Introduction
Reports of the Mongols attacks frightened Europeans and their leaders. The Mongols enlarged their territory by means of rapid and significant attacks with well-equipped and skillful soldiers. They wiped out areas that resisted their rule as was customary of them. They abandoned some areas and seized food crops and cattle from enemy territories. This kind of warfare spread fear across the world and even among Europeans, who had not yet come face to face with the wrath of the Mongols, fled their territory westward. As some scholars established, the link between the rise of Mongols Empire and the changes in attitude in Europe consequently giving room for the public to question the authority and power of the church was plagues. This paper will argue out that Black Death helped Mongolia empire rise.
Black Death
The plague or Black Death as it was commonly known created its way into Europe in 1347 and claimed 30% to 60% of the total population. Europe did not recuperate from the effects of the plague until late 1800s. However, the origin of the plague was China and central Asia in 1330s and historians claimed that it caused an estimated 25 million deaths. Mongols were not the original cause for the spread of the plague (Green, 2016, 231).Fleas carried an organism known as Yersinia pestis. Yernis pestis was responsible for the Black Death disease. Hence, rodents infested with fleas spread the plague widely. Of course, Mongols spread the plague both intentionally and unintentionally. For example, in 1347, during Kaffa siege Mongol soldiers took dead bodies infected with the plague into the town. This was the first ever record of biological warfare documented in history. Foreign Traders at the siege went to their homes infected with the plague hence it spread widely. The plague spread quickly across areas the Mongols attacked.
Even though Mongol attack on Europe caused fear and spread illness, at the end of it all, it had some positive outcomes. The first was what historians termed Pax Mongolic, that translate into peace among residents under the Mongol rule. The peace resulted into increased trade between Europe and China. Consequently, there was intercultural interaction between the two regions, expanding trade routines (Green, 2016, 101). This interactions were significant because before the Mongol Kingdom, began its reign of terror, Europeans and Chinese did not acknowledge each other’s presence. One thing led to another and Europeans, Chinese developed ambassadorial connections, and religious assignments manifested over the massive distances.
For instance, Islamic merchants assisted Islamic faith gain popularity in Eastern hemisphere and later spread it further from Asia to West African regions. Worried, Western Europeans and Mongols leaders of China strengthened their diplomatic ties between each other against Muslims in Asia (Green, 2016, 94). On the other hand, Europeans also wanted Mongols to practice Christianity within their communities, the Mongols perceived the spread of Christianity as a danger. All this occurrences affected the authority of the church in Europe as Mongols had a seat at the table every time European leaders discussed vital issues. Simply put, Mongols opened up trade routes, which facilitated the spread of Black Death.
Factor That Contributed To the Spread of Black Death
It is vital to note that the Bubonic plague outbreak started in central Asia and spread out to European regions through the trade channels such as the Silk Road. As most historians established, the Bubonic plague, facilitated by rodents, which occupied caravans and ships. For example, the first Bubonic plague incident began in 1347 when Genoese traders set foot on Sicily (Ell, 1989, 121). Apart from trading routines, absence of proper sanitations mechanisms encouraged the spread of the Bubonic plague. Europeans during the middle age era lacked proper sanitation mechanisms and constant running water hence human defecations and other kind of dirt piled up in open places hence rodents thrived in dirt facilitating the spread of the illness. Thirdly, humans lived in crowded towns thus drawing in rodents attracted to human actions. Fourthly, people lacked knowledge and insight on issues surrounding the disease therefore spreading from one place to another was easy. Consequently, the ignorance led to emergence of various myths such as human health sometimes depended on the aligning of the solar system hence disarrangement of the planets led to the spread of various diseases. Another shared belief on the origin of the plague was it came from specific ethnicities. For example the Jewish people and immigrants. Moreover, some claimed that it was a punishment from God due to sinning tirelessly.
In summary, the Mongol quest to expand and concur new territories led to the spread of the Bubonic plague. After concurring, an area Mongols established trade routes, which made it easier for rodents to move in large numbers to different areas hence spreading the disease. In addition, during war, Mongols intentionally damped dead bodies infested with Black Death with the aim of infecting people resisting their rule. The diplomatic relationships formed between Chinese and Europeans strengthen diplomatic ties hence helping fight the disease. The interaction between the Europeans and Mongols diluted the authority of the church.
References
Ell, Stephen R. "Three days in October of 1630: detailed examination of mortality during an early modern plague epidemic in Venice." Reviews of infectious diseases 11, no. 1 (1989): 128-139.
Green, Monica H. "Editor's Introduction to Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World: Rethinking the Black Death." The Medieval Globe 1, no. 1 (2016): 3.
