AP EUROPEAN HISTORY

The CulpritsThe Culprits

The Famine of 1315-The Famine of 1315-13171317 By 1300 Europeans were farming

almost all the land they could cultivate. A population crisis developed. Climate changes in Europe produced

three years of crop failures between 1315-17 because of excessive rain.

As many as 15% of the peasants in some English villages died.

One consequence ofstarvation & povertywas susceptibility todisease.

Path of the Plague

1347: Plague Reaches 1347: Plague Reaches Constantinople!Constantinople!

The The SymptomsSymptoms

Bulbous

Septicemia Form:

almost 100% mortality rate.

The Black Death

• The Black Death came in three forms:

• 1. bubonic• 2. pneumonic• 3. septicemic

Bubonic plague• The bubonic plague was the most

commonly seen form of the Black Death. The mortality rate was 30-75%. The symptoms were enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes (around arm pits, neck and groin).

• Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, aching joints, fever of 101-105 degrees, vomiting, and a general feeling of illness.

• Symptoms took from 1-7 days to appear.

Pneumonic Plague• The pneumonic plague was the second most

commonly seen form of the Black Death. The mortality rate for the pneumonic plague was 90-95% (if treated today the mortality rate would be 5-10%).

• The pneumonic plague infected the lungs. Symptoms included 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. Symptoms took 1-7 days to appear.

The Septicemic Plague

• The septicemic plague was the most rare form of all. The mortality was close to 100% (even today there is no treatment). Symptoms were a high fever and skin turning deep shades of purple.

• The black death got its name from the deep purple, almost black discoloration." Victims usually died the same day symptoms appeared. In some cities, as many as 800 people died every day.

Effects of the Black Death on Europe

• 1/3 of the population of Europe died.• In all, 2.5 million people died from the

plague.• Art, science, and literature stopped

being created.• People were only worried about their

survival.

Effect on Children

• Children suffered as well. A common nursery rhyme is:

• Ring a-round the rosy           • Pocket full of posies           • Ashes, ashes!           • We all fall down!

• Ring around the rosy: rosary beads give you God's help.

• A pocket full of posies: used to stop the odor of rotting bodies which was at one point thought to cause the plague, it was also used widely by doctors to protect them from the infected plague patients.

• Ashes, ashes: the church burned the dead when burying them became to laborious.

• We all fall down: dead.

The Disease CycleThe Disease Cycle

Flea drinks rat blood that carries the

bacteria.

Flea drinks rat blood that carries the

bacteria.

Flea’s gut cloggedwith bacteria.

Flea’s gut cloggedwith bacteria.

Bacteriamultiply inflea’s gut.

Bacteriamultiply inflea’s gut.

Flea bites human and regurgitates blood into human wound.

Flea bites human and regurgitates blood into human wound.

Human is infected!Human is infected!

From From Toggenburg BibleToggenburg Bible 1411 1411

Lancing a Lancing a BuboeBuboe

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

Bring out your dead!

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

An obsession with death.

Boccaccio in Boccaccio in The The DecameronDecameron

“The victims ate lunch with their friends and

dinner with their ancestors.”

The The Danse Danse MacabreMacabre

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlague

A Doctor’s Robe

“Leeching”

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlague

Flagellanti:Self-inflicted “penance” for our

sins!

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlaguePogroms against the

Jews

“Jew” hat

“Golden Circle” obligatory badge

Death Triumphant !:Death Triumphant !:A Major Artistic A Major Artistic

ThemeTheme

A Little Macabre A Little Macabre DittyDitty“A sickly season,” the merchant

said,“The town I left was filled with dead,and everywhere these queer red fliescrawled upon the corpses’ eyes,eating them away.”

“Fair make you sick,” the merchant said,“They crawled upon the wine and bread.Pale priests with oil and books,bulging eyes and crazy looks,dropping like the flies.”

A Little Macabre Ditty A Little Macabre Ditty (2)(2)“I had to laugh,” the merchant said,

“The doctors purged, and dosed, and bled;“And proved through solemn disputation“The cause lay in some constellation.“Then they began to die.”

“First they sneezed,” the merchant said,“And then they turned the brightest red,Begged for water, then fell back.With bulging eyes and face turned black,they waited for the flies.”

A Little Macabre Ditty A Little Macabre Ditty (3)(3)“I came away,” the merchant

said,“You can’t do business with the dead.“So I’ve come here to ply my trade.“You’ll find this to be a fine brocade…”And then he

sneezed……….!

The Mortality

Rate35% - 70%

25,000,000 dead !!!

What were thepolitical,

economic,and social effects

of the Black Death?

EFFECTS• Disease is a major determinant of human history.• Socially, and politically, Europe was turned upside

down…• The church and the nobility…the two powerhouses of

the Middle Ages lose prestige and power as a result of the plague.

• As a result the kings of Europe consolidate power…it is the beginning of the end of Feudalism

• Kings use a bureaucracy to rule, raise taxes, pass laws..• Serfs are in short supply…they can sell their labor to

the highest bidder…their wages go up!• The decline in production led to higher prices which led

to inflation• The plague led to an overwhelming pessimism, to

religious fanaticism, to suspicion of travelers, and to intolerance of Jews.