Transcript The Black Death

Objective: To make
the students aware of
the devastating
diseases of the past
and their possible
reoccurrence in the
future.
Crisis in Europe
 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 of
starvation & poverty
was susceptibility to
disease.
Perceived Causes
•Vapors from a volcano
•Jews poisoned the
Gentiles
•Blood imbalances
•God’s wrath
The Real Culprits
The Disease Cycle
Flea drinks rat blood
that carries the
bacteria.
Bacteria
multiply in
flea’s gut.
Human is infected!
Flea bites human and
regurgitates blood
into human wound.
Flea’s gut clogged
with bacteria.
1347: Plague Reaches
Europe!
Symptoms of the
Plague
• Painful swellings in armpits, neck,
and groin called buboes (boobows).
• High fever
• Blood vessels burst under skin
turning it black.
• Untreated mortality rate- 75%
The Symptoms
Bulbous
Septicemia Form:
almost 100%
mortality rate.
Medieval Art & the Plague
An obsession
with death.
Medieval Art & the Plague
Bring out your dead!
Medieval Art & the Plague
Attempts to Stop the Plague
A Doctor’s
Robe
“Leeching”
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Flagellant:
Self-inflicted “penance” for our sins!
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Pogroms against the Jews
“Jew” hat
“Golden Circle”
obligatory badge
Methods of treatment
• Bathing in human
urine
• Placing dead animals
in the home
• Amputation
Tools
Used for
Amputation
Lancing a Buboe
Many priests, who cared for the
sick, caught the disease from
their patients and died.
Effects of the Plague
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Government halted
Loss of labor force
Manufacturing suffered
Loss of family members
Trade was disrupted
Religious beliefs altered
Prices increased
A Little Macabre Ditty
“A sickly season,” the merchant said,
“The town I left was filled with dead,
and everywhere these queer red flies
crawled 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.”
The Mortality Rate
35% - 70%
25,000,000 dead !!!
What were the
political,
economic,
and social effects
of the Black Death??
Could it Happen Again?
The conditions present in the
14th century provided an ideal
situation for the development
of this devastating epidemic.
Discuss, what environmental, social,
scientific, and sanitary changes have been
made in our present society that would limit
the possibility of a modern outbreak of the
plague ?
ANSWER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Control of rat
population
• Use of
insecticides
• Sanitary disposal
of garbage and
waste
• Improved
personal hygiene
• Use of antibiotics
• Improvements in
the medical
profession
• Increased
knowledge of
communicable
disease
• Quarantine
procedures on
imports of food and
animals