Black Death

586 Words2 Pages

In the years 1331 to 1350 all of Europe broke out in an epidemic, called the Black Death. This terrible sickness murdered about one third of all the people in Europe, it spread, and killed quickly. People’s lives were changed drastically; they were scared to go outside in fear of catching the gross disease. The Black Death spread rapidly through Europe having significant impacts on society.
The Black Death started in China in 1331; it was then carried across the Asian caravan to southern Russia on merchant ships. In 1347, ships brought it to Italy. It then steadily spread throughout the rest of Europe. The bacteria,Yersinia Pestis, that caused the disease was carried in the stomach of a flea that lived on black rats or other small rodents. The Black Death is formally known as the Bubonic Plague, although there was three more variations of the Black Death, the Bubonic was the most prominent during these times. The living conditions of this time made it perfect breeding grounds for the rats, the streets were narrow, and filled with garbage, mud and human excrement. There was also a shortage in housing, causing six to eight people sleeping in one bed; this was a true fact for aristocratic families too. Personal hygiene was a problem too, water was contaminated so few people bathed, these conditions led to people being sick many having diarrhea which lowered people’s resistance to the disease.
People of this time always had body lice and fleas. After bitten by an infected flea, nearly all victims died within three days. The early symptoms were growths the size of nuts that could grow to the size of an apple on the legs, groin, armpit, and neck. The lumps started out being red then progressed into a dark purple or a black. There wer...

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Works Cited

• Snell, Mellissa. (2012). Black Death Causes and Symptoms. Retrieved January 9, 2012, from http://historymedren.about.com/od/theblackdeath/a/death_defined.htm.

• historylearningsite.co.uk. (2011). The Black Death of 1348-1350. Retrieved January 9, 2012, From http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm

• Alchin, L.K. (2006). Black Death. Retrieved January 11, 2012. from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/black-death.htm

Eyewitness to History. (2001). Black Death 1348. Retrieved January 11, 2012 from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm

• Lucy Boyd. (2011). A List of Symptoms of Black Death. Retrieved January 11, 2012 from http://www.livestrong.com/article/73849-list-symptoms-black-death/

Smith, Corralee. (2011). Environmental and Social Change In 14th and 15th Century Europe. History 10 class handout.

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