The document summarizes key events and effects of the Black Death pandemic in Europe during the 14th century. It describes how the plague originated in Italy and was caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria spread by fleas on rats. At its peak, it was killing over 7,000 people per day in Cairo. The pandemic led to widespread death, social unrest, accusations against Jewish people, an economic downturn, and religious upheaval including the questioning of the Catholic Church's authority. It took over 100 years for Europe's population and economy to fully recover from the Black Death.
2. The Black Death
The Plague started in Italy
33% of people who contracted the disease died
Black Death---really Bubonic Plague (as opposed to
Pneumonic Plague)
The Black Death was spread by fleas on rats
Yersinia pestis
Epidemic---outbreak of a rapid-spreading disease
At it’s height, the Black Death was killing 7,000 people
per day in Cairo, Egypt (more than the entire
population of Minersville per day)
6. The Black Death
The Black Death made society turn to magic and witchcraft
to try to cope with what was happening to them…Why???
Eventually, Europeans began to blame Jewish people for the
outbreak of the Black Death (obviously this is ridiculous!!!)
The Italian poet Boccaccio wrote The Decameron in which
he described the social decay he saw in Florence, Italy
during the Black Death…”and scarcely to be believed,
fathers and mothers were found to abandon their own
children…as if they had been strangers”
8. The Black Death
Within hours of getting bitten, victims developed egg-
sized lumps under their arms (buboes)
Black spots then appeared on their skin
Spitting blood usually signified death was near
Unsanitary conditions in towns and cities helped lead
to the quick spread of the plague (people threw
garbage and human waste into the streets)
So many people were dying that gravediggers used
carts to collect all the corpses and buried victims in
mass graves…”Bring out your dead” was often called
out
16. Death and the Economy
The Black Death greatly affected the medieval economy
As both workers and employers died, production began to
decline
People who survived the Black Death demanded to be paid more
money to work
This rise for labor led to inflation in the price of goods
To stem the rise in wages, farmers converted croplands to sheep
raising
Guilds limited apprenticeships, refused to accept new members,
and denied journeymen the chance to become masters
Revolts sprung up all of Europe
The plague spread both death and social unrest and it took
Western Europe 100+ years to fully recover from it
17. Upheaval in the Church
Pope Clement V moved the papal court to Avignon
Critics spoke out against the worldly, pleasure-loving
papacy and anticlergy feelings grew
For a period of time, there were two popes---one in
Avignon in southern France and one in Rome
This caused a schism in the Church
Problem was not resolved 1417 when a Church council
at Constance finally ended the crisis
18. Upheaval in the Church
John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor, began to attack
Church corruption
Wycliffe said that the Bible not the Church was the
source of truth for Christians
His followers began translating the Bible into English
so that people could read it for themselves and not
have to rely on the clergy to read it
20. Upheaval in the Church
Wycliffe’s ideas spread to Bohemia (today’s Czech
Republic) where Jan Hus began leading calls for
reforming the Church
The Church got angry and began persecuting Wycliffe
and suppressing the Hussites
Hus ended up getting but on trial for preaching heresy
and was burned at the stake in 1415
23. The Hundred Years’ War
War fought by England against France between 1337
and 1453
3 causes for the long conflict---
English rulers holding onto French land
French kings extending their own power
Economic rivalry and national pride
26. The Hundred Years’ War
At first the English claimed a string of victories that
made it seem like they were going to bring all of
France under their control
This success was made possible by the English
longbow---powerful new weapon (its arrows could
pierce all but the heaviest armor) six feet long that
could shoot 3 arrows in the same time a French archer
could fire 1 with his crossbow
Soon the tide would turn in France’s favor
29. The Hundred Years’ War
Joan of Arc was a 17-year old peasant woman when she
began inspiring the French troops to fight and leading
them to several victories
She ended up being taken captive by allies of the
British, turned over to the British, put on trial for
witchcraft, convicted, and burned at the stake
The Church later declared her a saint
The death of Joan of Arc rallied the French and with
this motivation along with their powerful new weapon,
the cannon, they pushed the English back all the way
to Calais, a port in northwestern France
32. The Hundred Years’ War
Changes in France--- increased sense of national pride
and allowed French kings to expand their power
Changes in England--- Parliament gets “power of the
purse”, dreams of an English continental empire
snuffed out, future rulers look for trading
opportunities overseas
Changes in military strategy---common soldiers gain
new importance on battlefield due to the longbow and
cannon, castles and knights become obsolete due to
superior firepower, kings realize they need large
armies and not feudal vassals to fight wars
33. A Look Ahead
1400s Europe recovers after the Black Death and
undergoes changes
Population expands, manufacturing grows, trade
expands
Italian cities become important shipping centers
New technologies developed
German miners use water power to crush ore and build
blast furnaces to make cast iron
