What was the black death?
The spread of The Black Death across Europe
The Black Death, also known as The Bubonic Plague, was one of the most deadly pandemics in history. It was believed to have started in Asia, where it devastated countries such as China and was believed to have killed 25 million people, or 30% percent of China's population at the time.
At that time, China was one of the trade centres of the world and the Chinese would export their resources to the rest of Asia and Europe.
The Black Death was caused by a bacteria, Yersina Pestis, which is named after the scientist who isolated the bacteria in 1894. This bacteria usually infected small rodents such as rats. Some of those rats might not get sick, but they could still transfer the illness.
The flea Xenopsylla Cheopis has a particular body system that spreads the bacteria extremely quickly. This flea originally inhabited rats in Asia. When trade from Asia was transported to Europe, it carried the rats that were infected by the illness, and also the fleas that transmitted it. When the trade arrived in Europe, the fleas spread the disease very rapidly. In this way, the disease that the Europeans called 'The Black Death' spread across Europe. This expansion is shown in the diagram on the left.
At that time, China was one of the trade centres of the world and the Chinese would export their resources to the rest of Asia and Europe.
The Black Death was caused by a bacteria, Yersina Pestis, which is named after the scientist who isolated the bacteria in 1894. This bacteria usually infected small rodents such as rats. Some of those rats might not get sick, but they could still transfer the illness.
The flea Xenopsylla Cheopis has a particular body system that spreads the bacteria extremely quickly. This flea originally inhabited rats in Asia. When trade from Asia was transported to Europe, it carried the rats that were infected by the illness, and also the fleas that transmitted it. When the trade arrived in Europe, the fleas spread the disease very rapidly. In this way, the disease that the Europeans called 'The Black Death' spread across Europe. This expansion is shown in the diagram on the left.
What did the black death do?
Plague can be passed to a human through a flea bite or the skin (if a flea defecates on raw skin). This is called the Bubonic Plague. After the bacteria has incubated inside the body for one to six days, the victim starts to feel sick (headache, weakness, vomiting blood, chills and fever). The bacteria overwhelms the body and creates 'buboes' in the armpit, groin and neck areas, which are painful, pus-filled swellings. Purple and black blotches formed on the victim's skin - giving the disease the name of 'The Black Death'. People died within a week. Medieval medicine had nothing to combat this terrible killer. Doctors back then had no knowledge of how to fix diseases, so they would try cures such as applying a paste made from leaves, roots and human faeces. In winter, the plague seemed to stop, but that's only because the fleas that transmitted the disease were dormant then. Each spring, the plague attacked again. After five years and 25,000,000 deaths, one third of Europe's population were dead. Medieval society never fully recovered from this devastating pandemic.