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The Black Death

The Black Death. Key Questions. There are 3 questions that will be asked during the course of the lesson; 1. What is the “Black Death”? 2. What caused the Black Death? 3. What were the consequences?. The Plague Arrives.

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The Black Death

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  1. The Black Death

  2. Key Questions There are 3 questions that will be asked during the course of the lesson; 1. What is the “Black Death”? 2. What caused the Black Death? 3. What were the consequences?

  3. The Plague Arrives Historians believe that the plague arrived in Italy in 1347 on board a merchant ship. It quickly spread North and arrived in England during the summer of 1348. 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 1348-1349 to the north of England. By 1350, nearly all of Britain was infected with the plague. At the end of 1350 nearly two and a half million people were dead. After 5 years, the death toll was estimated at around 40,000,000.

  4. Caffa Where did the Black Death come from?

  5. The Oriental Rat Flea! What caused the plague? The question that you are probably thinking is this; Q: Who or what caused the Black Death? A: This is your answer!

  6. What’s on the Menu? How was the plague transmitted? We now know that the most common form of the Black Death was the BUBONIC PLAGUE! This disease was spread by fleas which lived on the black rat. The fleas sucked the rat’s blood which contained the plague germs. When the rat died the fleas jumped on to humans and passed on the deadly disease.

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  8. 3 Types of Plague • Bubonic • Pneumonic • Septicemia Plague

  9. Bubonic Plague • The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black Death. • The mortality rate was 30-75%. • Symptoms took from 1-7 days to appear.

  10. What were the symptoms of the Bubonic Plague?

  11. Pneumonic Plague • The pneumonic plague infected the lungs. Symptoms included slimy sputum (mucus mixed with saliva) tinted with blood. As the disease progressed, the sputum became free flowing and bright red. Symptoms took 1-7 days to appear. • The pneumonic plague was the second most commonly seen form of the Black Death. The mortality rate for the pneumonic plague was 90-95% Lung of Pneumonic Plague Victim

  12. Septicemia Plague • The bacteria “explodes” throughout the bloodstream and produces plague septicemia (septicemia plague), a severe blood infection. • The septicemia plague was the most rare form of all. The mortality was close to 100% . • Symptoms were a high fever and skin turning deep shades of purple. • Victims usually died the same day symptoms appeared. • The pneumonic and the septicemia plague were probably seen less than the bubonic plague because the victims often died before they could reach other places.

  13. Cures? • Medieval people did not know about germs causing disease. They did not understand that plague was spread by rats and fleas. They thought that people’s bodies were poisoned. • If the swellings burst and the poison came out people sometimes survived. It seemed sensible to draw out the poison.

  14. Medieval cure number 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.

  15. Medieval cure number 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.

  16. Question How useful do you think these medieval cures actually were? Did they help at all or were they more harmful?

  17. Effects of the Black Death on Europe • The economy was probably hit the hardest of all the aspects of Europe. The biggest problem was that valuable artisan skills disappeared when large numbers of the working class died. There-fore, those who had skills became even more valuable than the rich people. The society structure began to change giving formally poor laborers more say. The peasants and artisans demanded higher wages. Serfs seeking liberation from tilling their lord's land were told by decree and statue to return to their master's duties. • The END of Feudalism!!!

  18. Children •  Partially due to the lack of children's skills to provide for themselves, the children suffered. A common nursery rhyme is proof.           Ring a-round the rosy          Pocket full of posies          Ashes, ashes!          We all fall down! Meanings for “Ring Around the Rosy”: • rosary beads give you God's help. • A pocket full of posies: used to stop the odor of rotting bodies which was at one point thought to cause the plague, it was also used widely by doctors to protect them from the infected plague patients. • Ashes, ashes: the church burned the dead when burying them became to laborious. • We all fall down: dead. Not only were the children effected physically, but also mentally. The decease of family members left the children facing death and pain at an early age. Parents even abandoned their children, leaving them to the streets instead of risking the babies giving them the dreaded "pestilence".

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