The Black Death 1347 and on - - -

Introduction Epidemic Disease Divider betw. Central and late Middle Ages Illustration From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411

3 Forms of the Disease Bubonic Plague. painful lymph node swellings, buboes Septicemic Plague. also called “blood poisoning”, attacked the blood system Pneumonic Plague. attacked the respiratory system

The Bubonic Plague Painful lymph node swelling, called buboes In groins and armpits Oozing pus and blood Damage to the skin and underlying tissue Dark blotches = acral necrosis  Black Death!

The Bubonic Plague A plague victim reveals the telltale buboe on his leg. From a 14th Century illumination.

Symptoms of the bubonic Plague Swellings “egg  apple” Fever of 101-105 degrees F Headaches and Aching joints Nausea and vomiting (of blood) General feeling of malaise Swellings expanding until they burst  death following soon after Whole process: 3-5 days NB: People who didn’t develop swellings invariably died. People with swellings might have a chance. Mortality Rate: 30-75 % If 40% of population was getting infected, and 80% of them died = mortality rate of 32%

The Pneumonic Plague Second most commonly seen form of the Black Death

The Rat Flea The flea drinks rat’s blood The bacteria multiplies inside the flea The flea’s stomach is blocked The flea is very hungry The flea voraciously bites a host = a human The flea is unable to satisfy its hunger The flea continues to feed Infected blood carrying the plague bacteria is flowing into the human’s wound The rat dies The flea dies of starvation The human dies The Rat Flea

The Path of the Plague Erupted in Gobi Desert, late 1320’s Epidemic in Europe in 6th century but dormant since then Reached the shores of Italy in 1348 Spread in every direction, primarily westward Lasted 3 years

The Path of the Plague Traveled on trade routes and caravans Generally from south to north And east to west Passing through Italy France England Germany Denmark Sweden Poland Finland Greenland

Preexisting Conditions War – Civil War in China 1205-1353 Little Ice Age at beg. Of 13th century The Great Famine 1315-1322 in Northern Europe Typhoid Epidemic Pestilence, maybe anthrax, hit the animals of Europe in 1318 Unemployment, famine, disease

The Path of the Plague The progress of the plague coincides with the medieval trade routes Iceland, North Finland, and North Sweden had no plague Norway 1348 (Oslo, Bergen) Denmark 1348, from Jutland to the islands, and then on to Sweden

Recurrences Every 5-7 years Next plague: 1360 = The Pest of the Children Italian Plague 1629-1631 Great Plague of Vienna in 1679 Great Plague of London 1665-1666 – one of the last major outbreaks Resembles modern day Ebola

Efforts to Stop the Plague Cities were hardest hit Isolation – healthy and sick Quarantine Isolation of incoming ships Here: a reproduction of a peasant’s hovel

Efforts to stop the Plague Scents - incense and aromatic oils Sound – church bells Sound – cannons Talismans Here: burial in coffins

Efforts to stop the Plague Quarantine was the best method Avoiding the sick The wealthy fled to the countryside (Isaac Newton) Pope Clement VI in Avignon sat between two large fires to breathe pure air. The plague bacillus is destroyed by heat, so this worked!

Consequences for Populations Approx. 25 million deaths in Europe Between one third and one half of European population died 1348-1350 25% of villages depopulated 45-75% of Florence died in one year In Venice, 60% died over 18 months

Consequences for Population Urban populations recovered quickly Rural populations recovered slowly Friars took a couple of generations to recover Pre-plague population reached in the 1500s or 1600s Later period of Middle Ages was characterized by chronically reduced population

Consequences for Population 1348: Gaza: 10.000 dead Aleppo: 500 dead per day Damascus: 1000 dead per day Syria: total of 400.000 dead Lower mortality rate in the Middle East of less than one third of population

Economic Consequences Shortage of laborers rising wages for peasants and artisans Valuable artisan skills disappeared Oversupply of goods  prices dropped For the living, standard of living rose! Landlords stopped freeing their serfs serfs revolting and leaving the land The oppressed demanded fairer treatment

Economic Consequences The great equalizer Lack of sufficient law enforcement personnel Promoted lawlessness People tried their luck

Religious Consequences Persecutions of the Jews – scapegoats Massacres and burnings By 1351, 60 major and 150 smaller Jewish communities had been exterminated Lepers were also targeted Jews expelled, moved to Poland & Lithuania

Religious Consequences Church lost prestige, spiritual authority, leadership Promised cures, treatment, and explanations No answers to the people Revolt against the church Severe shortage of clergy – functioned as nurses and consequently died. The church targeted the Jews for persecution – had killed Jesus and brought sin to the world

Music and Art Culture turned morbid Sense of death – impending & inevitable Death is a game, like chess! Dance of death – death is random Everyone suffered Despair

Music and Art Danse Macabre = the dance of death: skeletons mingling with the living (here: Hans Holbein the Younger) Shocking juxtapositions Written language almost lost Coffins had pictures of corpses on the lid New creativity in motives

The Children Ring a-round the rosy = rosary beads give you God’s help Pocket full of posies = used to stop the odor of rotting bodies through to cause the plague Ashes, ashes! = the church burned the dead when burying became too laborious We all fall down! = dead Children suffered mentally and physically Children were not thought worth the trouble to raise!

And Now? The bubonic Plague still exists Quite common among rodent populations A cure is known today – but the disease moves very quickly The Plague is still with us Hythe Ossuary, remains of victims of the Black Death