The+Plague

= By Lizzy, Grace, Charlie, Michael, Ali and Sam.H. =



**Clip Art by Phillip Martin**
=The Plague=

The Plague, also known as the Black Death, started in the 1330’s in Asia. It spread to Medieval Europe in 1347 and lasted until about 1351. There were still outbreaks for centuries after this but they were much smaller. During a two year period, about twenty-five million people died all over Europe. Life was very difficult in the Middle Ages, even without the Plague. War, famine and very bad weather killed many. Women died in childbirth and people died from diseases not nearly as bad as the Plague. People thought that the Plague was a punishment from God for being wicked. One of the worst things about this disease was that just as people thought it was over, it was back again. The Plague is now called the Bubonic Plague and we have medicine to cure it.

There were 3 variations of The Plague in Medieval times.

The Bubonic Variant Is a bubble or bubbles that can appear on a person’s neck or armpit. Some people will survive but can feel a huge amount of pain. The bubbles can be as big as an egg or an apple. This is the most common type of Black Death. If you had it, you might only live for 1 more week.

Pneumonic Plague People transferred this type of Black Death by breathing out air. This kind attacked the respiratory system. This would give you 1 or 2 more days to live.

Septicemic Plague This type attacked the blood system.

**Where, when and how did the Plague start and spread?**
In the 1330's there were infected rodents in Asia. Fleas would bite rodents and the fleas would get the disease. People would throw their garbage outside and rodents would be attracted to it and bring the fleas. Fleas would bite the human and the disease was transferred. Traders and soldiers using the Silk Road, a trading route from China to the Middle East, brought the disease to the Middle East. In 1347, Italian ships came back from the Black Sea and Middle East. They brought the disease, fleas and rodents with them into Sicily and Messina, Italy. It then spread to Europe and Africa. People were very prone to the Plague because they had unsanitary habits. Peasants almost never washed themselves or their clothes and people would handle cattle meat and directly go to handle and eat their food.

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**Black Death at Tournai**=====

**From [|Wikigallery]**

 * By Gilles Le Muisit**

**What was the Plague?**
The Plague consisted of getting red rings with dark spots in the center on your body. Also, big bumps would appear on your neck, arms and groin which could be black and were very painful. Bumps were called buboes and would ooze pus and blood. People would get a fever and then would die in a few days. Tips of people’s toes would turn a purple and black color which is one reason it was called the Black Death. Other symptoms were coughing, sneezing, headaches and pains in the arms and legs. This disease was contagious and by ten years of it spreading in Medieval Europe about one third of Europe’s population was gone. Today, the Plague is still around but we have much better sanitation and we have medicine to prevent death.

What Happens When the Plague Has Affected Your Area When people in a certain place get affected by the plague, the farmers and church staff could make more money. Lots of peasants were farmers. Once the farmers started to die from the Plague all the living farmers would make more money because they don’t have a bigger competition. The church staff makes tons of money because at the time, many people were ordering funerals for their dead family and friends. After this has settled in, the highest person on the chain starts raising the tax. When peasants with families to work for would die, the family would start a rebellion against the high taxes. Wherever rebellions started who knows what the highest man will order, it depends where you live (It’s different everywhere.) After the Plague has killed at least 1/5 of your area, people would start to flee to different areas to live a better life. Back then they believed that one cure was to be more religious and loyal to god. Some people would spend their whole day in church praying for help for God. Other people would go around town beating people with sticks and whips to please God.

Hygiene in the Middle Ages
The hygiene in the middle ages cost a lot for it to be perfected. Back then people did not dispose their trash properly. The fleas (which had the disease) would be attracted to the trash. The fleas are attracted to your hands because of how dirty they were/are. Some sources stated that hygiene was the largest cause of The Plague. Back then they did take baths and brush their teeth but don’t wash their hands very often before they eat and people use cold water and barely any soup when taking showers.

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**Plague Doctors**
Doctors were only in rich towns that could afford them. The doctors did not know what caused the Plague but their theory was that the Black Death came from the bad smells in the air called miasma. The doctors had a special costume they had to wear to show that they were doctors and to protect them. What doctors wore on their face included a beak, a hat, a black face and head covering mask and goggles. In the beak the doctors would carry herbs, dried flowers and other smelling things to keep the disease away and purify their air. They wore a hat made of leather, a full head mask with an attached beak, a gown of thick material covered with wax, leather gloves, and leather shoes. A doctor would also carry a stick to push away people who came too close. Though the technique the doctors used was faulty the patients felt like they might have a chance of living after they had been treated by a plague doctor.

[|**By Jan van Grevenbroeck**]
**Effect** There were both good and bad effects of the Black Death. Although millions of people died, this created a labor shortage. Nobles who were left needed farmers and peasants to farm their land so they paid more. Peasants and farmers got richer and bought land of their own. This, plus other factors, ended the feudal system. Peasants could run away and start a new life. They no longer needed to farm and work on the land for their lords. Also, the survivors from the countryside moved to the city and so did craftsmen because they had more people to sell to. Peasants then took over the empty houses and property in the country. It also became easier to become a craftsman. Before the Plague, one would have to be an apprentice for many years before becoming a craftsman. However, since there were so few craftsmen left, it was a much shorter process. Another effect was that before the Plague many forests and trees were cut down in order to make fields for farming but since there were not a lot of farmers left the trees grew back. After the Plague and even during, many laws were passed about sanitation. The activities of butchers and other jobs that handled dead animals were restricted because one thing the Black Death was thought to be caused by was miasma (bad air). Two big impacts of the Plague were that the standards of living were raised and it was the beginning of the Renaissance period.

= What were side effects of the plague? = The plague had several different symptoms. Here are a few: A victim of the plague would most likely die. Death would usually occur soon after all of these symtoms showed up.
 * People who got the plague would soon get swellings in their armpits, legs, necks or groins. These swellings were very painful. At first, they would be a red color, then turn into a dark purple or black.
 * Victims of the plague would run a very high fever.
 * The plague caused delirium. Delirium is when you suddenly become confused because of an illness.
 * plague victims would also vomit a lot, and cough up blood. The victims would be bleeding in the lungs then cough up the blood.
 * Pain in muscles would occur to a victim with the plague.
 * Another big symptom would be mental disorientation. Mental disorientation is when you are confused. It is like delirium.

**Not So Fun Facts **

 * The Flagellent Brahren were men who wore white robes with red crosses on the front and back. They believed that the Plague was a punishment for mankind and whipped themselves with whips with iron spikes on them in public twice a day to show mankind’s repentance.
 * In 1347 a Eurasian army catapulted dead plague victims into an Italian port to besiege it.
 * The Black Death was a terrible disease and there are many connections to it today including Ring around the Rosy. It may sound like a nice child's game but really all of the words in the rhyme have a dark meaning. “Ring around the Rosy” meaning the red rings that would appear on the skin, “A pocket full of posies” meaning the flowers and herbs carried to avoid getting infected, “Ashes, ashes” representing the burning of villages, houses and victims or, in the oldest version “A-tishoo! A- tishoo!, the sneezing of ill and “We all fall down” meaning that rich, poor, young, old, strong and weak all died.
 *  Although the Plague started in Asia, the first recorded instance of someone having the Plague was in Constantinople in 570 AD.


 * From [|WPclipart]**

AFTERWORD

The black death killed over 20,000,000 people. It left very few alive. When it was all gone it left the world shaking. About all of the world was still scared. There was still the question; What will happen now? And all the areas of the world that were affected were very cautious about being around other people. They were all worried about catching the black death again. And many had lost their loved ones. And think about what the world would be like if there were a cure for the black death at the time? There would be a lot more people on earth during the middle ages. But there were also many grateful people to survive. During the time of the black death, those who survived were very scared. And when they survived, they were very scared. They had lost loved ones, but they were still happy to be alive.


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