World History
The Black Death
Why is the Black Death Important?
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Killed over 1/3 of Europe’s population
(Between 20 to 25 million people!)
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Greatly impacted the economic, social,
cultural, religious, and political make up of
Europe
Curriculum Outcome:
Describe the Black Death
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Unit Objectives: The student will be able to:
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Apply a modified version of the historical method of inquiry to
examine and analyze a primary source painting from the
Black Death time period
Examine a primary source reading to identify the symptoms
and reactions of people to the Black Death
Participate in a lecture/discussion/note taking activity about
the causes, transmission, reactions, and economic impacts of
the Black Death
Read and extract important information about the impact of
the Black Death on the economy and society of Europe in a
homework assignment
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Unit objectives continued:
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Examine the geographic theme of diffusion by
studying the path followed by the plague
View and understand a PBS video explaining the
historical & scientific research that was used to identify
a genetic mutation that protected people from the
Black Death and compare/contrast it to other disease
Read a scientific article about the spread of the Black
Death and AIDS
Complete a graphic organizer to compare/contrast the
Black Death & AIDS
Describe the Black Death on a Quiz
Addressed Standards:
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Social Studies Standards:
History 1---Chronology & historical phenomena
History 2—Research/examination of primary
sources
History 4---Content—Transition from Middle Ages
to Renaissance—Black Death
Geography 1---Movement (Diffusion)
Economics---Impact on Economy
Addressed Standards:
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Science Standards 1, 6, & 7
English 1
Health Professions Integration
What were the
political,
economic,
and social effects
of the Black Death??
Homework After the Religions Test
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The Black Death Reading Studyguide
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Read and highlight important facts on
pages 2,3, & 5 of the handout. Then
complete the following questions.
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Read & complete the map activity on page
4.
Day 1 Plan
Turn in Homework (Reading Questions)
 Warm-up: Primary Painting on the Black Death
Examination/Discussion
 Think/Pair/Share: “Avoid it like the Plague”
 Background of The Black Death
 Primary Source Reading & Notes on Black Death
 Graphic Organizer notes & Visuals on Black
Death
 HW: Black Death quote writing assignment
Warm-up:
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Examine the primary source painting and
answer the questions.
“The Triumph of Death”
Pieter Brueghel (1530-1569)
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What do you see?
Describe the landscape.
What kinds of activities are the people doing?
What seems realistic?/Unrealistic?
How do you feel looking at this painting?
What is implied in the painting?
What kind of story is the artist trying to tell?
Medieval Art & the Plague
Bring out your dead!
The Danse Macabre
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Inspired by Black Death,
Danse Macabre is an
allegory on the universality
of death and a common
painting motive in latemedieval periods.
From the Dance of Death
by Hans Holbein the
Younger (1491).
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“
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Painted in 1485 by Hieronymous Bosch, Death
and the Miser is an allegorical work of art that
reflects the impact of religion and disease on
European society during the Middle Ages. The
painting focuses on an old miser dying in his bed
and staring at a shrouded skeleton walking
through the door. The same miser is depicted
again at the bottom of the painting as a younger
and healthier man placing coins into a lockbox.
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The doctor's robe. The
nose of the sinister
costume was supposed to
act as a filter, being filled
with materials imbued with
perfumes and alleged
disinfectants. The lenses
were supposed to protect
the eyes from the
miasmas.
Illustration from Historiarum
anatomicarum medicarum (1661), by
Thomas Bartholin.
“Avoid
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it like the Plague”
Explain the above expression/quote using
a Think/Pair/Share.
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Timeline of
Black Death
Middle Ages (770 - 1350)771 - 814
Reign of Kind Charlemagne
900
Arab Physician Rhases identifies plague,
smallpox, and rabies as infectious.
1096 - 1219
Crusades
1347 - 1350
Black Death
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Renaissance (1350 - 1600)
1450
Gutenberg invents printing press
1492
Columbus discovers America
1503
Leonardo Da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
1528
Severe outbreaks of plague in England
1563
General outbreaks of plague in Europe
After the Renaissance
1665
GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON
Have you ever sang this nursery
rhyme?
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A chilling rhyme would evolve from the
symptoms of the dying and sentiments of
the living…
"Ring around the rosie,
A pocketful of posie,
Ashes, Ashes,
All fall down."
How does it relate to the black Death?
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The symptoms of the disease included a rosy red
rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around
the rosy).
Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet
smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due
to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad
smells.
The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of
the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and
the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of
London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried
the disease which was transmitting via water
sources.
The English version of it
“Ring a ring of roses,
A pocket full of posies,
Atishoo, atishoo,
We all fall down.”
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The English version of "Ring around the rosy" replaces
Ashes with (Atishoo, Atishoo) as violent sneezing was
another symptom of the disease and was closely
followed by 'falling down' or sudden death.
Let’s examine this Primary Source
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With a partner read the account of the
Black Death written by Michael Platiensis in
1357.
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Find out the symptoms of the Black Death
and how it affected people
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Then complete the chart
Symptoms of the Plague
Infection spread to everyone who had
intercourse (came into contact) with the
diseased
 Pain throughout whole body
 Boils on thighs and upper arms
 Vomiting of blood
 Infection spread to people who touched or
used the things of the diseased
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The Symptoms
Bulbous
Septicemia Form:
almost 100% mortality
rate.
Reactions to the Plague
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Men hated others because of disease
Father would not tend a son with disease
People confessed sins and drew up last will &
testament
Ecclesiastics, lawyers, & attorneys refused to
enter the homes of the diseased
Relatives of dead would not enter homes of the
dead
Servants were paid high wages to bury the dead
More Reactions…
Servant shortage because they died from
the disease
 Groups of people (Messinians) emigrated
or moved to try to escape plague
 Many people hoped the Saints would
deliver them from the disease—wanted
relics & bones of Saints brought to their
towns
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More Reactions…
 People
made pilgrimages hoping God
would help them
 Buried bodies outside of town walls
 People in Catania would not help the
people trying to escape the disease
 All ecclesiastics given the priestly
powers of absolution of sins
Attempts to Stop the Plague
A Doctor’s
Robe
“Leeching”
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Flagellanti: Self-inflicted “penance” for our sins!
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Pograms against the Jews
“Golden Circle”
obligatory badge
“Jew” hat
Graphic Organizer of the Black Death
Day 1 Homework
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Examine a primary source quote
Boccaccio said that the victims, "ate lunch
with their friend and dinner with their
ancestors in paradise."
What did he mean in this quote?
Your answer should be at least five
sentences.
“3,2,1” Exit Slip
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3 things you found out
2 interesting things
1 question you still have
Complete paper and hand in as you leave
class
Day 2 Plan
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Warm-up: Respond to the statistic
Think/Pair/Share
Video: “The Mystery of the Black Death” &
studyguide questions
Article: “ Black Death and AIDS”
HW: Venn Diagram on the Black Death &
AIDS
Respond to this statistic
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“Every 25 seconds another person in
Africa gets infected with HIV”
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Write down your thoughts…What are some
similarities between the Black Death &
AIDS?
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View the PBS special
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Answer the questions
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Discuss as a class
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List 4 ways in which people tried to
prevent/control the Plague.
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Quarantined Towns
Quarantined Houses once a family got
sick
Doctors wore masks
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What is the great mystery concerning the
Plague?
 What
gave some people the power to
survive this deadly plague
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Why was the town of Eyam, England
chosen to solve this mystery?
Town was quarantined but ½ of the people
survived; some who had the plague even
survived
Genes (DNA) of those people’s
descendants can be tested
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How is the plague like/not like Anthrax?
Animal anthrax shared symptoms with the
plague
Differs in that it was transmitted through the
air, kills in 48 hours
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Explain the importance of the following people in
solving the mystery of the Plague.
Elizabeth Hancock—all six members of her family
died; she nursed them but survived
Steve Crohn---partner of a homosexual who died
of AIDS; high risk behavior that did not lead to
AIDS
Margaret Blackwell---she had the plague but
survived
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What is Delta 32? How does it stop the
spread of the Plague and Aids?
Delta 32 is a genetic mutation that could
block the plague from entering the blood
cells; created resistance
Genetic mistake that gave some people
protection from the plague
Delta 32 ---genetic resistance to AIDS
Day 2 Homework
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Use information from the video: “The
Mystery of the Black Death” & studyguide
questions and the article: “ Black Death and
AIDS” to
Complete the Venn Diagram or the
compare/contrast chart on the Black Death
& AIDS
Exit Slip Day 2
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1.What is significant about the Delta 32
discovery?
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2.What role did primary resource research
play in the Delta 32 discovery?
Day 3 Plan
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Warm-up: Examine Primary Source Quote
of Poet John Donne.
Review of Black Death Reading
Studyguide
Impact of Black Death Think/Pair/Share
Review of Venn
Homework: Study for Black Death Test
Warm-up:
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Never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee."
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Poet John Donne wrote these lines in his
"Meditation XVII" as the feared Black Death
ravaged his native London in 1624.
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What did he mean by this quote?
Let’s discuss the study guide answers
What were some of the symptoms of the Black Death?
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Black, egg-sized lumps, oozing blood
& pus, formed in the armpits & groins;
Boils & blacked spots dotted bodies;
Foul smell—wounds, blood, sweat, &
breath;
Black skin & tongue; some coughed up
blackened blood; intense pain; quick
death
Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg
Bible (1411).
Why did the city officials try to keep the trade
ships out of Messina?
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To keep the disease from spreading to
their city
What happened when people fled towns and
cities infected with the Black Death?
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They spread the illness further & faster.
What caused the Black Death or
bubonic plague?
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It was caused by bacteria, which
developed in the blood of a certain flea.
The fleas spread the disease to rats. The
fleas bit the rats by inserting a pricker
into the rat to feast on its blood. With
the inflected flea’s stomach blocked, it
would regurgitate the rat’s blood along
with the plague bacteria.
The Culprits
How was the bubonic plague spread to humans?
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A bite from an infected rat or flea could
then pass the infection to a human.
Farm animals, such as sheep and hogs
also contacted the disease and spread it
to their masters.
Where did the bubonic plague start? How did it
spread to Europe?
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It probably began in China, and then
spread to central Asia, then to India and
Persia. Then to Syria, Egypt, and Asia
Minor (Turkey). Trade ships and land
caravans from the East spread the
disease to Europe. Also central Asians
warriors may have also brought the
disease to Europe when they invaded in
1346.
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The Black Death
spreads in Italy
The Black Death spreads in France
How was the bubonic plague used as a war
tactic?
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Warriors loaded bodies of dead in
catapults and flung them over the walls
into the city of their enemies.
How did people try to escape the Black Death?
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They fled the infected cities and towns.
People stayed to themselves, refusing
to come into contact with outsiders,
even their own servants. Family
members abandoned one another.
How did the Black Death nearly drive some
people insane?
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Many danced wildly in graveyards
hoping to drive away the evil spirits that
brought the disease to their town. Also
hoped to keep dead from arising to
spread the disease. Many danced
themselves into exhaustion or died of
self-induced fear.
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Flagellants practiced
self-flogging to atone
for sins. The
movement became
popular after general
disillusionment with
the church's reaction
to the Black Death.
How many people died from the Black Death?
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20 million or 1/3 of Europe’s population
Activity
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Pass out color cards at the beginning of
class. Have students put them on their
desk. After this questions, have students
move with their cards to the center of the
room. Then have 1/3 of the students
,indicated by their card color, move to the
side of the room. Examine the remaining
number of students to illustrate the great
loss of the Black Death.
What are some reasons why the Black Death
killed so many people in Europe?
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People tried to flee it and ended up spreading it faster &
further
People did not know what caused it—ineffective
treatments
Very contagious disease
Very quick disease—most people died within three days
Doctors caught it from patients
Priests caught it from people
Farmers caught it from livestock
Cities—filth—rats were common—rats carried the
disease
Negative Effects of the Black Death
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Jews were blamed for plague and killed
Brought out the worst in people
People farmed less, produced fewer
goods, and became less enterprising--economies plunged into chaos
Food grew scarce
Prices rose causing inflation
Scarcity of labor
Positive Effects of the Black Death
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Worker shortage caused worth of labor
to increase
Peasants gained economic power
Peasants escaped feudal services
Serfs gained freedom
Peasants became landowners
Survivors were wealthier and bought
more
More Positive Effects…
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Inflation declined
Business flourished, great trading
centers were established in towns
and cities
Increase in profits
New banking industry, accounting firms
& large international trading companies
improvement in standard of living
Peasant Living Increased
Think/Pair/Share
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Evaluate which effect had the greatest
impact
Explain your reasoning
Use the Think/Pair/Share to record your
answers
Something to think about….
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What other measures might have been
taken under 14th century conditions had
the transmission of the plague through
fleas and rats, as well as by direct human
to human transmission, been known?
Black Death & AIDS
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How are they alike?
Black Death & AIDS
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How are they different?
Exit Slip Day 3
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1. List 2 positive effects of the Black Death
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2. List 2 negative effects of the Black
Death.
Day 3 Homework
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Study for the Black
Death test!
Can we apply the Black Death to our
essential questions?
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Are we who we were?