ONE THIRD of Europe's population was wiped out when the Plague (otherwise known as the Black Plague) was through killing people off, and the Jews were made scapegoats in some locations.
This DVD by History Channel is excellent. It has a bit of focus on the personal physician of the Pope of those times, a physician who did catch a dose but lived, after refusing to stop doctoring even as so many other doctors ran for their own lives.
Watching it I'm reminded that religious hysteria and scapegoating can go together.
I'm reminded that many of us of European ancestry are descended from those who escaped or survived the Plague, though I don't know if that means we have immunity. (Maybe there will always be a new disease to conquer?)
I'm also reminded of the fear we have in 2012 of biological warfare and the emphasis on end times.
I can say this: I have no fear that the world will end in December of this year. The Mayan calender is round - a wheel - and I believe it's a wheel that can be given another twirl. However, I meet so many people who are invested in End Times and it's always possible that some humans will cause there to be exceptional times out of fervor and expectation. I hope not. I hope this too shall pass.
I plan to live through the year because with the 1940 census out, even with all the help of databases, it will take a while for me to document hundreds of people I expect to find on it. (As a matter of fact I have to live many more years because I want to be here for the 1950!)
C 2012 Ancestry Worship Genealogy - All Rights including Internet and International Rights Reserved
This DVD by History Channel is excellent. It has a bit of focus on the personal physician of the Pope of those times, a physician who did catch a dose but lived, after refusing to stop doctoring even as so many other doctors ran for their own lives.
Watching it I'm reminded that religious hysteria and scapegoating can go together.
I'm reminded that many of us of European ancestry are descended from those who escaped or survived the Plague, though I don't know if that means we have immunity. (Maybe there will always be a new disease to conquer?)
I'm also reminded of the fear we have in 2012 of biological warfare and the emphasis on end times.
I can say this: I have no fear that the world will end in December of this year. The Mayan calender is round - a wheel - and I believe it's a wheel that can be given another twirl. However, I meet so many people who are invested in End Times and it's always possible that some humans will cause there to be exceptional times out of fervor and expectation. I hope not. I hope this too shall pass.
I plan to live through the year because with the 1940 census out, even with all the help of databases, it will take a while for me to document hundreds of people I expect to find on it. (As a matter of fact I have to live many more years because I want to be here for the 1950!)
C 2012 Ancestry Worship Genealogy - All Rights including Internet and International Rights Reserved
