In the Wake of the PlagueThe Black Death and the
World it MadeNorman F. Cantor
Content
• Biomedical • Social • Historical/ other
Biomedical ContentCurrent Knowledge
• 14th century• Killed about 1/3 of Europe’s population• “exterminating of humanity”• Carried on rats
Spread through trade
Combination of Diseases • Anthrax
Fast death (3 or 4 days) spread by undercooked meat, anthrax spores
• Bubonic Plague High death probability Spread by fleas or rodents, aerosols, pneumonia 3 stages
o first stage: flulike symptomso Second stage: black welts or bulgeso Pneumonia or death
• Jewish Conspiracy Poisoning wells Burnt Jews
Social Content• Consequences are class polarization,
social dislocations, capital accumulations and threatened stability
• Loss of laborers (decline of serfdom, rise of yeoman)
• Inflation• Death of leaders • Religion
Historical beliefs• Modern hypotheses
Cosmic dust causing outbreaks• Mystical superstitions
serpents, natural disasters
Aftermath
• Millions of dead bodies• Gave surviving women more independence • Labor shortages (decline of serfdom)• Economy • Art
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