The Black Death

The Black Death

The Black Death

A devastating worldwide pandemic that first struck

Europe, killing about a third of Europe's population

Does the Black Plague have any affect on

your lifeOr

our society?

Question:

The Famine of 1315-1317

By 1300 farmed as much land as possible

Climate changes yielded 3 yrs of crop failure

As many as 15% of the peasants died. One consequence of starvation &

poverty was susceptibility to disease.

The Black Death

Originated in Asia Came to Europe along seal and land trade

routes On stow-away rats

Path of Death

The Culprits

The Disease CycleFlea drinks rat blood

that carries the bacteria.

Flea’s gut cloggedwith bacteria.

Bacteriamultiply inflea’s gut.

Flea bites human and regurgitates blood into human wound.

Human is infected!

Why is it called the “Black Death”?

Because of a striking symptom of the disease, in which sufferers' skin would blacken due to hemorrhages under the skin

Bubonic Pneumonic Septicemic

Bubonic plague Painful lymph node swellings called buboes Buboes in the groin and armpits, which ooze

pus and blood. Damage to the skin and underlying tissue

until they were covered in dark blotches. Most victims died within four to seven days

after infection

The Symptoms

Bulbous

Septicemic Form:

almost 100% mortality rate.

From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411

Ring a-round the rosie

Pocket full of posies

Ashes, ashes!

We all fall down!

Ring Around the Rosie

A Doctor’s Robe

The victims ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors.

Medieval Art & the Plague

Death Triumphant !

A Major Artistic Theme

The Triumph of Death

Dance of Death

The Mortality

Rate35% - 70%

25,000,000 dead !!!

Church Schism People questioned God and the

Church

Church did not have strong leaders to help people

Lost power

A Little Macabre Ditty“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“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“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……….!

Hundred Years War

1337 - 1453

The Cause of ConflictFrench and English feuding

Fought for land and the English Channel

The War ItselfShort raids

A few major battles

Weapons made the difference

What is more important: weapons or numbers?

French AdvantageFar richer and more populous

At one point, the French fielded an army of over 50,000 at most, Britain mustered only 32,000.

British AdvantageWeapons Technologies.

Britain’s most successful strategies: Avoid pitched battles. Engage in quick, profitable raids

Steal what you can.Destroy everything else.Capture enemy knights to hold for ransom.

The Longbow as a Weapon

Joan of Arc (1412-1432)The daughter of

prosperous peasants from Burgundy

Dressed like a manFearlessCharasmatic

Joan of ArcHad visions of divine revelation.

Her “voices” told her to go to the king and assist him in driving out the English.

Because of her “unnatural dress” and claim to divine guidance, she was condemned and burned as a heretic in 1432.

She instantly became a symbol of French resistance.

GuiltyDeuteronomy 22:5

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Joan of ArcWhy aren’t there many historical women

heroines?

Would the world be a better place if their were?