1. The Black Death

2. The Famine of
Europeans were farming almost all the land they could
A population crisis developed.
Excessive rain produced three years of crop failures.
35% - 70 % of the peasants in some English villages died.
One consequence of starvation & poverty was susceptibility to disease.

3. Bubonic Plague “Black Death”
Began in Asia with those who traveled the trade routes
In 1347 a fleet of Genoese merchant ships arrived in Sicily carrying the plague-spread by rats

4. The Culprits

7. Deaths in Millions (Black Plague)
¾ of those who caught the disease died
25 million Europeans died

8. Septicemia Form: almost 100% mortality rate.
The Symptoms
Sever chills, high fever, convulsions, vomiting, and delirium
Painful swellings called buboes in the lymph nodes, particularly in armpits and groins
Blackish or purplish spots on skin
Bulbous
Septicemia Form: almost 100% mortality rate.

10. From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411

11. Lancing a Buboe

12. Medieval Art & the Plague
Bring out your dead!

13. What were the political, economic, and social effects of the Black Death??

14. Effects of the Plague Political: Increase of urban and rural violence.
Peasants rebel
The Churches power was weakened.
The people criticized the religious officials who could not cure the plague and banish the disease.
Increase of secular politicians
Secular: the state of being separate from religion.
Example: you go to a secular school

15. Effects of the Plague Economic: Social: Villages become abandoned.
The peasants who are still alive get paid more due to shortage of labor.
Trade declined / prices rose
Cheaper land prices
More food (there were less people to eat it)
 Social:
Chaotic- the plague is viewed as God’s judgment against the world.
Jews were blamed for bringing the plague – many were driven from their homes and massacred
Overwhelming grief (literature reflected that)