The Plague (Black Death)

The Victims “ate lunch with their friend and dinner with their

ancestors in paradise.”-Boccaccio

History

• Plague has been around for 3000 years• Caused by fleas from rats

History

• Came for the East• Spread through Europe because of war and

trade 1347-1351

Types of Plague

• Bubonic– Most common, (Prairie Dogs), 30-75% death rate

2-6 days– Symptoms include fever, vomiting, headache, then

attacks lymph nodes, swell into a bubo

Types of Plague

• Pneumonic– Air born, 90-95% death rate, 24 hours, cough

sputum mixed with blood

• Setpticemic– Enters blood stream and attacks organs 99-100%

death rate• Plague can be treated today with a 5-10%

death rate

Medieval Plague

• Spread through Europe killing 1/3 of the population (30 million)

• Normal life ceased in Europe

Reactions

• Church– Many people felt that god was punishing them.

The Church lost some of its power– Flagellants bands of people who traveled around

Europe punishing themselves for humanities sins• Society– Crime rose, work stopped, many places fell into

chaos

– Ring a-round the rosy, Pocket full of posies, Ashes, ashes! We all fall down!

Reactions

• Medical Measures– Doctors had no clue, bleed the patients– Many thought it was transmitted through smell

(used good smelling herbs), – Quarantine

Black Death

• By 1352 had lessened within Europe– Came back 1361, 1369, 1374, 1390…– 50 cases in Colorado since 1957– 1000-3000 cases a year world wide

Plague Changed Europe

• Manors suffered heavy losses • Serfs demand a better life or run away to

towns• Plague started the end of feudalism

100 Years War1337-1453

• French king (Charles IV) dies w/out heir– Crown passed to nephew Philip VI

• English king Edward III claims he is heir– Grandson of Charles IV

Joan of Arc

• Joan– Believed heavenly voices told her to drive the

English from France

Joan of Arc

• 1429– Joan led the French army into battle against the

English at Orleans– She turns the tide of war in the Hundred Years

War in the French favor– 1430 she is captured by the English and put on

trial for heresy

Effects of the 100 yrs War

• Monarchs now had huge armies and controlled entire countries

• Peasants and serfs cared more about King than Feudal Lord

• 100 YW another step to fall of Feudalism

• Great Schism 1378-1417– Another split in the church– 2 Popes at once– Pope Urban VI (Italian) – Pope Clement VII (French)• Excommunicated each other• Started a mass excommunication• Two Popes from 1378-1417

Struggle Between Popes