The Black Death (from a series, NOT my work)

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Britain 1066–1500
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The Black Death
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Learning objectivesLearningobjectives
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What was the Black Death?
How did medieval people think it was spread?
How was the disease really spread?
What actions were taken to stop the spread of
the disease and were they successful?

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Oh God, what terrible disease has arrived
at my village? We are all sick with
swellings and fever. The lucky ones are
those that die, for who can survive this
illness and be left to pick up the pieces of
this mad world. Surely God is listening to
my prayers. I am writing this in hope you
heed my warning and remove yourself
from all mankind. I am dying… and you
may be next…
Press play to listen to this text.
What was the Black Death?

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The Black Death is also known as the plague. In the 14th
century it spread rapidly across Europe, causing a
massive reduction in the population.
“…emergence of certain tumours
in the groin or armpits, some of
which grew as large as a common
apple. Black spots appeared on
the arm or the thigh…”
People who caught the disease had swellings on their
bodies, sometimes as big as eggs. Then the black
spots would appear, which gave the disease its name.
What was the Black Death?
A medieval description of the plague:

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The spread of the plague

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There were two types of plague:
Bubonic plague was the more common and was carried
in the bloodstream of rats. Fleas bit the rats and became
infected. They then hopped onto other rats or humans, bit
them and passed on the disease.
Pneumonic plague was less common, but more
deadly. It was caught by breathing in the germs
released when an infected person coughed or sneezed.
How did the plague spread?

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Symptoms of the plague

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Merchant ships frequently
had rats on board.
The rats which got on the
boats in China and India,
where it is thought the
disease began, transferred
the disease to the sailors
on board.
How did the plague get to Britain?
When the ships reached ports in Europe, the disease
infected people working at the docks, who spread it further.
The Black Death travelled along trading routes.

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“In the month of August 1348, after the
evening sun began to set, a very bright star appeared
above Paris … The star seemed much nearer the earth
than stars usually are … it seemed to me … that the star
stayed in one place … At last darkness fell. Then to the
amazement of all of us, the star split up into many different
rays. It shed these rays towards the east, over Paris. The
star then completely disappeared.”
What does this source tell you about how
people thought the plague began?
Why did many people blame God?
What did people believe caused the plague?
Description of the plague reaching France
by Jean de Venette, friar.

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Sent by God to punish
them for their sins.
The movements of
the planets.
Being close to
infected people.
Bad smells.
Were any of these
ideas correct?
What did people believe caused the plague?

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“[Toads] should be placed
on the plague boil. The toad
will swell and draw out the
poison of the plague to
its own body…”
It was thought that by
bleeding people, they could
get rid of the bad blood
which caused the plague.
Flagellants were
people who believed
that if they whipped
and hurt themselves,
God would
take pity
on them.
Do you think that any of these methods would work?
How did people try to prevent the plague?
Guy de Chauliac

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Plague doctor

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Although it is impossible to discover how many people died
from the Black Death, it is estimated that around 1 in 3
people in England died as a result of the disease.
These coffins show the
percentage of priests that
died from the Black Death
in Exeter, Norwich and Ely.
Is the percentage of priests
that died likely to be higher
or lower than the percentage
of ordinary people?
The effects of the Black Death

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The effects of the Black Death
Monks and priests
were particularly
badly hit by the
plague, because they
were expected to visit
the sick and dying.
This illuminated letter
from an English text
made around
1360–75, shows
monks with the
plague being blessed
by a priest.

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The effects of the Black Death
Rents dwindled, land fell waste for
want of tenants who used to cultivate it...
many villages and hamlets were deserted... and
never inhabited again.
To our grief the plague carried off so vast a
multitude of people of both sexes that no-one
could be found who would bear the corpses
to the grave. Men and women carried their own children
on their shoulders to the church and threw them into a
common pit. William of Dene
Ralph Higden of Chester
How did the Black Death affect ordinary people?

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For the survivors, some good things did come out of the
Black Death.
Was the Black Death a complete disaster?
Some historians think that
before 1348 England was
overpopulated – there were
too many people for the land
and resources available.
Many peasant farmers had barely enough land to feed their
families. Because there were so many people, food prices
were high and labourers’ wages were low.
If peasants complained about their duties, lords found it easy
to replace them with new tenants.

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Was the Black Death a complete disaster?
The reduction in population caused by the Black Death meant
that there was more good land for the survivors to farm.
In many areas, village populations were
greatly reduced. Some villages were even
deserted.
With so few labourers about, workers could
ask for higher wages. Villeins could
demand greater freedoms, as their lords
could not find new tenants to replace them.
Those who ran away from their lords could
easily find a new manor where there was
land and work for them on better terms.

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At Woodeaton there were only two
farmers left and they would have gone away if the
abbot had not made a new agreement with them to
reduce their work service…
As soon as masters accuse their
workers of bad work … they leave quickly and find
jobs in new places at higher wages. Masters dare not
upset their workers…
Was the Black Death a complete disaster?
Why were workers in a better position after
the Black Death?
from the records of Eynsham Abbey, c.1385.
from Introduction to a Law, 1376.

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Effects of the Black Death

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Preventing the plague

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The Black Death: multiple-choice questions