1. The Black Death

2. The plague arrives
Historians think that the plague arrived in England during the summer of During the following autumn it spread quickly through the south west. Few villages escaped. Churchyards were full with bodies.
The plague spread quickly during the winter of to the north of England. By 1350, nearly the whole of Britain was infected with the plague.
At the end of 1350 nearly two and a half million people were dead!

3. Where did the Black Death come from?

4. What were the symptoms of the plague?

5. What caused the plague?
The Oriental Rat Flea!

7. Bubonic Plague

9. A Doctor’s Robe
“Leeching”

10. Flagellanti: Self-inflicted “penance” for our sins!

11. Attempts to Stop the Plague
Pograms against the Jews
“Golden Circle” obligatory badge
“Jew” hat

12. Cures? They thought that people’s bodies were poisoned.
Weren’t educated in medicine
If the swellings burst and the poison came out people sometimes survived.
It seemed sensible to draw out the poison.

13. Cures?
1. The swellings should be softened with figs and cooked onions. The onions should be mixed with yeast and butter. Then open the swellings with a knife.
2. Take a live frog and put its belly on the plague sore. The frog will swell up and burst. Keep doing this with further frogs until they stop bursting. Some people say that a dried toad will do the job better.