The Black DeathCould a few fleas really change the world? In the early 1300s, the world was on the brink of change. New trade routes in Europe and Asia brought people in contact with different cultures and ideas, while war and rebellions threatened to disrupt the lives of millions. Most people lived in crowded cities or as serfs tied to the lands of their overlords. Conditions were filthy, as most people drank water from the same sources they used for washing and for human waste. In the cramped and rat-infested streets of medieval cities and villages, all it took were the bites of a few plague-infected fleas to start a pandemic that killed roughly half the population of Europe and Asia. The bubonic plague wiped out families, villages, even entire regions. Once the swollen, black buboes appeared on victims bodies, there was no way to save them. People died within days. In the wake of such devastation, survivors had to reevaluate their social, scientific, and religious beliefs, laying the groundwork for our modern world. The Black Death outbreak is one of world history s pivotal moments. |
Contents
On the Edge of the Abyss | 4 |
From Flea to Human | 22 |
Death Sails In | 36 |
The South Falls | 54 |
The Plague Races North | 68 |
A Devastated World | 86 |
A New Era Begins | 102 |
The Plagues Among Us | 122 |
Glossary | 142 |
Whos Who? | 145 |
Source Notes | 150 |
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Back Flap | 161 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alexandre Yersin Avignon bacteria became began BLACK DEATH Black rats blood body buboes bubonic plague Caffa Christian clergy Constantinople created dead DEATH SAILS Decameron described DEVASTATED WORLD died disease doctors dying East Emperor England English epidemic Europe famine flagellants FLEA TO HUMAN flee Florence Florentine fourteenth century France French Germany Giovanni Boccaccio Golden Horde guilds historians Holy Roman Empire hospitals houses hundred Ibid infected Italian Italy Jews killed King Edward land lived London marmot medicine medieval merchant Messina Middle Ages modern Mongols monks outbreak painting papal patients peasants percent person pestilence Petrarch physicians plague bacteria Plague of Justinian PLAGUE RACES NORTH plague victims pneumonic plague poison Pope Clement population priests Project Gutenberg quickly Rome Saint scientists secondary sources septicemic plague Shibasaburo Kitasato ships sick SOUTH FALLS Spain Spanish flu spread Stefani surgeons symptoms tarabagan thousand town trade translation Venice villages wealthy workers wrote Yersinia pestis