The Black Death was from the 14th to the 17th century and all started with a gut dwelling bug called Y Pestis. It was carried around by rodents like the black rat. This bug could leap between mammales and fleas. The plague spread so quickly because it occurred in small, tight towns. These towns were in terrible shape because people just threw their garbage and sewege wherever they pleased. This was the perfect breeding ground for rats to live who carried the disease. The first sign of impending death was lumps our "buboes" in the groin, armpits or the neck area.
A buboe on the neck
Then black spots appeared all over the body like on the arms and the legs. Some other symptoms would be vomitting of blood, high fever and aching legs. Most people would only last 3 - 4 days after getting the first symptoms. There were many things people tried to do to keep from getting the plague. The Church would keep their bells ringing as to ward it off. Only few were effective or at least helped. Pope Clement VI got rid of it because he sat between two large fires and sweat it out. It is destroyed by heat. No one was safe from the plague. It didn't matter if you were rich or poor, young or old. You still had a chance of getting the disease.
The plague killed 1/3 of the middle ages population and when it finally died down it caused the ending of feudalism. Since 1/3 of the population had died there were more jobs for people. They were able to get paid more because lots of times the one that was hiring couldn't find anyone else. This gave people more money to buy more things.
The plague also led people to be more clean and healthy. They bathed more often and no longer just threw their garbage and sewege out their windows and into the streets.
The Black Death;
by: Hannah Smith
The Black Death was from the 14th to the 17th century and all started with a gut dwelling bug called Y Pestis. It was carried around by rodents like the black rat. This bug could leap between mammales and fleas. The plague spread so quickly because it occurred in small, tight towns. These towns were in terrible shape because people just threw their garbage and sewege wherever they pleased. This was the perfect breeding ground for rats to live who carried the disease. The first sign of impending death was lumps our "buboes" in the groin, armpits or the neck area.The plague killed 1/3 of the middle ages population and when it finally died down it caused the ending of feudalism. Since 1/3 of the population had died there were more jobs for people. They were able to get paid more because lots of times the one that was hiring couldn't find anyone else. This gave people more money to buy more things.
The plague also led people to be more clean and healthy. They bathed more often and no longer just threw their garbage and sewege out their windows and into the streets.
Work Cited.
http://www.kleinroehrsdorf.de/franziska/buboes1.jpg
The Black Death in a European Town. Hulton Archive/Getty Images. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/black-death-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://history.howstuffworks.com/middle-ages/black-death.htm&usg=__6B4IeYrKsTxYlaFMV80ZMOPlBpQ=&h=332&w=400&sz=32&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=5tBsqUzvwrMFJM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bblack%2Bdeath%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
De-coding the Black Death. October 3rd 2001. BBC News. April 15, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1576875.stm
The Black Death of 1348 to 1350. History Learning Site. April 16, 2009 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm
The Black Death. About the disease. April 16, 2009, http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/plague/05.shtml
The Black Death. Avoidance. April 16, 2009, http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/plague/12.shtml