ‘today I gathered around 15 corpses which I loaded in the
\ncart from the Dudesti plain, but I reached the destination with only 14 corpses
\nas one of them suddenly stood up and ran for his life’.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\npeople’s desperation could not be contained either by priests or by healers.
\nThey found relief in alcohol, the best friend of dismayed people. Octavian
\nBuda: Given
\nthe lack of efficient treatments, alcohol consumed in large quantities helped
\npeople appease their angst. But restrictions were introduced in this respect
\ntoo. There were healers who promised the plague-infected people healing if they
\ntouched a turtle. There was a hospital for treating the plague in Bucharest, in
\nDudesti, and there was also the Saint Vissarion hospital where a lazaretto was
\nset up after the Venetian model, where plague-infected people were confined.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The extreme
\nfrost of the winter of 1813-1814 abated the peak of the contagion but did not
\neradicate the disease. According to reports by the Austrian consul to Bucharest
\nFleischak von Hackenau, as many as 4,500 people died during Caragea’s plague.
\nThe plague was called Caragea’s Plague because it was brought by a person in
\nthe entourage of the prince who was eager to come to Bucharest to take power.
\nThis plague put an end to an epoch, ushering in the modern age.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Historians are unanimous in describing epidemics as a strong factor influencing human civilization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":129233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41141],"tags":[42598,42599,42600],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-129232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-history-show","tag-black-death","tag-plague-in-rom-history","tag-prof-octavian-buda"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n