Black Death
In the 1300’s Black Death also known as bubonic plague occurred in Europe. It may have started out as a terrible headache, then become into chills along with a high fever. It eventually led to nausea, vomiting, back pains, and soreness of the limbs. Bright lights became hard to withstand. All of this came and went within three to four days. Those are symptoms millions of people suffered during the fourteenth century. The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death or Black Plague, was one of the most horrible outbreaks of that time period. The disease originated in Asia, and was carried by ships so some people blamed Muslims for bringing the disease.
Siena was the first place to get the black plague. By the end of the summer half of the people had died. Before death occurred, swelling of the lymph nodes called buboes appeared which is where the name came from. These inflammations were painful, and burned or irritated the skin. The growths of it could expand up to the size of an orange. It would eat away your internal

organs. The disease at this point had all the symptoms of a deadly sickness, and the body would be covered with dark spots, which would appear in great numbers on the arms, thighs, and other parts of the body; some were enormous and widely spaced while some were little and bunched together. The swellings would expand until they burst, causing death soon after.
The Black Death came in three forms, the bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. Each different form of plague killed people in a horrible way. All forms were caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis that and was transmitted by fleas and infected rats which were commonly found on the streets of European cities in the fourteenth century. The fleas would infest the infected rat and then spread the disease to humans and other rats by spreading the contaminated

blood into the bloodstream of the new host. Many at the time did not know that this was how the disease developed means and insisted on other ways of preventing it, instead of trying to stay away from the rats. Many would try bizarre things such as bathing in human urine, drinking molten gold and powdered emeralds, or refusing to sleep or exercise during the day to prevent themselves from getting infected. These did not do any good, and no cures were known at the time.
The pneumonic plague was the second most commonly seen form of the Black Death. The pneumonic and the septicemic plague were not seen as much as the bubonic plague because the victims often died before they could reach other places. The pneumonic plague infected the lungs. Symptoms included slimy sputum with spots of blood. Sputum is saliva mixed with mucus came out from the respiratory system. As the disease got worse, the sputum became free flowing and bright red. Symptoms took up to seven days to appear.
The septicemic plague was the rarest form of all. The mortality was close to 100%, and until this day there is still no treatment. Symptoms consisted of a high fever and skin turning dark shades of purple due to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). In its worst form DIC could cause a victims skin to turn dark purple. The Black Death got its name from the deep purple, almost black discoloration. Victims usually died the same day symptoms appeared. In some cities, as many as 800 people died on a daily basis.
No doctor’s advice or medicine could overcome or cure this disease. A number of ignorant men and women set up as doctors in addition to those who were trained. Either the disease was such that no treatment was possible or the doctors were so ignorant that they did not know what caused it, and consequently could not administer the proper remedy. In any case very few recovered; most people died within about three days of the appearance of the

tumors. Many people would be sent out of the towns and a week later if they were still alive they would be let back in, but they were not cured even though physically they looked as though they were so they would just keep on spreading the disease. Victims were dying quickly and in large numbers. Bodies sometimes still alive were shut in houses which were then burned to the ground and corpses were left to die on the streets. For others, vast burial pits were dug and large numbers of bodies were left and forgotten. No one knew of a cure, but none wanted to be infected by staying in the presence of the ill.
The plague held a major impact on the medieval society and fourteenth century Europe. One third of Europe’s population was lost to the plague. Medieval society never recovered from the results of the plague. Since so many people died there were serious labor shortages all over Europe. By the end of the 1300s peasant revolts broke out in England, France, Belgium and Italy. It took about 500 years to gain back the previous population. The deaths and actions taken by the people that were well all contribute to a time period of which is historic and remarkable. It was one of the most destructive events in the entire history of the world.

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