The Black Death was a truly devastating plague that ravaged Medieval Europe between 1347 and 1352, killing somewhere between twenty-five and thirty million people. The bubonic plague causes swelling of lymph nodes in the groin and the armpits which then take on a sickening black colour, which is where the name Black Death came from. Along with the black sores known as buboes (which is where the name Bubonic comes from), the infected would also suffer from fever and joint pain. In fourteenth-century Europe, two-thirds of those who became infected died from the disease, often within seventy-two hours. The disease reduced Europe’s population by around a third and caused major changes in the medieval social structure.
The disease was brought to Europe by rodents that carried fleas with the bacillus bacterium Yersinia Pestis. The black death entered Europe most probably via Sicily where four rat-infested Genoese ships had docked, arriving from Caffa in the Black Sea. The doctors of Medieval Europe had absolutely no idea how the plague started, what caused it or how it spread which meant they were pretty much at a loss on how to treat it or prevent others from catching it. Since they didn’t know about the rats and the bacteria, the Medieval Europeans thought it may have been caused by the wrath of god, or the work of the devil, maybe from the alignment of the planets or unbalanced humours of the body.
— CHAPTERS — 0:00 Introduction 0:57 What was the Black Death? 2:04 What Caused the Black Death? 3:29 Medieval Cures for the Black Death 7:22 Consequences of the Black Death 10:13 Outro
Did you know that the Black Death caused the end of feudal society in Europe?
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My name is Kelly and today's video is all about the Black Death in Medieval Europe.
We're going to have a look at the cause, the spread,
and the consequences of the worst plague in human history.
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The Black Death was a truly devastating plague that ravaged medieval Europe between 1347 and
1352, killing somewhere between 25 and 30 million people. There are three types of plague, the
bubonic plague, the pneumonic plague, and the septicemic plague, and it's more than likely
that all three of them were present in the Black Death pandemic, with the bubonic plague being the
most common of the three during the 14th century outbreak.
The bubonic plague causes swelling of lymph nodes in the groin and the armpits, which then take on
a sickening black color, which is where the name Black Death came from. Along with the black sores
known as buboes, which is where the name bubonic comes from, the infected would also suffer from
fever and joint pain. In 14th century Europe, two-thirds of those who became infected died
from the disease, often within 72 hours. The disease reduced Europe's population by around
a third and caused major changes in the medieval social structure. The disease was brought to
Europe by rodents that carried fleas with the bacillus bacterium Yersinia pestis. The Black
Death entered Europe, most probably via Sicily, where four rat-infested Genoese ships had docked,
arriving from Caffa in the Black Sea. The city of Caffa had been under siege by the Tatar Mongols,
who had catapulted infected corpses into the city, and it was from there that the Italians
picked up the plague, with the ships stopping first at Sicily, then Marseille and Valencia.
The Mongols had brought the disease via the Silk Road, from its origin point in Central Asia.
By the end of 1349, the disease had spread through trade routes to France, Spain,
Britain and Ireland, and from there it spread like absolute wildfire to the regions of Germany,
Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Russia. Whenever a case of the plague popped up, people fled,
and that simply caused the disease to spread further, not to mention the continued spread by
the rats. It definitely didn't help that the medieval level of sanitation was less than ideal,
and pretty appalling compared to modern standards. People were dying faster than they could be buried,
and carts piled with corpses became a common sight across Europe during this time. It seemed
that all they could do was stay put, avoid other people and pray. The doctors of medieval Europe
had absolutely no idea how the plague started, what caused it or how it spread, which meant
they were pretty much at a loss on how to treat it or prevent others from catching it. Since they
didn't know about the rats and the bacteria, the medieval Europeans thought it may have been
caused by the wrath of God or the work of the devil, maybe from the alignment of the planets
or unbalanced humours of the body. Their lack of knowledge on what caused the plague didn't
stop people from trying to figure out how to cure it, and the different categories of cures
that were developed were all mostly either ineffective or even fatal. These categories
are animal cures, medicine such as potions, fumigation, bloodletting and pastes,
flight from infected areas and persecution of marginalised communities, religious cures and
quarantine. Only the last of these, only quarantining and staying away from those infected, really had
any effect on stopping the spread of the plague. Animal cures included using animals to try and
cure the patient, with one of the most popular being the vicary method, which had a chicken's
back and rear plucked, then the bare part of the live chicken was applied to the swollen nodes
and the chicken was strapped on until it started to get sick. It was believed the chicken was
drawing the sickness out of the diseased person. This would continue until either the chicken or
the person died. They also cut up snakes and would rub various parts of it on the buboes to draw out
evil, since the snake was synonymous with Satan. Another animal sought after was the unicorn,
with the belief that ground up unicorn horn mixed with water to be drunk was an effective remedy.
I wonder how many fake unicorn horns were sold. There were other potions than just the unicorn
horn, with doctors recommending eating or drinking a small amount of crushed emeralds. Only the
wealthy could afford the emeralds, so the poor would drink arsenic or mercury, which killed them
even faster than the plague would have. One of the best known potions was a combination of cider,
vinegar or wine, with spices such as sage, clove, rosemary and wormwood, among others, known as the
four thieves vinegar, because it was allegedly created and used by four thieves who would drink
it and then rob the homes of those dying from the plague without getting them themselves. The most
popular potion among the wealthy was theriac, which apparently was very difficult to prepare
and had up to 80 ingredients, including quite a lot of opium. It was also believed that clearing
the air and fumigating homes with incense could help, since people thought the plague could be
spread by bad air. People carried flowers and held them up to their face, not only to perhaps mask out
smell of death, but also to fumigate their lungs. Another popular remedy was bloodletting, which was
believed that drawing out bad blood that caused illness would then be restored by good blood,
with the most popular method of this being with leeches. Pastes and creams were made out of roots,
flowers and herbs, but also human waste, which would have only led to infection. The wealthy
had the option to leave the affected city or region and would flee to their countryside villas
away from the death and the sickness. Since the medieval church pretty much set the world view
for the people at this time, there were numerous religious cures like amulets and charms, fasting,
prayers, attending mass, participating in religious processions and public floggings. But the pope
stopped the public floggings eventually, saying they were ineffective and making people upset.
With such widespread devastation, both the governmental and religious authorities were
questioned. How could such a disaster befall so many people? The people had questions like
where did this sickness come from? Why did so many people fall ill? Were the sinful governors or a
Some people thought it was a supernatural phenomenon, others blamed sinners, and some
thought the devil was the cause. The plague spread completely unchecked, and some parts
of Europe were hit harder than others. With medieval writers greatly exaggerating the death
toll, it can be hard to get an accurate number for the death toll. Some cities like Milan
dodged the worst of it, but others like Florence were completely devastated by it, with the city
losing at least 50,000 of its 85,000 person population, and Paris, where it was said they
were burying 800 people a day. With some cities being hit harder than others, the estimated death
toll is between 25 and 30 million people between 1347 and 1352, which represented around 30 percent
of the total population. And it wouldn't be until 200 years later in 1550 that the population of
would return to its levels from before the Black Death. With such a huge decrease in population,
European medieval society as a whole was seriously affected. In the feudal system,
serfs were bound to the land and were essentially owned by their masters. This system completely
broke down, with the serfs who were left to work the land now being free to ask for wages,
and they also had the freedom to move and work elsewhere since farmers and labourers were in
high demand. This breakdown of serfdom and feudalism was followed by social unrest and
rebellions when the aristocracy tried to fight the demands of the workers. After the end of the
plague, there were smaller outbreaks which were less severe than the first. Daily life began to
improve, especially since there was less competition for resources and land, and women gained some
rights of property ownership that they didn't have before the plague. Like, if they had lost
their husbands, they could keep the land in some instances until they were remarried, and in others,
they didn't lose it at all. The shock of such devastation to the medieval European social
structure was a major factor in the transition from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.
How do you think the world would fare if a similar plague were to hit us today?
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