INTRODUCTION- The black plague has been around since the reign of Emperor Justinian in 542 a.d. When it really hit was in the mid 1300's. Asian black rats were migrating to Europe. Back then people were throwing their sewage out their windows and rats were gathering. The rats would eat and wallow in the bacteria-infested waste. The rats would get infected first. Fleas which lived on the rats backs would bite the rats. They would get into contact with the tainted blood of the rat and then go and bite a human. The human victim would get a ring of black and blue buboes (welts) around their neck, armpit or groin area. The disease inflates the lymph nodes in these particular areas. Within the next 5 days, the victim would be dead. In the end more than 25 million people or almost half of the population of Europe died in the time of the main plague (1347-1351).
SYMPTOMS OF THE PLAGUE- You could tell if you had the disease by checking for-
RINGS OF SWELLINGS OR WELTS AROUND THE NECK
SWELLINGS ALL OVER THE BODY
BLOOD IN YOUR SPIT AND CONSTANT SNEEZING
HOW THEY WOULD
COMBAT THE DISEASE- As soon as people died, gravediggers and
volunteers would set fire to the bodies to prevent the spread of
disease. Remedies prescribed by doctors included the burning of
aromatic woods or herbs, changing diet, sleeping in a different
position and other things.
A person dressed in the above bird costume was thought to be safe from the bacteria due to them being sealed off from the air. They would wear leather gloves, a thing to cover their neck, and other items to seal them off. It didn't work.
The rich would use remedies made from
gold and pearl. Fumigation was common and people went to the extreme of bathing in their own urine. Probably the most stupid remedy was to cut
yourself and bleed. This was meant to cleanse your system.
People reacted to
the plague by living in villages with fewer people.People tried
isolation from their communities and living seperately from other
people. Some people even locked themsleves in their houses so
that there was no contact with other people. Having fewer people
in towns and villages meant that there was more job opportunities
and more work to be done. The plague changed the social situation
in the areas affected at the time. ABOVE-
Fleas like this spreaded the plague. BUT
WAIT, THERES MORE- Untreated bubonic plague can spawn other
horrible things like septicaemic plague and pneumonic plague. SEPTICAEMIC
PLAGUE- is spread from direct contact with bodily fluids. This
was lethal and took only 2 hours to kill it victim. PNEUMONIC
PLAGUE- is spread through aerosol droplets dispersed through
coughs, sneezes or bodily fluid contact. This deadly virus
affects the respiratory system (lungs). Mortality (death) rate is
nearly 100% compared to about 50% for the bubonic plague if left
untreated. STATISTICS AND
DATA FROM THE PLAGUE THE FLAGELLANTS- There was a group of people who went around
when the plague hit. They are known as the "FLAGELLANTS"
or the "FLAGELLANT BREHREN". Flagellant come from the
word flagellate which beans to flog or whip. That is exactly what
this group did. They went from town to town, beating themselves
with iron spike-tipped bars of wood and when they hit themselves
they would usually dig out a bit of flesh and blood. They
believed that the plague was a curse from god and that they were
all doomed. They believed that they should punish themselves for
this. LIFE
CYCLE OF THE BUBONIC PLAGUE HISTORY-
There was evidence of the plague starting in Asia in 1346. It
then quickly spread to Genoa, an Italian city in the same year.
The black plague reached England through ships which were
infested with rats. By 1350, there was no area of Europe to
Africa which had not been affected by the plague. Before this
epedemic, the population of Europe was about 60,000,000. After
this happened, the population had shrunk to less than 40 million. TO SEE ARTWORK
INSPIRED BY THE BLACK DEATH KLIK HERE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM- WWW.BYU.EDU/IPT/PROJECTS/MIDDLEAGES/LIFETIMES/PLAGUE.HTML
Scapegoats (People thought to have been the cause) of the plague included comets, earthquakes, lepers and Jewish people.
LOCATION-
Europe, Asia and Northern Africa.
DEATHS
(APPROX)- 75,000,000
TIMESPAN-
1347-1351
VARIETIES-
Bubonic, septicaemic and
pneumonic
BACTERIA-(official name)Pasteurella
Pestis
RAT-
(official name) Rattus
Rattus
