The Black Death is the 19th-century CE term for the plague epidemic that ravaged Europe between 1347-1352 CE, killing an estimated 30 million people there and many more worldwide as it reached pandemic proportions. The name comes from the black buboes (infected lymph glands) which broke out over a plague victim's body. The cause of the plague was the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which was carried by fleas on rodents, usually rats, but this was not known to the people of the medieval period, as it was only identified in 1894 CE. Prior to that time, the plague was attributed primarily to supernatural causes – the wrath of God, the work of the devil, the alignment of the planets – and, stemming from these, “bad air” or an unbalance of the “humors” of the body which, when in line, kept a person healthy.
黑死病是公元19世纪的术语，指的是公元1347-1352年间肆虐欧洲的流行瘟疫，估计有3000万人死于黑死病；在全世界范围内，由于它达到了大流行的程度，还有更多人死亡。这个名称来自于瘟疫受害者身上冒出的黑色气泡（受感染的淋巴腺）。鼠疫的病因是鼠疫耶尔森氏菌，它由啮齿动物（通常是老鼠）身上的跳蚤携带，但中世纪的人们并不知道这一点，因为它在公元1894年才被确认。在那之前，瘟疫主要被归咎于超自然的原因——上帝的愤怒、魔鬼的工作、行星的排列，以及源于这些原因的 "坏空气"或身体 "体液"的不平衡，这些体液如果保持一致，就能保持人的健康。
Since no one knew what caused the disease, no cure was possible, but this did not stop people from trying what they could based on the medical knowledge of the time which came primarily from the Greek doctor Hippocrates (l. c. 460 - c. 370 BCE), philosopher Aristotle of Stagira (l. 384-322 BCE), and the Roman physician Galen (l. 130-210 CE) as well as religious belief, folklore, herbalism, and superstition. These cures – most of which were ineffective and some of which were fatal – fall roughly into five categories:
Animal cures
Potions, Fumigations, Bloodletting, Pastes
Flight from Infected Areas and Persecution of Marginalized Communities
Religious Cures
Quarantine and Social Distancing
由于没有人知道疾病的原因，所以黑死病在当时不可能被治愈，但这并不妨碍人们根据当时的医学知识（主要来自希腊医生希波克拉底（约公元前460-约公元前370年）、哲学家斯塔吉拉的亚里士多德（约公元前384-322年）和罗马医生盖伦（约公元前130-210年））以及宗教信仰、民间传说、草药和迷信，尝试他们所能做到的。这些治疗方法，其中大部分是无效的，有些是致命的。大致可分为五类：
1、动物治疗法
2、药水、熏蒸、放血、膏药
3、逃离受感染地区和迫害边缘化社区
4、宗教疗法
5、隔离和社会疏离
Of these five, only the last – quarantine and what is now known as “social distancing” – had any effect on stopping the spread of plague. Unfortunately, people in 14th-century CE Europe were as reluctant to stay isolated in their homes as people are in the present day during the Covid-19 pandemic. The wealthy bought their way out of quarantine and fled to country estates, spreading the disease further, while others helped with the spread by ignoring quarantine efforts and continuing to participate in religious services and by going about their daily business. By the time the plague ended in Europe, millions were dead and the world the survivors had known would be radically changed.
在这五项措施中，只有最后一项——隔离和现在被称为 "社会疏导 "的措施对阻止瘟疫的传播起作用。不幸的是，在公元14世纪的欧洲，人们不愿意呆在家里与世隔绝，就像今天人们在Covid-19大流行期间一样。富人买通了隔离区，逃到了乡下的庄园，使疾病进一步蔓延，而其他人则无视隔离工作，继续参加宗教活动和日常事务，从而促进了疾病的蔓延。当瘟疫在欧洲结束时，数百万人死亡，幸存者所了解的世界将被彻底改变。
17世纪鼠疫医生的描绘
瘟 疫 的 到 来 与 蔓 延
The plague had been killing people in the Near East since before 1346 CE, but that year it grew worse and more widespread. In 1343 CE, the Mongols under the Khan Djanibek (r. 1342-1357 CE) responded to a street brawl in the Italian-held Crimean town of Tana in which a Christian Italian merchant killed a Mongol Muslim. Tana was easily taken by Djanibek, but a number of merchants fled to the port city of Caffa (modern-day Feodosia in Crimea) with the Mongol army in pursuit. Caffa was then put to siege but, at the same time, the plague began to spread through the Mongol army between 1344-1345 CE.
瘟疫在公元1346年之前就已经在近东造成了死亡，但在这一年，它变得更加严重和广泛。公元1343年，金帐汗国大汗札尼別（公元1342-1357年）领导的蒙古人对意大利人控制的克里米亚城镇塔纳发生的街头斗殴事件做出了回应，在这场斗殴中，一名基督教意大利商人杀死了一名蒙古穆斯林。塔纳被札尼別轻松拿下，但一些商人在蒙古军队的追击下逃往港口城市卡法（今克里米亚的费奥多西亚）。卡法随后被围困，与此同时，公元1344-1345年间，瘟疫开始在蒙古军队中蔓延。
The Italian notary Gabriele de Mussi (l. c. 1280 - c. 1356 CE) was either an eyewitness to the siege or received a first-hand account and wrote of it in 1348/1349 CE. He reports how, as the Mongol warriors died and their corpses filled the camp, the people of Caffa rejoiced that God was striking down their enemies. Djanibek, however, ordered the corpses of his dead soldiers catapulted over the city's walls and soon the plague erupted in the city.
意大利公证人加布里埃尔·德·穆西斯（约1280年-约1356年）可能是围攻的目击者，也可能是得到了第一手资料，他于公元1348/1349年写下了这件事。他叙述道，当蒙古战士死去，他们的尸体堆满了营地时，卡法的人们欢欣鼓舞，认为上帝正在击倒他们的敌人。然而，札尼別命令将死去的士兵的尸体弹射到城墙上，很快瘟疫就在城内爆发了。
It has been suggested by some modern-day scholars that the dead could not have infected the people of Caffa as the disease could not be transmitted by handling corpses but, even if that were true, many of these dead bodies – described as “rotting” – were most likely already in an advanced state of putrefaction and gases and bodily fluids could have infected the city's defenders as they tried to dispose of what de Mussi describes as “mountains of dead” (Wheelis, 2).
一些现代学者认为，死者不可能感染卡法的人，因为这种疾病不可能通过处理尸体来传播，但是，即使这是真的，这些被描述为 "腐烂 "的尸体中的许多人很可能已经处于高度腐烂状态，当城市的守卫者试图处理加布里埃尔·德·穆西斯描述的 "堆积如山的尸体 "时，气体和体液可能感染了他们（Wheelis，2）。
A number of the people of Caffa fled the city in four merchant ships which went first to Sicily, then Marseilles and Valencia, spreading the plague at each stop. From these ports, other infected people then spread it elsewhere until people were dying across Europe, Britain, and even in Ireland where ships from Europe had docked for trade.
一些卡法的人乘坐四艘商船逃离该市，这些商船首先前往西西里岛，然后是马赛和瓦伦西亚，在每一站都传播了鼠疫。从这些港口出发，其他受感染的人又将其传播到其他地方，直到整个欧洲、英国诸岛，甚至是来自欧洲的船只停靠贸易的爱尔兰都有人死亡。
1665 年伦敦大瘟疫的描绘
医 学 知 识
The physicians of the day had no idea how to cope with the outbreak. Nothing in their experience came anywhere close to the epidemic which killed people, usually, within three days of the onset of symptoms. Scholar Joseph A. Legan notes:
When the Black Death struck Europe in the middle of the 14th century, nobody knew how to prevent or treat the disease. Many believed they could cure it, but none of the bloodletting, concoctions, or prayers were successful. The overall intellectual framework of dealing with illness was flawed. The failure of medieval medicine is largely due to the strict adherence to ancient authorities and the reluctance to change the model of physiology and disease the ancients presented. (1)
当时的医生们不知道如何应对疫情。在他们的经验中，没有任何东西能与这种流行病相提并论，这种流行病通常在症状出现的三天内就会使人死亡。学者Joseph A. Legan指出：
当黑死病在14世纪中期袭击欧洲时，没有人知道如何预防或治疗这种疾病。许多人相信可以治愈它，但放血、调制或祈祷都没有成功。处理疾病的整体知识框架是有缺陷的。中世纪医学的失败主要是由于严格遵守古代权威，不愿意改变古人提出的生理学和疾病的模式。(1)
None of Galen's works – and little of others' – were available in Latin or Greek to the European doctor who had to rely on Arabic translations which were then translated to Latin along with the Canon of Medicine of the Persian polymath Ibn Sina (also given as Avicenna, l. c. 980-1037 CE) whose brilliant work was often obscured by poor translations. Based on Galen's works, primarily, the basis of medieval medicine was the theory of humors – that the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire are linked to bodily fluids of yellow bile (fire), blood (air), phlegm (water), black bile (earth) and each “humor” was associated with color, a certain taste, a kind of temperament, and a season of the year.
对于欧洲医生来说，盖伦的作品，以及其他人的作品，都没有拉丁文或希腊文版本，他们不得不依靠阿拉伯文译本，然后再连同波斯多面手伊本·西那（Ibn Sina，又称阿维森纳，约公元980-1037年）的《医典》一起翻译成拉丁文，后者的杰出作品常常被糟糕的翻译掩盖。主要根据盖伦的作品，中世纪医学的基础是体液理论——土、水、气、火四种元素与黄胆（火）、血（气）、痰（水）、黑胆（土）等体液有关，每种 "体液 "都与颜色、某种味道、一种气质和一年中的一个季节有关。
One's health could also be affected by astrological alignment and, of course, by supernatural agencies such as God, Satan, diverse demons, and the “witchcraft” of marginalized peoples such as gypsies, Jews, and others considered “outsiders” who were thought to possess knowledge of the black arts. Scholar George Childs Kohn comments on the causes given for the plague:
The plague was attributed to any and all of the following: corrupted air and water, hot and humid southerly winds, proximity of swamps, lack of purifying sunshine, excrement and other filth, putrid decomposition of dead bodies, excessive indulgence in foods (particularly fruits), God's wrath, punishment for sins, and the conjunction of stars and planets. Religious fanatics asserted that human sins had brought the dreadful pestilence; they roamed from place to place, scourging themselves in public…There was panic everywhere, with men and women knowing no way to stop death except to flee from it. (27-28)
一个人的健康也可能受到占星术的影响，当然也可能受到超自然机构的影响，如上帝、撒旦、各种恶魔，以及吉普赛人、犹太人和其他被认为拥有黑魔法知识的 "外来者 "的 "巫术"。学者乔治·C·科恩对瘟疫的原因进行了评论：
瘟疫被归咎于以下任何一项：腐败的空气和水、湿热的南风、靠近沼泽、缺乏净化的阳光、粪便和其他污物、尸体腐烂、过度沉溺于食物（尤其是水果）、上帝的愤怒、对罪孽的惩罚以及星星和行星的结合。宗教狂热者断言，人类的罪孽带来了可怕的瘟疫；他们从一个地方游荡到另一个地方，当众鞭打自己......到处都是恐慌，男人和女人除了逃离死亡外，不知道有什么办法可以阻止死亡。(27-28)
There were many people, however, who did not take to flight but tried to find some means of fighting the disease where they were. Based on the medical knowledge of the time, folk cures which had been passed down for generations, Christian belief, superstition, and prejudice, the people tried any suggestion offered to defeat death.
然而，有许多人并没有逃跑，而是试图在他们所在的地方找到一些对抗疾病的方法。根据当时的医学知识、世代相传的民间治疗方法、基督教信仰、迷信和偏见，人们尝试了任何消除死亡的做法。
Michel Serre 的画作描绘了 1721 年马赛爆发的鼠疫。
动 物 疗 法
One of the most popular cures was the “Vicary Method”, named after the English doctor Thomas Vicary, who first proposed it. A healthy chicken was taken and its back and rear plucked clean; this bare part of the live chicken was then applied to the swollen nodes of the sick person and the chicken strapped in place. When the chicken showed signs of illness, it was thought to be drawing the disease from the person. It was removed, washed, and strapped back on and this continued until the chicken or the patient died.
最受欢迎的治疗方法之一是 "维卡里法"，它是以最早提出该方法的英国医生托马斯·维卡里命名的。取一只健康的鸡，把它的背部和尾部拔干净；然后把活鸡的这个裸露部分涂在病人的肿胀结节上，并把鸡绑在那里。当鸡出现生病的迹象时，人们认为它是在从病人身上吸取疾病。将鸡取出来，洗干净，再绑回去，这样一直持续到鸡或病人死亡。
Another attempt at a cure was to find and kill a snake, chop it into pieces, and rub the various parts over swollen buboes. The snake, synonymous in Europe with Satan, was thought to draw the disease out of the body as evil would be drawn to evil. Pigeons were used in this same way but why the pigeon was chosen is unclear.
另一种治疗方法是找到并杀死一条蛇，把它切成碎片，然后把各部分涂在肿胀的气泡上。蛇在欧洲是撒旦的同义词，人们认为它能把疾病从身体里引出来，因为邪恶会被引向邪恶。鸽子也被用于这种方式，但为什么选择鸽子就不清楚了。
An animal much sought after for its curative powers was the unicorn. Drinking a powder made of the ground-up horn of the unicorn mixed in water was thought to be an effective remedy and was also among the most expensive. The unicorn could not easily be caught and had to be lulled into submission by a young virgin maiden. Doctors who managed to procure the powder of a ground “unicorn horn” used it to treat snake bites, fever, convulsions, and serious wounds and so it was thought to work equally well with the plague. There is no evidence that it did, however, any more than the cures involving the chicken or the snake.
独角兽是一种因其治疗能力而备受追捧的动物。人们认为，将独角兽的角磨成粉混在水中饮用是一种有效的疗法，也是最昂贵的疗法之一。独角兽不容易抓到，必须由一个年轻的处女少女来哄骗它。医生们设法获得了研磨好的 "独角兽角 "粉末，用它来治疗蛇咬伤、发烧、抽搐和严重的伤口，因此人们认为它对瘟疫同样有效。然而，没有证据表明它比涉及鸡或蛇的治疗方法更有效。
阿诺德-博克林的《瘟疫》。
药 水、熏 蒸、放 血 和 膏 药
The unicorn potion was not the only – or most expensive – cure offered to the nobility or wealthy merchant class. Another remedy was eating or drinking a small quantity of crushed emeralds. The physician would grind the emeralds with a mortar and pestle and then administer it to the patient as a fine powder mixed with either food or water. Those who could not afford to consume emeralds drank arsenic or mercury which killed them faster than the plague.
独角兽药水并不是提供给贵族或富商阶层的唯一或最昂贵的疗法。另一种疗法是吃或喝少量碾碎的绿宝石。医生会用研杵将绿宝石磨碎，然后将其作为细粉与食物或水混合，给病人服用。那些没钱吃绿宝石的人则喝砒霜或水银，这比瘟疫死得更快。
One of the best-known potions was Four Thieves Vinegar which was a combination of cider, vinegar, or wine with spices such as sage, clove, rosemary, and wormwood (among others) thought to be a potent protection against the plague. It allegedly was created and used by four thieves who were able to rob the homes of the dying and graves of the dead because the drink made them immune to the plague. Four Thieves Vinegar is still made and used today in the practice of homeopathic medicine as an antibacterial agent; though no one in the modern-day claims it can cure the plague.
其中最著名的药水是四盗醋，它是苹果酒、醋或葡萄酒与鼠尾草、丁香、迷迭香和艾草（等）等香料的组合，被认为对瘟疫有治疗效果。据称，它是由四个盗贼创造和使用的，他们能够抢劫濒死者的家和死者的坟墓，因为这种饮料使他们对瘟疫免疫。今天，四盗醋被制造出来，并作为一种抗菌剂用于顺势疗法的实践；尽管在现代没有人声称它可以治愈瘟疫。
The most popular potion among the wealthy was known as theriac. Legan notes, “it was very difficult to prepare; recipes would often contain up to eighty ingredients, and often, significant amounts of opium” (35). The ingredients were ground into a paste which was mixed with syrup and consumed as needed. Precisely what the ingredients were and why it worked, however, is unclear. Theriac in its liquid form was often referred to as treacle but it seems it could also be applied as a paste.
在富人中最受欢迎的药水被称为 "泰瑞亚克"。Legan指出，"它的准备工作非常困难；配方往往包含多达80种成分，而且往往包含大量的鸦片"（35）。这些材料被磨成糊状，与糖浆混合，根据需要饮用。然而，准确地说，这些成分是什么，以及它为什么有效，目前还不清楚。液体形式的泰瑞亚克经常被称为糖浆，但似乎也可以作为糊状物使用。
Aside from potions, clearing the air was considered another effective remedy. Since the plague was thought to spread by “bad air”, homes were fumigated with incense or simply smoke from burning thatch. People carried bouquets of flowers which they held to their faces, not only to ward off the stench of decomposing bodies, but because it was thought this would fumigate one's lungs. It was this practice which gave rise to the children's rhyme “ring around the rosy/a pocketful of posie/ashes, ashes, we all fall down” in reference to the practice of filling one's pockets with flowers or sweet-smelling substances to keep one safely fumigated at all times. As the rhyme suggests, this was as ineffective as any of the other cures.
除了药水之外，清除空气被认为是另一种有效的补救措施。由于瘟疫被认为是通过 "糟糕的空气 "传播的，所以人们用香或简单的燃烧茅草的烟雾来熏蒸住宅。人们拿着花束贴在脸上，不仅是为了抵御腐烂尸体的恶臭，还因为人们认为这可以熏蒸人的肺部。正是由于这种做法，才有了 "环抱玫瑰/一口袋花/灰烬，我们都倒下 "的童谣，指的是在口袋里装满鲜花或香甜的物质，使人随时都能安全地受到熏蒸的做法。这首儿歌所表明，这种疗法与其他治疗方法一样无效。
It was also thought that one could fumigate one's self by sitting close to a very hot fire which would draw the disease out by heavy sweating. Another technique was to sit by an open sewer as the “bad air” which was causing one's sickness would gravitate to the “bad air” of the sewage of the stream, pond, or pit used for dumping human waste.
人们还认为，可以通过坐在非常热的火边来熏蒸自己，这样可以通过大量出汗来把疾病引出来。另一种方法是坐在敞开的下水道旁，因为导致人生病的 "坏空气 "会被用于倾倒人类废物的小溪、池塘或坑的污水的 "坏空气 "所吸引。
Bloodletting was a popular remedy for all kinds of illnesses and was well established by the medieval period. It was thought that, by drawing out “bad blood” which caused illness, health would be restored by the “good blood” that remained. The preferred method was “leeching” in which a number of leeches would be placed on the patient's body to suck out the “bad blood” but leech-collectors were a highly-paid profession and not everyone could afford this treatment. For the less affluent, a small incision was made in the skin with a knife and the “bad blood” collected in a cup and disposed of. Another method along these same lines was “cupping” in which a cup was heated and applied upside down to a patient's skin, especially the buboes, to draw the sickness into it.
放血是一种治疗各种疾病的流行疗法，在中世纪时期已经非常成熟。人们认为，通过抽出导致疾病的 "坏血"，剩下的 "好血 "就会恢复健康。首选的方法是 "水蛭疗法"，即在病人身上放置一些水蛭来吸出 "坏血"，但水蛭收集者是一个高薪职业，不是每个人都能负担得起这种治疗。对于不那么富裕的人来说，可以用刀在皮肤上划一个小口子，把 "坏血 "收集到杯子里，然后处理掉。与之相似的另一种方法是 "拔火罐"，即把杯子加热并倒置在病人的皮肤上，特别是泡眼处，以把病菌引到杯子里。
Aside from theriac paste, doctors also prescribed a cream made of various roots, herbs, and flowers which was applied to the buboes one they were lanced. Human waste was also turned into a paste for the same purpose which no doubt led to greater infection. Since it was believed that clean urine had medicinal properties, people would bathe in it or drink it, and urine collectors were paid well by doctors for a clean product.
除了普通的药膏，医生们还开出了由各种根茎、草药和花朵制成的药膏，这些药膏被涂抹在身上的气泡上，然后再把它们切开。人类排泄物也被制成糊状，用于同样的目的，这无疑会导致更大的感染。由于人们相信干净的尿液具有药用价值，所以人们会用它来洗澡或喝它，而收集尿液的人也会因为干净的产品而得到医生的高薪。
法国马蒂格的黑死病死者遗骸
逃 离 受 感 染 地 区 与 逃 离 迫 害
Those not wishing to bathe in urine, be smeared with feces, or try the other cures, left the affected region or city, but this option was usually only available to the wealthy. The Italian poet and writer Giovanni Boccaccio (l. 1313-1375 CE) describes the flight of ten affluent young people from Florence to a countryside villa during the plague in his masterpiece The Decameron (written 1349-1353 CE) where the characters tell each other stories to pass the time while the plague rages on in the city.
那些不愿意用尿液洗澡、被粪便涂抹或尝试其他治疗方法的人，就离开受影响的地区或城市，但这种选择通常只有富人才能享受到。意大利诗人和作家乔瓦尼-薄伽丘（约公元1313-1375年）在他的代表作《十日谈》（写于公元1349-1353年）中描述了瘟疫期间十个富裕的年轻人从佛罗伦萨逃到乡间别墅的情景，当瘟疫在城市肆虐时，人物互相讲故事来打发时间。
These types of people, and many others of all social classes, also tried curing the plague by striking at what they considered its source: marginalized groups who were considered outsiders. Kohn writes:
In places, the plague was blamed on cripples, nobles, and Jews, who were accused of poisoning the public wells and were either driven away or killed by fire or torture. (28)
这些类型的人，以及许多其他社会阶层的人，也试图通过打击他们认为的源头来治愈瘟疫：被视为外来者的边缘群体。科恩写道：
一些地方，瘟疫的产生被归咎于瘸子、贵族和犹太人，他们被指控在公共水井中投毒，要么被赶走，要么被火烧或酷刑杀死。(28)
In addition to those groups mentioned by Kohn, many others were also singled out who were in any way considered different and did not conform to the standards of the majority.
除了科恩提到的这些群体外，还有许多人也被挑出来，他们以任何方式被认为是格格不入的，不符合大多数人的标准。
黑死病的蔓延
宗 教 疗 法
That standard, for the most part, was set by the medieval Church which informed the worldview of the majority of the population of Europe at the time. Religious cures were the most common and, besides the public flagellation mentioned above, took the form of purchasing religious amulets and charms, prayer, fasting, attending mass, persecuting those thought responsible, and participating in religious processions.
这个标准在很大程度上是由中世纪的教会制定的，它贯穿了当时欧洲大多数人的世界观。宗教治疗是最常见的，除了上面提到的公开鞭打外，还采取了购买宗教护身符和符咒、祈祷、禁食、参加弥撒、迫害那些被认为负有责任的人以及参加宗教游行的形式。
The pope eventually put a stop to the public flagellations as ineffective and upsetting to the populace, but by that time, participants had spread the plague to every town or city they had visited. Processions, in which participants marched and prayed for mercy usually from a central point in town to the church or a shrine, did the same on a smaller scale as did public gatherings to hear mass.
教皇最终停止了公开鞭刑，因为它没有效果，而且让民众感到不安，但到那时，参与者已经将瘟疫传播到他们所访问的每个城镇或城市。游行，参与者通常从城镇的一个中心点向教堂或圣地行进并祈求怜悯，在较小的范围内也是如此，就像公众集会听弥撒一样。
老彼得·勃鲁盖尔 1562 年的画作《死亡的胜利》描绘了欧洲因瘟疫而经历的动荡
隔 离 检 疫 与 社 会 疏 离
The only effective means of stopping the spread of the plague – though not curing it – was separating the sick from the well through quarantine. The port city of Ragusa (modern-day Dubrovnik, Croatia), at that time under the control of Venice, was the first to initiate this practice through a 30-day isolation period imposed on arriving ships. Ragusa's population had been heavily depleted by the plague in 1348 CE, and they recognized that the disease was infectious and could be transmitted by people. Ragusa's policy was effective and was adopted by other cities and extended to 40 days under the law of quarantino (40 days) which gives English its word quarantine.
阻止瘟疫蔓延的唯一有效手段，尽管没有治愈它，而是通过检疫将病人与健康人分开。当时在威尼斯控制下的港口城市拉古萨（今克罗地亚杜布罗夫尼克），通过对抵达的船只实行30天的隔离期，率先开始了这种做法。拉古萨的人口因公元1348年的瘟疫而严重减少，他们认识到这种疾病具有传染性，可以由人传播。拉古萨的政策很有效，被其他城市采用，并根据quarantino（40天）法延长到40天，英语中的quarantine（隔离检疫）一词就是由此而来。
Although quarantine and social distancing seem to have had a positive effect, governments were slow to implement the policies and people reluctant to follow them. Kohn writes:
The segregation of the sick was ordered in many cities but in some the quarantine practice and stations were put into effect too late, such as in Venice and Genoa, where half the people succumbed. (28)
尽管检疫和社会隔离似乎产生了积极的效果，但政府执行政策的速度很慢，人们也不愿意遵守这些政策。科恩写道：
许多城市都下令对病人进行隔离，但在一些城市，隔离做法和检疫站实施得太晚了，例如在威尼斯和热那亚，只有一半的人遵从这项法令（28）。
Milan, on the other hand, imposed stricter measures and enforcement and had greater success in controlling the spread of the disease. The Milanese authorities tolerated no dissension among the citizenry in obeying the laws of quarantine, at one point completely sealing the infected occupants of three houses in their homes where, presumably, they died. In 1350 CE, they built a structure outside the city walls – the pesthouse – where plague victims were housed and caregivers could tend them. The plague doctors are famously depicted in cloaks and hats with beaked masks which were thought to protect the wearer by distancing the physician's face – especially the nose and mouth – from the infected patient.
另一方面，米兰实施了更严格的措施和执法，在控制疾病的传播方面取得了更大的成功。米兰当局不容许公民在遵守隔离法方面有任何异议，曾一度将三间房屋的受感染者完全封闭在家中，据推测，他们在那里死亡。公元1350年，他们在城墙外建造了一座建筑——"蜂巢"，将鼠疫患者安置在那里，护理人员可以照顾他们。鼠疫医生被描绘成穿着斗篷、戴着带喙面具的帽子，这被认为是通过将医生的脸--特别是鼻子和嘴--与受感染的病人拉开距离来保护佩戴者的。
七位著名的希腊医生和植物学家的画像
总 结
As the plague raged on, other measures were attempted such as washing money with vinegar, fumigating letters and documents with incense, and encouraging people to think positive thoughts as it seemed to become clear that a patient's general attitude greatly affected the chances of survival. None of these proved as effective as separating the infected from the healthy but people still broke quarantine and continued the spread of the disease.
随着瘟疫的肆虐，人们尝试了其他措施，如用醋洗钱，用香熏信和文件，并鼓励人们想一些积极的事情，似乎很明显，病人的一般态度极大地影响了生存的机会。事实证明，这些措施都不如将受感染者与健康者分开那么有效，但人们仍然打破了隔离，继续传播瘟疫。
By the time the plague had run its course, over 30 million people – 30-50% of the population of Europe – were dead. The loss of population transformed European society, ending the feudal system, establishing wages for former serfs, and elevating women's status in that many mothers, wives, and daughters survived the males of the family and assumed their roles.
当瘟疫结束时，超过3000万人（欧洲人口的30-50%）死亡。人口的损失改变了欧洲社会，较早地结束了封建制度；为以前的农奴确定了工资，提高了妇女的地位，许多母亲、妻子和女儿在瘟疫中幸存下来并承担了男人的角色。
Kohn notes that, “to many historians, the Black Death marked the end of the Middle Ages and the start of the modern age” (28). This conclusion is sound in that, afterwards, people's disillusionment with the religious, political, and medical paradigms of the past inspired them to seek alternatives, and these would eventually find full expression in the Renaissance which lay the foundation for the world of the modern era.
科恩指出，"对许多历史学家来说，黑死病标志着中世纪的结束与近现代的开始"（28）。这个结论是正确的，因为在那之后，人们对过去的宗教、政治和医学范式的幻灭激发了他们寻求替代方案，而这些方案最终将在文艺复兴时期得到充分体现，为近现代世界奠定了基础。
乔万尼-薄伽丘和逃离瘟疫的佛罗伦萨人
参考书目:
Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of Caffa by Mark Wheelis Accessed 11 Apr 2020.
Boccaccio, G; translated by Mark Musa & Peter Bondanella. The Decameron. Penguin Books, 2003.
Cantor, N. F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made. Simon & Schuster, 2015.
Cantor, N. F. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1994.
Joseph A. Legan. "The Medical Response to the Black Death." James Madison University Scholarly Commons, Spring 2015, pp. 1-77.
Kohn, G. C. Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence. Checkmark Books, 2002.
Nutton, V. Ancient Medicine. Routledge, 2012.
Schevill, F. Medieval and Renaissance Florence. Harper Torch Books, 1991.
Singman, J. L. The Middle Ages: Everyday Life in Medieval Europe. Sterling, 2013.
The Origin Of The Word ‘Quarantine’ by Johanna Mayer Accessed 11 Apr 2020.
The use of unicorn horn in medicine by William Jackson Accessed 11 Apr 2020.
Tuchman, B. W. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1987.
原文作者：Joshua J. Mark
Joshua J. Mark是自由撰稿人，曾是纽约马里斯特学院的兼职哲学教授，他曾在希腊和德国生活过，并游历过埃及。曾在大学阶段教授历史、写作、文学和哲学。
原文网址：
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1540/medieval-cures-for-the-black-death/
三位医生为一个患瘟疫的人看病
