1. The Black Death

2. Introduction
Autumn of 1347: Fleet of Genoese trading ships loaded with grain and left the Black Sea port of Caffa to set sail for Messina. By mid-voyage, sailors were dying. Black Death was raging through Italy in months. Reached Spain and France by One in three people died- worse death rate than any war in history.

3. Plague Spreads from Asia
Sickness was bubonic plague; spread by fleas carried by rats
Spread by Mongol armies when they conquered much of Asia in 1200s; set off new epidemic (outbreak of rapid-spreading disease)
Rats infested ships, towns and even the homes of the rich and powerful
No one took any notice of them and didn’t know they spread the plague
Fleas jumped from the rats to infest the clothes and packs of traders following west and spread the disease to Europe

4. Normal Life Breaks Down
Brought terror and bewilderment- people had no way to stop the disease
People turned to magic and witchcraft for cures; others plunged into pleasure because they would die anyway; others beat themselves with whips to show their penance (flagellants)
People fled cities or hid in their homes to avoid contracting the plague
Some Christians blamed Jews that they had ‘poisoned the wells’- thousands of Jews were slaughtered

5. The Economy Suffers
Plague kept recurring- low ebb- production declined because of deaths of workers and employers; survivors demanded higher wages; inflation (rising prices) broke out as well
Landowners converted croplands to land for sheep raising because that required less labor; villagers looked for work in towns; guilds limited opportunities for advancement
These problems sparked explosive revolts- on and off throughout the 1300s and 1400s