The Black Death

E. Napp

Objective: To identify and explain the causes and effects of the Black Death

Do Now: Multiple-choice questions from previous lessons

1. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta are best known for
(1) exploring the Western Hemisphere
(2) leading religious movements
(3) opening trade between Africa and Japan
(4) providing extensive information about lands and people
2. Which institution served as the primary unifying force in medieval western Europe?
(1) legislature
(2) church
(3) monarchy
(4) military
3. What was one direct result of the Crusades?
(1) Trade increased between Europe and the Middle East.
(2) Islamic kingdoms expanded into Europe.
(3) Arabs and Christians divided the city of Jerusalem between them.
(4) Alexander the Great became a powerful leader in Eurasia. / 4. • Stained glass windows assist people in understanding Biblical stories.
• Taller and larger cathedrals emphasize the grandeur and glory of God.
These statements best describe elements of
(1) the Four Noble Truths
(2) Chinese pagodas
(3) Gothic architecture
(4) Greek ideas
5. The use of the geographic terms Near East and Far East reflects
(1) the distance of nations from Mecca
(2) a European view of the world
(3) a Japanese perspective of Asia
(4) the location of Southwest Asia in relation to North Africa

Cornell Notes Outline: The Black Death (Add Key Words and Summaries)

The Key Words: / The Notes:
  1. By 1348, a plague (disease affecting many) arrived in Western Europe.
  1. The plague spread along trade routes.
1-It originated in Asia and reached the Italian peninsula by the winter of 1347 and 1348.
2-It was called the Bubonic Plague.
a)Bubo were swellings or bumps that infected people suffered.
b)It was also known as the Black Death.
c)Its symptoms included high fever, painful swellings, and black spots.
  1. Death occurred within a few days.
  2. Within three to four years, one-third of the population of Western Europe died.
d)The disease was spread by fleas on infected rats.
  1. The Plague changed Western Europe.
  1. The population declined.
  2. A smaller population led to increased wages and lower food prices.
  3. It weakened feudalism.

The Summaries:

Please read the passage below and answer the questions:

In 1348, a plague or disease hit Western Europe. Rats with infected fleas traveling along trade routes brought the disease from Asia to Western Europe. Officially known as the bubonic plague, people called it the “Black Death” because infected people developed black spots on their skin. In the 1300s, fleas on sick rats spread the disease from one person to the next. Between 1348 and 1400, millions of people died. England alone lost nearly one-third of its population to the dreaded disease. By the time the epidemic played out three years later, anywhere between 25% and 50% of Europe's population had fallen victim to the pestilence or disease.

The plague presented itself in three forms. The bubonic type was the most common form of the disease. It led to swellings or buboes that appeared on a victim's neck, armpits or groin. These tumors could range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple. Although some survived

The Plague's Progress

the painful ordeal, most died within a week. Infected fleas that attached themselves to rats and then to humans spread this bubonic type of the plague. A second form of the disease attacked the respiratory system and was spread by merely breathing the exhaled air of a victim. It was much more dangerous than the bubonic type- life expectancy was measured in one or two days. Finally, the septicemic version of the disease attacked the blood system.

Questions:

1: What was the bubonic plague or “Black Death”? ______

2: How did the disease enter Western Europe? ______

3: Describe the impact of the disease on the infected person. ______

"One citizen avoided another; hardly any neighbour troubled about others, relatives never or hardly ever visited each other. Moreover, such terror was struck into the hearts of men and women by this calamity, that brother abandoned brother, and the uncle his nephew, and the sister her brother, and very often the wife her husband. What is even worse and nearly incredible is that fathers and mothers refused to see and tend their children, as if they had not been theirs. Thus, a multitude of sick men and women were left without any care, except from the charity of friends (but these were few), or the greed, of servants, though not many of these could be had even for high wages, Moreover, most of them were coarse-minded men and women, who did little more than bring the sick what they asked for or watch over them when they were dying. And very often these servants lost their lives and their earnings.” ~Boccaccio

4: How did family members frequently treat one another during the time period of the Black Death?

______

Questions:

The Black Death found its way into Europe via:

(1)North Africa

(2)Asian trade routes

(3)Spain

(4)Scandinavia

Results of the Black Death included

(1)The death of tens of millions of people

(2)The decline of cultural transmission and trade across Europe

(3)The halting of growth of population, trade, and industry

(4)All of the above

"It was dark before I could get home, and so land at Churchyard stairs, where to my great trouble I met a dead corps of the plague in the narrow ally just bringing down a little pair of stairs."-S. Pepys