Amber Truhanovitch Dec. 5 2007

The Black Death

· named because blackened and putrefying flesh of its victims

· Bubonic Plague

· plague of 1348-50

· the Great Plague of London in 1665.

What:

A plague, a disease caused by a tiny organism (or bacterium) called Yersinia pestis. There are two main stages. Septicaemic plague infects the blood and lymph glands, and then pneumonic plague infects the lungs.

How

Symptoms:

They were untreatable seen two to nine days after infection include:

• Fever, headaches and chills
• Exhaustion and delirium
• Swollen, painful, and sometimes hot-to-the-touch lymph nodes called ‘buboes', (hence the name ‘bubonic plague')
• Septicaemic blood infection and a 60% chance of death
• Coughing blood
• Lung infection, usually causing death in one to three days

Spread:

· 1320s the disease started in the Gobi desert of Mongolia.

· It spread along trade routes, infecting much of Asia.

· European merchants were trading with the East, and traveled with the trade caravans.

· It travelled from Baghdad to trading stations in the Crimea. From there it rapidly spread across Europe.

· The plague traveled on trade routes and caravans. Its path of death was generally from south to north and east to west passing through Italy, France, England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, and eventually reaching Greenland.

Who:

· The Oriental Rat Flea: Xenopsylla cheopis infected rats spread.

· 1347 75 million people

· 1352 50 million people

Effects:

· The biggest problem was that valuable artisan skills disappeared when large numbers of the working class died.

· those who had skills became even more valuable than the rich people.

· The society structure began to change giving formally poor laborers more say.

· The peasants and artisans demanded higher wages.

· The poor people saw so much death they wanted to enjoy life.

· Serfs began to leave their land and not engage in the planting of crops. Unattended crops and stray animals died of starvation because of the lack of care.

· Several domesticated animals began to roam the forest.

· Farming communities became rare.

· The lack of sufficient law enforcement personnel promoted lawlessness. People called "Bechini" pillaged homes, murdering and raping people. They dressed in red robes with red masks and only their eyes showed.

· The church lost prestige, spiritual authority, and leadership over the people.

Stopping the Plague

• Infected rats died, reducing the food source of the bacterium
• Infected people survived and became immune to the disease
• The bacterium becoming weaker

The last outbreak of plague in London was in 1665-6, now known as the Great Plague. The disease is still common in some parts of the world.

After-facts/people

· Children were considered "not worth the trouble" to raise.

· It took four hundred years before Europe's population equaled the pre-Black Death figures.

· 85 million people total

· 20-30 million in Europe

· England/Wales 3.7 2.5

· Scotland. 5 .4 Ireland .8 .6

· France 13 8.2

· Belgium/Lux 2 .8

· HRE 17 12.5

· Spain 7 5

· Italy 10 7

· Total 53.2 37