Chapter 9: Section 5

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Chapter 9 Section 5

• A Time of Crisis

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The Black Death

• 1347 Fleet from Genoa, Italy left Caffa (Black
  Sea) traveled to Messina, Sicily
• Sailors died on the voyage townspeople in
  Messina (soon all of Italy) died in large s
• 1348 Black Death/Bubonic Plague spread from
  Messina, Sicily to Spain and Francesoon all of
  Western Europe
• 1 in 3 died from the epidemic

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Causes of the Plague

• Originated in Mongolia ---- China (35 million
  died in early 1300s) ---- India ---- Middle East
  (7,000 died a day) ---- W. Europe (25 million
  died between 1347-1352)
• Rats infested ships, towns and homes.
• Fleas on rats also infested clothing, luggage
  sacks of traders along the Silk Road

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Social Upheaval/Decay

• Brought terror bewilderment to Europe
• Seen as punishment from God
• No cure found
• People turned to witchcraft and magic

• Flagellants whipped themselves to repent
• Some engaged in orgies, drank to excess, etc.
• Others blamed Jews for poisoning wells --- led to
  massacres

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Economic Effects

• Both workers and employers died
• Production decreased --- prices increased
  (inflation)
• Surviving workers wanted higher wages
• Farmers turned cropland into sheep pastures ---
  required less labor
• Farmhands looked for work in towns where guild
  membership was limited --- led to unrest

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The Oriental Rat Flea!

• Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Class
  Insecta
• Order Siphonaptera
• Family Pulicidae
• Genus Xenopsylla Species cheopis

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Path of the Plague
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Types of Bubonic Plague

• The Black Death came in three forms, the bubonic,
  pneumonic, and septicemic. All forms were caused
  by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis.

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Bubonic Plague

• most common form of the Black Death.
• mortality rate 30-75.
• symptoms enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes
  (around arm pits, neck and groin)
• 'bubonic' refers to the characteristic bubo or
  enlarged lymphatic gland.
• Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, aching
  joints, fever of 101-105 degrees, vomiting, and a
  general feeling of illness.

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Pneumonic Plague

• second most common form of the Black Death.
• mortality rate 90-95 (if treated today the
  mortality rate would be 5-10)
• infected the lungs.
• Symptoms slimy sputum tinted with blood (Sputum
  is saliva mixed with mucus exerted from the
  respiratory system.)
• As the disease progressed, the sputum became free
  flowing and bright red.

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Septicemic Plague

• most rare form of all
• Mortality 100 (even today there is no
  treatment)
• Symptoms high fever and skin turning deep
  shades of purple/almost black --- where the Black
  Death gets its name!
• Victims usually died the same day symptoms
  appeared. In some cities, as many as 800 people
  died every day.

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Medical Workers

• The nose of the sinister costume was supposed to
  act as a filter, being filled with materials
  imbued with perfumes and alleged disinfectants.

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Pieter Bruegel The Triumph of Death
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Hans Holbein The Dance of Death
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4 Major Plagues

• The Plague of Justinian (6th Century A.D.), the
  Black Death (14th Century A.D.), and the Bubonic
  Plague (1665-1666, which coincided with the Great
  Fire of London) caused an estimated 137 million
  dead in a world much more sparsely populated than
  it is today. The third pandemic began in Canton
  and Hong Kong in 1894 vessels in merchant fleets.
  Within 10 years (1894-1903) plague entered 77
  ports on five continents. In India, there were
  over 6 million deaths from 1898 to 1908 (3).