Black Boils and Black Hearts

It was the year thirteen hundred and forty-eight after Our Savior’s birth, and a rather eventful one at that. So many objects, both sacred and deviled, were lost forever. A time of turmoil, strife and great change for all, wealthy and poor, young and old. No one could escape It’s fury, nor It’s deathly grasp. Enticing and repulsive in equal measure, millions would fall for It’s charm and give into temptation before learning their lesson. Even the wisest and the most learned succumbed to It’s suffocating hold. Every class, starting at Christ’s messengers and the mighty nobility, all the way down to the most insignificant street sweeper and promiscuous bawdy woman, was affected in some way or another.

One word was on the lips of every European; death. Spreading from some dirty Mongol from the East, It rapidly visited and payed Its adieus to every family and household on the continent. Not more than four years had gone by, and all of Europe was on its knees. The most prestigious and noble land, far superior than its neighbors, was defeated in a blink of an eye. For thousands of years, foreign armies and migrating peoples tried to destroy this beacon and column of learning and civilization, and none could succeed. Nothing on the planet could compare to the splendor of the Papacy, the wisdom of the Emperor of the East, and the power of the most Holy Empire. Nothing could bring them down, topple the status quo, or dent their sense of pride. Nothing, until It arrived.

Everything was turned upside down, and right side up. Peasants became kings, kings became peasants. The Church was forced to beg for funds, while poor, uneducated city folk sat on mountains of gold, loaning money to the former rich. Equal rights, an unheard of doctrine of law, suddenly sprung to life, as hundreds of revolts, fed by the discontent of the unfortunate, strangled kingdoms into submission. Former tablets of law and tolerance were swept clean, with pogroms against Jews, Muslims, homosexuals, lepers, and every other minority. Thousands lost their lives in the flames of hatred, charged with trumped up crimes. Their only crime: being different. It was a decade of intense hatred, unforgivable wrong doings, and immense folly.

It was spread from the bodies of the living and the dead. However, no one knew for certain how exactly It extended Its fingers of expiration to all. The Church blamed the sins of the world, and claimed Its only vaccine was self immolation through whips, fervent prayer, and donations to the Papacy. Most doctors, midwives, and alchemists pointed their accusing digits at an imbalance of the humors of the body. Too much black bile, the gossip had it. There were a few intelligent minds, like myself, who looked outside the box and to a household friend; the rat. We noticed rats wherever dead bodies lay, and it wasn’t hard to make the connection after further sightings. Something on or in them was fermenting It, but we could never figure out what. People scoffed at us, claiming our thoughts to be untruthful and impossible. The non believers reasoned that rats had been a part of human’s lives for so long, and nothing on this scale had ever happened till now. They pushed our reckoning aside and resumed their lives. To our satisfaction, their lives did not last much longer.

We had the last laugh, for all of us escaped this ravaging and came out on top. We were the new world order; the bankers, the doctors, the clergy, and the royalty. Those who turned a cheek at us were the first to die, and only after a third of the human population of Europe was eradicated, they finally began to listen. Stupid fools, too prideful to listen to the moans and cries of the poor. They learned their lesson; and the hard way.

Amazing how simple black boils on the groin or under the armpit sent shock waves of fear throughout a city, terrifying its denizens to the extreme. These boils made men go mad, making them murder, pillage, steal, and rape without a conscious. Crime was rampant, and no one could afford not to take extra precaution. However, and to the relief of the innocent, once the boils appeared, it was only a matter of time till the victims started coughing up blood, an ominous sign of apparent death. Not more than a week would pass by, and the once terrors of the town lay dead on the streets, covered with flies, and laying in filth.

After all my rambling, I assume you are wondering what is this “It”of which I speak. This pestilence that managed to rearrange the Earth and depopulate it severely. This shadow of death that sent fear into the hearts of every human being for generations. It has a name that sends shivers down the spines of those unlucky enough to hear it muttered; The Black Death.