1. Aim: How did the Black Death change medieval Europe?
Do Now: Let’s play Ring around the Rosy!
Ring-a-ring the rosy,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down!

2. I What was the Black Death?
The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) was a painful, deadly plague in the middle ages. The Black Death of medieval Europe was NOT the first major plague! The Plague of Justinian began in 541 CE.
A plague is a highly contagious, epidemic disease that spreads quickly and has a high death rate.

3. II Causes of the Black Death
A) The Black Death was spread by fleas on rats. B) Beginning in 1331, it spread from east Asia westward along overland and maritime trade routes. C) Due to the Little Ice Age which reduced the average temperature of Europe, more people were staying indoors. Combined with poor hygiene and sanitation, the Black Death spread rapidly.

4. III Symptoms of the Black Death
Painful black swellings size of an egg oozed blood and pus. Death usually occurred 1-3 days after catching the disease.

6. IV Treatment
A) Doctors often bled you by cutting or applying leeches. They wore masks filled with dried herbs to protect themselves, and discouraged bathing. B) Priests prayed to God. C) Flagellants whipped themselves as they believed the Black Death was due to their sins.
“We, the Members of the College of Physicians of Paris… [suggest] everyone should guard against exposure to wet weather … Bathing is injurious. Men must preserve chastity [no sex] as they value their lives…” George Deaux, The Black Death: 1347 (New York: Weybright and Talley, 1969), 52-3.

7. Treatment Continued…
“They marched naked in a file one behind the other and whipped themselves with these scourges on their naked and bleeding bodies...” Sir Robert of Avesbury

8. V Effects of the Black Death
A) Jews were blamed for the Black Death. Thousands were massacred. B) 1/3 of Europe died. Approximately 75 million people died worldwide. C) Due to a labor shortage, many lords switched from farming crops to raising sheep (requires less human labor). As a result, many serfs were able to leave the manor.

9. Consequences of the Black Death Continued…
Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron takes place in 1348 Florence, when the Black Death struck. It is a book of stories in which seven young women and three young men of Florence leave the city for the hills.
“…such terror was struck into the hearts of men and women by this calamity, that brother abandoned brother, and the uncle his nephew, and the sister her brother, and very often the wife her husband. What is even worse and nearly incredible is that fathers and mothers refused to see and tend their children, as if they had not been theirs… The city was full of corpses…”

11. HW Questions
What was the Black Death and how do you know it was a plague?
What were the main causes of the Black Death?
Describe the symptoms of the Black Death. How was it treated in medieval Europe?
What were the short and long term consequences of the Black Death? *Mention the death toll, what happened to Jews, and what happened to feudalism.
Read the excerpt from Boccaccio's The Decameron. How did he describe people’s reactions to the Black Death? Do you think people would react to a similar plague today? Explain your answer.

12. Key Vocabulary Black Death Bubonic Plague Flagellants Plague
The Decameron
In 2003, more than 2,100 human cases and 180 deaths were recorded, nearly all of them in Africa... Most people survive if they're given the correct antibiotics in time.