Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY The Black Death 1347 - 1351 Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY
The Culprits
The Famine of 1315-1317 By 1300 Europeans were farming almost all the land they could cultivate. A population crisis developed. Climate changes in Europe produced three years of crop failures between 1315-17 because of excessive rain. As many as 15% of the peasants in some English villages died. One consequence of starvation & poverty was susceptibility to disease.
1347: Plague Reaches Constantinople!
Septicemic Form: almost 100% mortality rate. The Symptoms Bulbous Septicemic Form: almost 100% mortality rate.
Lancing a Buboe
The Disease Cycle Human is infected! Flea drinks rat blood that carries the bacteria. Bacteria multiply in flea’s gut. Human is infected! Flea bites human and regurgitates blood into human wound. Flea’s gut clogged with bacteria.
Boccaccio in The Decameron The victims ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors.
Attempts to Stop the Plague “Leeching” A Doctor’s Robe
Attempts to Stop the Plague Flagellanti: Self-inflicted “penance” for our sins!
The Black Death The Black Death, or bubonic plague, struck England in 1348-1349. The Black Death was highly contagious and killed approximately one third of the population. The Black Death caused the end of feudalism.
How did the plague affect the feudal system? Peasants and workers were able to demand more rights and take advantage of opportunities to work due to so much death Increase in wages for serfs’ labor Higher demand for work meant the serfs could ask for more money