The Great Fire of London in 1666 wiped away the
Great Plague that had been eviscerating the cities and decimating Europe's
populations. As a result of the Black Death, the entire economic design
of the Western world was changed forever as for the first time in a feudal
system, the workers were in short supply. As there was still such a
demand for them, they were able to turn down offers to work to near death every
day for the privilege of sleeping in the forest of some landowner's estate.
Now they had bargaining power, and had to be offered something more than
nothing for a lifetime of labor.
Another interesting thing: a cat's eyes,
like many animals', reflect in the darkness. Imagine seeing that shining
non-face in the dark and you might get an inkling as to why people associated
cats with the Devil. As a result of that superstitious belief, Europeans
who were dying of the Bubonic Plague burned thousands of cats and dogs in great
fires. The people believed they were killing off Satan's instruments of
Hell, but in reality what they were doing was killing off the only instruments
of defense the people had against the cities' rat population.
So, as rats were carrying the fleas that were
carrying the Plague, and as their natural predators were being eliminated, the
Plague was able to spread in geographic proportions and kill 40% of the people
until London was finally engulfed in flames which ended the spread of the dread
disease.
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