Yatharth Jain - The Black Death

The Black Death
Presented By: James Gao, Tom Kendall, Sarth Heblikar, Yatharth Jain & Arha Patel
What was the Black Death?
By Yatharth Jain
The Black death was a pandemic plague that destroyed Europe. The Black plague
originated in central Asia and was taken to Europe through the Mongols. Once in
Europe these new diseases devastated the population. It reigned in Europe from 1347
to 1352 CE in the middle ages, lasting only 5 years, but wiping out more than one
third of the population of Europe.
The Mongols carried this disease from Asia to Crimea. The people in this group were
warriors and traders that stayed in the area only for a short period of time before
returning to their kingdom. In this short period of time the Black Death infected the
first Europeans. The Plague entered Europe through Italy and spread all across as
trades occurred between regions. The disease was caused by a bacillus bacteria,
Yersinia pestis, carried by fleas on rodents. These fleas were the first infectors in
Asia. Humans then carried it around and direct contact allowed the Black Death to be
transmitted. The bacteria that was on rodents due to their travel on ships. The Black
Death was a sort of sea sickness found in rodents and once infected it could be
transmitted. Rodents transmitted it to each other. From the rodents the fleas caught
it. The fleas transmitted it to each other. From the fleas the first humans caught it.
FInally, humans transmitted it to each other.
The Black Death killed so many due to the unawareness of such a plague. The priests
who were the medics of the time worked hard on solutions and medicine for the Black
Plague for a long time. The fact was that Europe was the most populated place in the
world at the time. The population peak caused the plague to spread easily. Direct
contact of people in families, between friends, between tradesmen, between
merchants, and between villagers all caused the plague to spread.
The Black Death was named after the severe effects that it caused. The skin of
someone that was infected would turn black due to soreness. Two-thirds of the people
who were infected suffered death.
There were many severe effects of the Black Death on people. There was a shortage of
farmers, meaning less food was produced. People started to question the authorities
and the protection of their kings. They rebelled against serfdom, slavery of the
poorest in society, so that they could become farmers and provide assistance to the
community by bringing them food. Many towns and villages were abandoned due to
the inability to fight the plague. Once someone was infected and a priest confirmed it,
all of them would evacuate the town and leave their houses.
The Black Death was the fiercest plague that has occurred in known history. The
population of Europe took a heavy toll, taking centuries to recover from the effects.
There was some good that came out of the Black Death. ‘Plague Doctors’ made many
medical discoveries from it. The Black Death eventually moved on from Europe, East
to Russia.
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Primary Source Analysis
This artwork was created at the time of the Black Death. Historians may use this
artwork in many ways to research about the Black Death. The first reason for its
usefulness is the message that it conveys. The artwork portrays the dark times that
the Black Death caused. It displays the burial of many people that suffered from the
Black Death. The artwork also portrays the effect that the people felt during the Black
Death. All the people who lost members of their families or friends mourn their death
as they are buried. This allows historians to develop an understanding of the unkind
times caused by the Black Death. Approximately half of Europe lost their lives to the
Black Death. The Picture portrays this through the numerous people coming with
coffins in a crowd to bury their loved ones. The crowd represents the large number of
deaths that occurred. The clothes worn by the people that are burying bodies,
represents their class at the time, which would have been slaves. The artwork allows
historians studying this topic to learn about the severe times. A lot about the clothing,
life, and population can be learned from this image to create an understanding of
what occurred.
References:
Holroyd, J 2020, The Black Death: the pandemic that changed the world, In Defence of
Marxism, Marxism, viewed 9 February 2022,
<https://www.marxist.com/black-death-pandemic-changed-world.htm>.
Marquette University 2000, The Black Death, Academic Marquette University, Marquette
University, viewed 2 September 2022, <https://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/plague.htm>.
Page. 3
This artwork represents the plague doctors in the 1600s. These plague doctors wore
suits to cover them, as they worked with the plague. Historians can learn more about
the Black Death through these plague doctors through their attire and the studies that
they conducted. Plague doctors wore suits, much like hazmat suits. These suits were
worn as a layer of protection, as these doctors worked closely with patients that had
the Black Death. Sometimes they even went to the extent of studying the bodies of
people who had died due to the menacing effects of the Black Death. This could be the
reason for the masks they wore. These masks were shaped like beaks for a specific
reason. This reason was that the plague doctors did not want to get infected. They
came up with a solution for this, by placing spices in their masks, hence the beak
shape. They would constantly smell these spices preventing the plague from spreading
to them through the air. Historians can learn about the plague and what it was by
investigating the outfit of plague doctors. Accompanied by the inscriptions in this
image, historians will be able to learn more about how the plague doctors acted on the
plague and how they tried to prevent the spread of it.
References:
Hourglass Web Magazine 2014, Primary Source Spotlight: the Black Death,
hourglasswebzine.weebly.com, viewed 9 February 2022,
<https://hourglasswebzine.weebly.com/primary-source-spotlight-the-black-death>.
Martin, J 2017, The Black Death, Uiowa.edu, viewed 9 February 2022,

<http://hosted.lib.uiowa.edu/histmed/plague/>.
Page. 4

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The Black Death

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