How did the people try to control the spread of the black death?

Answer 1

Some major European Cities actually thrived during the Black Death Era 1347-1351. The City Fortress of Orleans, France implemented a total quarantine - no one came in, no one came out, only local produce allowed. All business with the outside world was performed outside city gates. Other towns and villages were so off the beaten path that no one bothered with them. Most cities of Europe faired badly.

Europeans tried everything and most of it didn't work. They tried to drain every swamp they could find (bad humours) and it didn't work. They set up naval quarantines where plague ships would be forced to hoist a black flag (hence the reference in Pirates of the Caribbean) upon pain of sinking. That sort of worked.

They killed Jews, stray cats, and Muslims which not only didn't work but worsened the problem (cats kill rats which carry fleas which host the virus). They burnt the bodies of the dead which worked, to a degree. They dusted sulfur on everything with the resultant fire hazards, they wore masks everywhere ( which was effective against aerosol transmission but not flea bites) and restricted the movement of Serfs which sort of worked.

The only thing that did work was that the disease ran its course and with less and less humans to feast on, the flea/rodent explosion went away. Europe was hit with Plague once every generation until about the mid 1850s (Remember Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812? Once he and his troops left 'Septic' Germany and crossed into filthy Poland, his troops were ravaged with Plague, dysentery, small pox, etc. Thank God for Pasture & Kock!

Answer 2

They tried using cures, which didn't work.

Answer 3

left people in the streets