1. Black Death

2. Black Death
A catastrophic plague that spread across Europe from 1346 to 1352.
Caused by a form of bacteria.
Appeared in 3 forms:
Pneumonic: attacked the lungs (coughing and sneezing)
Septicemic: appeared in the bloodstream (rarest and most deadliest form; caused black spots beneath the skin and eventually caused victim to chock on own blood)
Bubonic: caused buboes on the body (egg-sized swellings in the neck, armpits, and groin, then caused fever and delirium

3. Black Death
Spread through trade with the East (Asian countries) along the Silk Road (the trans-Asian trade route) and spread to the Black Sea.
Bacteria was carried by fleas, which lived on black rats, that rode on trade caravans across Asia.
Italian merchant ships brought rats to Europe along with trade goods.
1st appeared in Sicily and eventually spread

4. Black Death
It couldn’t be stopped because people did not know the cause.
People panicked and blamed anything from the alignment of the planets, God’s wrath, and Jews.
They tried ineffective cures such as pomanders (a mixture of aged molasses and chopped snake), public whipping for God’s forgiveness, and massacred Jews because they had “poisoned wells.”

5. Black Death Killed 1/3 of Europe’s population
After the plague, fewer workers were available, allowing serfs, peasants, and urban workers to demand more freedom or higher wages for their labor.
Nobles wanted to return to the old ways of serfdom, but the peasants revolted.
Many serfs moved to cities to earn better wages.
Led to growth and importance of towns and reduced the power of feudal lords.

7. History Teachers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy6XilXDZQ
Music Video Black Death

8. What else is happening???
The fall of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey today) in 1453 officially ended the Roman empire that had been in power for 1,500 years.  

9. Why do I care about this??
Some people say this is where the Middle Ages ended and the Renaissance began. This led to an increase of Ottoman (Islamic) power in Europe.  The Turks would continue to threaten Christian Europe.
Commoners are able to gain more independence as feudalism weakens. (Land ownership is not the only measure of nobility)

10. Why do we care about this??
2 Reasons WHY we care:
This is showing increased hostility between Christians and Muslims.
When Constantinople fell, this changed trade. Rome and Constantinople were centers for trade.
This opens new trade routes.
Trade flourishes.
This created more economic opportunities.

11. Making the connections…
When people couldn’t go through Constantinople anymore for trade, they switched to water exploration for new trade routes. (This leads to the Age of Exploration…stay tuned for more later ).

12. Why is this where we start?
With the Black Death that killed so many in Europe’s population and the many changes in trade, feudalism ended. This paved the way for a new way of life…it was a “rebirth.”
People were able to accumulate their own wealth from this new life and increased trade.
This created the need for banking.
Bring on the Medici Family 