Reference no: EM133714043

Homework: Unique

Historians and doctors have much in common. Both acknowledge that the proper study of mankind is Man. Both are particularly interested in the influences which condition human existence. . . . In medical diagnosis, a single cause for disease will often be found. In historical investigation, the causes are likely to be complex. Nothing could be more ridiculous than to contend that disease is always the primary cause of great historical change; but, particularly at a time when the sociological aspects of history are being emphasized, it is worth examining those episodes in which the influence of disease may have been of real importance, especially when that importance has been neglected or misconstrued by more conventional historians.

Frederick Cartwright, Disease and History

Over the millennia, various epidemic and pandemics have greatly influenced the course of human events. This can be witnessed in military and political affairs, in cultural worldviews, in the development of the arts and folklore. This assignment consists of descriptions of epidemics from throughout the western world and interpretations of their impact. In a short research paper consider the following questions and answer them in your response.

Be sure to synthesize (all) the material into your own analysis of the role of plague throughout the centuries. Are the plagues discussed the same diseases? What are their similarities? What are their differences? What effect do these illnesses have on society, culture, politics, and the economy? Are there commonalities to man's reaction or response to the sickness? What does the reaction of humanity to epidemic say about our species? Is mankind more capable of dealing with an epidemic or even pandemic in one period than another?

Selected readings from the following are provided from the following:

Thucydides, "The Great Plague at Athens"
Procopius, "Justinian's Plague"
Documents on the Black Death
Jean de Venette, "The Plague in France"
Giovanni Boccaccio, "A Most Terrible Plague"
Matteo Villani, "God's Hand was Unstrung"
Samuel K. Cohn, Jr., The Black Death: End of a Paradigm"
"Orders for the Prevention of the Plague, 1666"
Daniel Defoe, "Journal of the Plague Year"
A. W. Sloan, "Medical and Social Aspects of the Great Plague of London in 1665"