THE BUBONIC PLAGUE
PERIOD 7
Ch. 8.5 Pgs. 269-271, 274-275
What Was The Bubonic Plague?
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Black Death
Horrible epidemic
Killed many people
Throughout the middle ages
In Europe, Asia, North Africa and many other places
Worst case: Europe in 1347.
( The bubonic plague was less than 1
mm in size but it had destroyed more
than 2/3 of Europe during the Dark
ages.)
How Was It Spread?
 A ship returning from China in 1347
 Had goods with rats that are carrying fleas who
have the plague.
 The rats ran off and the fleas had hopped off the
rats
 A few months later: spread throughout Italy
 1348: spread to Spain and France
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carried
who carried
( The map, behind shows how fast the plague has
spread around Europe during the late 1340’s –
early 1350’s.)
Effects on Normal Life
 Some isolated themselves, others tried to flee but died
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trying.
Induced terror and paranoia
Jews were thought to have poison the wells.
People turned to magic and witchcraft.
1 in 3 people died
“Wrath from God”
“End of the World”
“Political and Economic Turmoil”
Effects On The Church.
 “Why did God spare some and kill others?”
 Many people tried to pray to God in hopes of him taking away all of
these disasters.
 However with the church having a schism in 1378, people had began
to question Christianity.
(Various people would go to church
and continuously pray to God to
remove the plague.)
Effects on the Economy
 People could not go to their jobs and produce goods for
the towns.
 Production declined
 People demanded higher wages, which the government
refused to give.
 The economy in Europe went into turmoil.
(The economy in Europe in the dark ages went
down the tubes, almost as same as the Great
Depression in America.)
Symptoms Of The Plague
 Vomiting
 Black spots on chest
 Painful swellings in the armpits or legs
 Extremely high fever
 Abdominal and muscular pain
 Diarrhea (mostly bloody)
 Hallucinations
 Death
Could Medical Science Help?
 Medical science at the time had pretty much
little or no effect on the plague.
 Doctors were reduced to use everything from
surgery to magic.
 In fact most treatments actually caused more
damage than it was supposed to prevent.
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(A typical dark ages doctor who wore a mask, a protective robe
and a long stick full of herbs, to prevent catching the plague.)
Famous Music or Art
One of the most famous poems is “Ring around
the Rosie.”
 “Ring around the Rosie
 “A pocket full of posies”
 “Ashes, ashes”
 “We all fall down.”
 Hans Holbein’s
“Danse Macabre”
 Hans Holbein’s
“Story A Day in May”
Questions
 How did the Black
Death become a Global
Epidemic?
 What impact did the
Bubonic Plague have
on Europe during the
Middle Ages?
Works Cited
 “The Black Death: Bubonic Plague.” The Middle
Ages.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012.
<http://themiddleages.net/plague.html>.
 “Bubonic Plague.” Kidipede. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb.
2012.
<http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/science/medici
ne/plague.htm>.
 “Symptoms of Bubonic Plague.” eMedTV. N.p., n.d.
Web. 8 Feb. 2012.
<http://plague.emedtv.com/bubonicplague/symptoms-of-bubonic-plague.html>.