THE BLACK DEATH

The Black Death

Causes:

What spread it?

Where did it spread to?

Where was it the most dangerous?

Why?

SECTION 5: A TIME OF CRISIS

THE BUBONIC PLAGUE

Fleas• Carried

“Yersinia Pestis” Bacteria

Rats• Brown rats

infested all homes and the streets of cities

Cities • Poor

sanitation• Larger

population = more people living closer

Gobi Desert China 1320s •Mongol hordes brought the bacteria to cities•Spread across Asia via trade routes

Caffa, Black Sea •Genoese sailors fleeing Mongols carried disease on their ship

Sicily, Europe•First account in Messina, Sicily•Ship was quarantined but the fleas and rats escaped and began to spread the Plague•Within two months, half the population of Messina was dead

HOW DOES IT SPREAD TO EUROPE?

Why was the Plague so deadly?

LIFE DURING THE BLACK DEATH

Bring Out Your Dead!

Most people died within three days of the tumors

appearing

Death rates were so high that the disposal of bodies

became an issue

In Italy a group known as the becchini hired

themselves out to carry away the dead.

In some families, sick members were left in the

homes to die while the rest fled elsewhere

Where could they flee where they may have a chance at

surviving?

DAILY LIFE

Medicine

People still believed that disease was spread by poisons vapors that corrupted the air

People walked around holding their noses or carrying around

flowers

The Faculty of the University of Paris argued that the plague

was the result of the conjunction of the planets, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter

MEDICINE

FlagellantsWho were they?

What did they do to themselves?

What effect did this have on the spread

of the plague?Why did they do what they did?

SUPERSTITIONS

Europeans looked for someone, or something to

blame for this horrific plague, such as?

WitchesWomen were accused of being witches especially surrounding

the death of so many people

They were midwives and also cared for the sick

SUPERSTITIONS & SCAPEGOATING

Europeans looked for someone, or The Jews were the ones who suffered the

mostWhy?

Massacres of Jews took place in Germany

Groups were burned as witches

RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM

SocialEstimates are around 25 million

out of 44 million perished (approximately 1/3 to ½ Europe’s

population)

Effects on the Church?

Art

Reflected death in the 1300s and 1400s

EFFECTS OF THE PLAGUE

Political

Feudal system was weakened by the shortage of labor

Peasant revolts occurred throughout Europe

The most famous one was the English Peasant Revolt in 1381

Economic

The shortage of workers created a demand for higher wages and prices

EFFECTS OF THE PLAGUE

THE HUNDRED YEARS WARCauses

What were the causes?English Victories

Use of the longbow – many victories and took a toll on French morale

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

Who was Joan of Arc and what role did she play in this war?

French VictoriesThe French troops with the use of

canons were able to remove the English from all of France except

Calais

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR - EFFECTS

France

Expanding power and national unity England

Rulers had to ask parliament for money to fight war

This helped parliament win the “power of the purse” Medieval World

Long bow and cannon became common weapons for soldiers and undermined knights

Castles could not survive canons

New monarchs of Europe needed armies not vassals to fight wars

By 1400’s population starts to grow

Manufacturing too

Italian cities start to flourish with trade

Stage is set for Renaissance, Reformation and Age of Exploration