The Black Plague
The Plague: Primary Source Quotes Taken from Jackdaw’s The Black Death Packet “So great was the want of laborers that a third part and more of the land throughout the entire kingdom went uncultivated [unfarmed].” - A chronicler in England (The Economic Effect, Broadsheet VI) “…with constant fever, there were external carbuncles, or buboes [swollen, red, puss-filled lump beneath the skin], under the arm or in the groin and the disease ran its course in five days. The contagion was so great, especially when there was blood-spitting, that even by looking at the sick, people seemed to take it.” - Guy de Chauliac, physician to Pope Clement VI (Diagnosis, Broadsheet II) By April, 1348, “more than half the people at Avignon [French village] are already dead and within the walls of the city there are more than 7,000 houses shut up. In three months…62,000 bodies have been buried in Avignon.” - Anonymous writer (Rules and Regulations Broadsheet III)
What is the Black Plague A plague caused by the bacterium Pastuerella pestis
Multiple names Multiple names How do you think these names formed? The Bubonic Plaque The Black Death The Black Plague How do you think these names formed?
Three types of the Black Plague Pneumonic plague Attacked the lungs Septicemic plague Rarest form and most deadly Traveled in the blood stream Bubonic plague Most common Egg-sized swellings called buboes Appreared on the neck, armpits, and groin Caused fever and delerium
Where did the Plague come from? Plague originated in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia Spread through Europe on trade routes such as the Silk Road
What carried the plague The plague was hosted by fleas The fleas were hosted by rats Rats were on the ships that were used to trade goods
Consequences of the Plague One-Third of Europe’s population died as a result of the plague Estimated to be 25 million people Who was effected by the plague? Everyone Priest Skilled workers Common man
With so many deaths… With so many deaths what did people do? What happened to skilled positions?