Black Death Files
Black Death Files
Black Death Files
Source: Linda B. Black, Roger Beck, et al., World History: Patterns of Interaction
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Figure 2: First Incidence in Europe and Asia
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Expert Analysis: The Mongols and the Rats
In 1346 plague struck Mongol armies laying siege to a Black Sea port. From
there infected rats and fleas made their way onto ships. Infected fleas
bit humans transferring the disease to them. As merchants traveled [along
trade routes], so did the plague. It spread quickly throughout Europe,
first striking coastal regions and then moving inland. By 1351, almost no
part of Europe remained untouched by the Black Death.
But there was little comfort for the besieged Genoese. Before retreating,
the commander of the Tartars catapulted a few plague infested corpses over
the city walls. Hoping to escape, the Genoese sailed away in four ships.
But by the time they reached Messina, Sicily, most of those on board were
already dead. The ships were ordered out of the harbour - but too late.
The Great Pestilence, as it would come to be known, had reached Europe.
Source: Peter Lavelle, “On the Trail of the Black Death”, ABC Science, abc.net.au
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Figure 3: The Golden Horde and Mediterranean Spread
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Expert Analysis: Was the Black Death a Virus?
The descriptions given by Boccaccio and others didn't seem to fit with
what we know about bubonic plague. That was the view of two British
researchers, Christopher Duncan and Susan Scott from the University of
Liverpool, who in 2001 published a book called Biology of Plagues:
Evidence from Historical Populations. In it they pointed out several
things that didn't make sense if indeed, the Black Death was caused by
bubonic plague. For example;
Source: Peter Lavelle, “On the Trail of the Black Death”, ABC Science, abc.net.au
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Witness Testimony: Blaming the Jews for Plague
In the matter of this plague the Jews throughout the world were reviled and accused in
all lands of having caused it through the poison which they are said to have put into the
water and the wells-that is what they were accused of-and for this reason the Jews
were burnt all the way from the Mediterranean into Germany, but not in Avignon, for the
pope protected them there. Nevertheless they tortured a number of Jews in [Switzerland]
who then admitted that they had put poison into many wells, and they also found the
poison in the wells. Thereupon they burnt the Jews in many towns and wrote of this
affair to Strasbourg, Freiburg, and Basel in order that they too should burn their Jews…
Source: Jakob Twinger von Königshofen, Chronicler of the Black Death, 1474
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Source: Woodcut Illustration, Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493
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Figure 6: Demographic Comparison
At every church they dug deep pits… and thus those who were poor who died during the
night were bundled up quickly and thrown into the pit. In the morning when a large number
of bodies were found in the pit, they took some earth and shoveled it down on top of
them; and later others were placed on top of them and then another layer of earth, just
as one makes lasagna with layers of pasta and cheese.
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Crime Scene Sketches: The Dead and the Dying
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Witness Testimony: Death All Around
The plight of the lower and most of the middle classes was even more pitiful to behold.
Most of them remained in their houses, either through poverty or in hopes of safety, and
fell sick by thousands. Since they received no care and attention, almost all of them died.
Many ended their lives in the streets both at night and during the day; and many others
who died in their houses were only known to be dead because the neighbors smelled their
decaying bodies. Dead bodies filled every corner. Most of them were treated in the same
manner by the survivors, who were more concerned to get rid of their rotting bodies than
moved by charity towards the dead. With the aid of porters, if they could get them, they
carried the bodies out of the houses and laid them at the door; where every morning
quantities of the dead might be seen…
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Witness Testimony: Symptoms of the Disease
The symptoms were not the same as in the East, where a gush of blood from the nose
was the plain sign of inevitable death; but it began both in men and women with certain
swellings in the groin or under the armpit. They grew to the size of a small apple or an
egg, more or less, and were vulgarly called tumours. In a short space of time these
tumours spread from the two parts named all over the body. Soon after this the
symptoms changed and black or purple spots appeared on the arms or thighs or any other
part of the body, sometimes a few large ones, sometimes many little ones. These spots
were a certain sign of death, just as the original tumour had been and still remained.
Those who especially profited from the plague were the chemists, the doctors, the
poultry sellers, the undertakers, and the women who sold… herbs for [treating open
sores]. And those who made the most were these herb sellers. Wool merchants and
retailers when they came across cloth could sell it for whatever price they asked
(because it was so scarce). Once the plague had finished, anybody who could get hold of
whatsoever kind of cloth, or found the raw materials to make it, became rich… [When the
plague passed,] people began to return to their homes and belongings. And such was the
number of houses full of goods that had no owner, that it was amazing. Then the heirs
to this wealth began to turn up. And someone who had previously had nothing suddenly
found himself rich and couldn’t believe it was all his, and even felt himself it wasn’t quite
right.
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Expert Analysis: Reaction to the Plague
“Some people fled their cities, some gave way to religious frenzy
(extremism) or [open and obvious] hedonism (seeking physical pleasure
without concern for morality), and some remained faithfully at their
posts, hoping for divine protection against the pestilence [disease]. But
none can have emerged from the ordeal unaffected…”
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Crime Scene Sketch: Death in the Street
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.
…the king sent word [that] workmen should [not ask for] more [money] than they had
before [the outbreak of the plague]… Nevertheless the workmen… did not heed the king’s
decree, and if anyone wanted to hire them he had to pay what they asked… In the following
winter there was such a want of hands (need for workers), for every kind of work… Cattle
and such livestock as a man might have wandered about without a keeper, and there was
no one to look after people’s possessions. And thus the necessities of life became so
dear, that what in previous times was worth 1d. now cost 4d. or 5d…
Source: Henry Knighton, Knighton’s Chronicle, written in England during the 14th century
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Expert Analysis: Effects on European Society
The economic and social effects of the plague were enormous. The old
manorial system began to crumble. Some of the changes that occurred
included these: Town populations fell; Trade declined and prices rose; The
serfs left the manor in search of better wages; Nobles fiercely resisted
peasant demands for higher wages, causing peasant revolts in England,
France, Italy, and Belgium; Jews were blamed for bringing on the plague.
All over Europe, Jews were driven from their homes or, worse, massacred;
The Church suffered a loss of prestige when its prayers failed to stop the Page 3 of 6
Source: Linda B. Black, Roger Beck, et al., World History: Patterns of Interaction,
McDougal Littell