Everything that The Decameron on Netflix doesn’t tell you about the Black Plague

Netflix has achieved a new triumph in its catalog with The Decameron, the new series that uses comedy to tell the tragedies that the world suffered during the Black Plague in the High Middle Ages. The fiction, based on the homonymous work by Giovanni Boccaccio written in the 14th century, tells all kinds of details about how those days were lived. However, it omits many others that are quite interesting. As emphasized by Screen Rant, they leave out some curiosities about the pandemic that are worth knowing.

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1. The Black Death was not the first plague pandemic

Although The Decameron explores how the Black Death ravaged 14th-century Florence, all the characters experience it as something completely new. However, there were already previous plagues, the first one dating back to the 8th century. On the other hand, although the bubonic plague was the most common, there were two other types of plagues at that time: pneumonic and septicemic. These are not mentioned in the series, but it is interesting to know that the pandemic was much more dangerous than it already seems.

2. The symptoms were even more severe… and they used opium to cure them

Being a comedy series, The Decameron overlooks many of the symptoms of the Black Plague, such as fever, chills, body aches, weakness, nausea, internal bleeding, gangrene, pneumonia, chest pain… Furthermore, it is not mentioned that the potions shown for wealthy people in the series actually contained a huge amount of opium. Undoubtedly, this would have provided more comedy.

3. Leeches were great allies, and servants increased their status

One of the main remedies used to control the plague was leeches, as many doctors at the time believed that the disease was due to “bad blood.” In addition, since there were so many deaths and so much care was needed, the status of servants increased, as they were in high demand.

4. Women gained great power during the plague

According to Universal History, after the Black Death, women acquired these significant rights:

• The ability to own land
• The possibility of taking over businesses after the death of their husbands or children
• Greater autonomy in choosing their spouses
• The option to join guilds
• The right to establish and own their own businesses, including shipping companies, textile factories, taverns, and farms

5. Quarantine was invented in this pandemic

Humans were the main carriers of the plague at the time, and since they didn’t know how this disease was caused, quarantine was largely opted for: something completely new that forced the sick to spend periods of 30 days (they called it “trentinos”) locked up. Furthermore, it is not in vain… since the disease still exists today.

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