Transcript The Black Death

Explain by relative location on pg 37which role
each person plays in the Middle Ages
The Black Death
The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel
What do you see?
Describe the landscape.
What kinds of things are
people doing?
What elements of the
picture seem unrealistic?
What elements of the
picture seem realistic?
What feelings does this
painting evoke?
What kind of story do you
think the artist is trying to tell?
What was the Black Death?
• Deadly plague in Europe 13461352
• Plague-disease that spreads quickly
and kills many people
• Caused by form of bacteria carried
by fleas
• Appeared in three forms
– Pneumonic-attacked lungs and caused
coughing and sneezing fits
– Septicemic- traveled in bloodstream
causing black spots under the skin
– Bubonic- most common which caused
egg-sized swellings
How did the Black Death spread
throughout Europe?
• Began in Gobi Desert and
spread over trade routes
along the Silk Road
• Mongols attack Caffa on
the Black Sea
– Caffa trades with Genoa
merchants
– They carry plague to Sicily
• Merchants brought rats to
Europe with trade goods
• 1st appeared in Italy and
spread for 6 years
Why couldn’t people stop the spread of the
Black Death?
• People were ignorant of its causes- blamed stars, infected
clothing, God’s anger at sinners or Jewish people
• Tried ineffective cures- pomanders, flagellation (whipping
one’s self), repentance of sins, and killing Jews
• No cure worked
How did the Black Death change
life in Europe?
• 38 million people may have died
in Europe (1 out of 2 people)
• Subsided in 1350s, with periodic
flare-ups
• Ruined Europe’s economy
–
–
–
–
Trade stopped and wages went up
Food prices fell
Serfdom broke down
Peasants and urban workers revolted
and demanded more freedom
– Towns grow
– Reduced the power of the feudal
lords
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy6XilXDZQ