1. The Black Death

2. Europe in the late Middle Ages
10th -14th centuries
Europe’s pop. increased by 300%.
improvements in agriculture.
mid-1300s, pop. of Europe over 75 million

3. The end of the world… In October 1347, the disease made
first appearance in Europe.
A fleet of ships making its way through the Mediterranean Sea had on board very sick sailors.
When the sailors arrived, people noticed the following things:
Most of the sailors were dead, and those that were alive looked as if they were about to die
The sailors’ faces were contorted and bloated
They had a purplish hue that colored their skin

4. Within a week, people began dropping dead by the hundreds each day.
Within six months, the disease (Black Death, Black Plague, or Bubonic Plague) would claim over half of the region’s population.

5. Spread of the Black Death
25-38 million dead
1/4-1/2 of the population died

6. 1347-1351, between 25%-50% of Europe’s population would be killed by the Black Death.
In many towns, the dead outnumbered the living.
Bodies piled up in the streets faster than people could bury them.

7. Social Impacts People at the time did not know what caused the plague
They thought
Punishment by God for sins
Caused by the Devil
Jews poisoning town wells
Leads to massacres of Jews

8. Economic Impacts Trade declined
Shortage of workers = rise in price of labor
Decline in population
Less demand for food
Lower food prices
Peasants & serfs
Peasants could leave manor & work for other lords that paid more & could move to cities
Serfs bargained with lords to pay rent rather than service
Frees them from being bound to the land

9. The Spread of the Plague