1. The Black Death
World History

2. The Plague
• The Black Plague, otherwise known as the
Black Death and the Bubonic Plague was one of
the most devastating pandemics in human
history.
• The disease spread throughout Europe during
the middle ages, and peeked from 1348- 1350.
• The Black Death killed 40-60% of the European
population.
• The epidemic created upheavals which created
profound effects on the course of European
history.

3. The start of the pandemic
• The Black Death first appeared in China in
1333, killing five million people in Hubei
province alone.
• Traders and soldiers unknowingly carried the
disease along the Silk Road. The Silk Road lead
from China all the way to the Middle East.
• In 1347 a fleet of plague infested merchant
ships docked in Messina, Italy, spreading the
plague.
• Between 1347-1351 the disease killed 2/3 of the
people living in Europe.

4. Spreading of the Black Death
• The plague was carried by Oriental Rat fleas
living on black rats that were regular passengers
on merchant ships. The disease was spread when
a flea carrying the bacteria bit a human.
• The cause of the epidemic has always remained
highly controversial. though, it has been
scientifically proven that Yersinia Pestis
Bacterium was the cause of the deadly disease.
• Life before the plague was rough considering the
wars, bad weather, and famine. Once the disease
hit full force starving people were more
susceptible because their bodies weren't strong
enough to fight off the disease. Most importantly
people were unaware of personal hygiene, which

5. Medical Practices
• Another factor of the radical number of deaths
was due to the lack of medical advances and
technology.
• Doctors didn't' have enough knowledge to
figure out what caused the plague and how
they could keep from spreading it.
• The remedies doctors used on infected patients
often did more harm than good.
• One practice used was called bloodletting, it
involved cutting someone to make them bleed
profusely, and the sickness would be drained
out of them. It didn't help and often the person
receiving the treatment died from too much

6. Symptoms of the Plague
• The Black Plague was marked with puffy
bumps called buboes, which oozed pus and
blood on people's necks, armpits, and groins.
• The skin also developed black patches and
boils.
• People infected with the disease often died
within a week after they started showing
symptoms.
• Other symptoms of the Black Death included:
• a very high fever
• delirium
• the victim begins to vomit
• muscular pains
• bleeding in the lungs
• mental disorientation

7. Symptoms

8. The Middle Ages
• During the Middle Ages it was essential that
people were given the last rites and had the
chance to confess their sins before they died.
The spread of the deadly plague in England
was swift and the death rate was almost 50% in
isolated populations such as monasteries.
• The situation was so bad that Pope Clement VI
was forced to grant remission of sins to all who
died of the Black Death. Victims were even
allowed to confess their sins to one another.
• The church could offer no reason for the deadly
disease and beliefs were sorely tested. This had
such a devastating effect that people started to
question religion and such doubts ultimately

9. Societal Effects
• The Black Death had a huge impact on society.
Fields went unploughed as the men who
usually did this were victims of the disease.
• Those lords who lost their manpower to the
disease, turned to sheep farming as this
required less people to work on the land. Grain
farming became less popular, this kept towns
and cities short of such basics as bread.
• One consequence of the Black Death was
inflation, the price of food went up creating
more hardship for the poor. In some parts of
England, food prices went up by four times.

10. Social Order
• The pandemic frightened people so much that
the whole social order broke down.
• In a state of panic people started blaming
minorities and foreigners for spreading the
plague.
• People rejected the absolute authority of the
church, and class hierarchies began to break
down.
• Because there were shortages in laborers
peasants were allowed to demand more rights
and higher pay.

11. Social Order
• Those who survived the Black Death believed that there was
something special about them ;almost as if God had protected
them. Therefore, they took the opportunity offered by the
disease to improve their lifestyle.
• Feudal Law stated that peasants could only leave their village
if they had their lord’s permission. Now many lords were short
of desperately needed labour for the land that they owned.
After the Black Death, lords actively encouraged peasants to
leave the village where they lived to come to work for them.
When peasants did this, the lord refused to return them to their
•
original village.
The government faced the prospect of peasants leaving their
villages to find a better deal from a lord.This began upsetting
the whole idea of the Feudal System which had been introduced
to tie peasants to the land. Ironically, this movement by the
peasants was encouraged by the lords who were meant to
benefit from the Feudal System.