Transcript THE BLACK DEATH

THE BLACK DEATH
SETTING THE SCENE
1050 C.E. – 1300 C.E.
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Warm, mild climate
Population grows
Trade expands
Cities grow
1315: IT ALL GOES WRONG
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Non-stop rain spring through fall
Flooding
Windstorms
Harsh, cold winters
….AND EVEN MORE WRONG
• Crops are ruined
• Great Famine of 1315-22 (N. Europe)
• Reduced population by 10-15%
• Cattle and sheep disease 1318-20
• Europe-wide famine 1335-36
• Hundred Years War begins 1337
I feel
baaaad!
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/images/map/china/china-map-7.jpg
Unstoppable!
Late 1320s: Plague breaks out in Gobi desert
Spreads in all directions
China’s population drops by 30% in 14th Century
Spreads along trade routes
Arrived in Constantinople 1345
Arrived in Italy and Spain 1347
Norway
Sweden
Denmark
England
Poland
Germany
Austria
France
Spain
Italy
Greece
THE SPREAD OF THE PLAGUE THROUGHOUT EUROPE 1347-1350
www.insecta-inspecta.com/ fleas/bdeath/Black.html
AND NOW, A WORD FROM
OUR SPONSOR
Epidemic
• Localized outbreak of a
disease
– Epi : among
– Demos : people
Pandemic
• Worldwide outbreak of a
disease
– Pan: all
– Demos: people
Xenopsylla Cheopis
• Flee the flea!!
• Lives on rats, feeds
on blood
• Flea barf! Ick!
Yum. I like
legs!
BUBONIC PLAGUE
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Fever
Chills
Feel sick
Muscles ache
Bad headache
Swollen, painful
“buboes” in neck,
armpit, groin
Position of lymph nodes in the body. Buboes are swollen lymph nodes.
PLAGUE SORE OR BUBOE
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/Black.html
PNEUMONIC PLAGUE
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Disease in lungs
Highly contagious
High fever
Chills
Severe headache
Rapid heartbeat
Cough up blood
Die w/in 48 hrs.
100% mortality rate if
untreated
Yersinia Pestis
http://www.nature.com/genomics/images/y_pestis.jpg
SEPTICEMIC PLAGUE
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Bacteria enters bloodstream
Fever
Extreme illness
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ache
Low blood pressure
Blood won’t clot
Organ systems fail
100% mortality if left untreated
Septicemic Plague
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/septicemic.jpg
Excavated
Plague Pit
www.bbc.co.uk/.../britain/ lmid_black_death.shtml
HOW BAD WAS IT?
KILLED:
• 1/3-1/2 of Europe’s
population in two
years
• 500-600 people per
day in Venice.
• 50% of the population
of Avignon, France
www.bbc.co.uk/.../britain/ lmid_black_death.shtml
In modern terms this would mean:
• 50% of Seattle’s population is 304,330
• If 600 BTMS students died in one night,
there would be 45 students left at the
school.
• 1/3 of US population: 105,804,333
MEDIEVAL THEORIES
“In the great sea near India the waters
boiled and heaved and a stinking mist
arose which, drifting across the land,
brought death with it. Reptiles and frogs
were bred from the corruption and, in turn,
spread contagion.”
University of Paris
October 1348
Plague Arrows
Some believed
heavenly arrows were
shot down at sinful
people, giving them
the plague.
Plague was seen as a
punishment sent from
God.
SELF-DEFENSE?
• Amulets worn around
the neck
• Packets of sweetsmelling herbs
MEDIEVAL 911
The Beak Doctor
Mask full of
sweet herbs
Stick to feel
your pulse
Cloak and hat to
protect him.
He’ll probably
die anyway.
http://www.dodedans.com/E1-dance-of-death.htm
DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP
ABOUT IT!
REPENT!!
• Flagellants go from
town to town.
• Whip each other and
themselves
• Pope bans them in
1349
members.iglou.com/ gustavus/flesh.html
NOBODY’S SAFE
POINTING THE FINGER OF BLAME
• Rumors spread that Jews poisoned the
wells to give others the disease.
• Widespread persecution of Jews
• 2000 killed in Strassbourg, 12,000 in
Mainz, and 600 in Brussels
Serf’s Up!
• Not enough serfs left
to tend the crops
• 1/3 of land lies fallow
• Remaining serfs
demand better pay
• Government
powerless to keep
serfs down.
www.auesd.k12.ca.us/ ev-ain/Prero/Images/serf.gif
The Good News
In cities, lack of help caused employers to
offer higher wages.
Too many supplies and not enough people
to buy them caused prices to drop.
SHORT TERM EFFECTS:
• Shortage of laborers
• Abandonment of
farms and manors
• Debts not paid
• Construction stops
• Machinery not
repaired
http://sienaitaly.ca/attractions/unfinishednave.html
But Wait…There’s More!
• Plague returns 1360-1361: The Children’s
Plague
• Third Plague: 1368 (in Northern Europe)
and 1374 (in Southern Europe)
• More plague years: 1361, 62, 63, 64, 68,
71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 81, 82, 83,84, 90, 99,
1400, 01, 05, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12, 14, 20…
NOW THINGS CHANGE!
• Population in towns declines
• Villages abandoned
• Serfdom disappears – rise of free
peasantry
• Rise of wealthy commoners
(merchant class) as nobles struggle
financially
DEATH GETS A FACE
http://www4.gvsu.edu/wrightd/SPA%20307%20Death/LubeckDance%20of%20Death.jpg
Grave images changed from
soothing to…kinda disgusting!
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I’M RESTING FOR AWHILE
I’M DECAYING FOR AWHILE
Works Cited
The Black Death. Insecta-Inspecta. Think Quest. 2000. Web. Jan 2010..
Bruegel, Pieter, the Elder. The Triumph of Death. All That is Interesting. 11
July 2011. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
“China Map.” TravelChinaGuide.com. 1998-2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
Clark, Gregory. Microbes and Markets: Was The Black Death An Economic
Revolution? U.C. Davis. n.d. Web. 11 Jan 2014.
Hagstrom, Martin. Dance of Death. n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
Halsall, Paul Jewish History Sourcebook: The Black Death and the Jews
1348-1349. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University.
July 1998. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
“How to Check Your Lymph Nodes.” Plymouth Hospitals. NHS Trust. 2014.
Plymouth NHS Trust. 11 Jan. 2014.
Knox, E.L. Skip. Europe in the Late Middle Ages: Demographic Crises.
Boise State University. n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.
Knox, E.L. Skip. The Black Death. History of Western Civilization. Boise
State University. n.d. Web. 11 Jan 2014.
Routt, David. The Economic Impact of the Black Death. University of
Richmond. 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Jan 2011.
“Unfinished Nave of the Sierna Duomo.” Siena Italy Tourist Information
and Hotel Guide. Altaviser. n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2014.