2. Causes
The Black Death (the plague) is caused
by the bacterium Yersinia pestis
“pestis” is the root for the modern word “pestilence”
There are 3 forms of the plague:
* bubonic
(plague of the lymphatic system)
* pneumonic
(plague of the lungs)
* septicemic
(plague of the blood)
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3. Methods of Transmission
From infected animals or fleas
Transmission can be directly from the bite of an
infected animal, or from contact with infected tissue
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or fluids of dead animals
From the bite of a flea that has fed on infected
animals
From person to person
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Persons who have pneumonic plague can transmit the
disease by coughing and sneezing
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4. Disease Symptoms
Bubonic Pneumonic Septicemic
* Buboes * High fever * Fever and chills * Shock
(swollen, painful, warm lymph
* Weakness * Abdominal pain, diarrhea and
nodes)
vomiting
* Sudden onset of fever and chills * Signs of pneumonia, including
* Headache chest pain, difficulty breathing and * Bleeding from mouth, nose or
a cough with bloody sputum rectum, or under your skin
* Fatigue or malaise
* Muscle aches * Nausea and vomiting * Blackening and death of tissue
in your extremities
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5. Treatments of the Middle Ages
Only the symptoms of the plague could be
treated:
Headaches were relieved by rose, lavender, sage and
bay.
Sickness or nausea was treated with wormwood, mint,
and balm.
Lung problems were treated with licorice and
comfrey.
Vinegar was used as a cleansing agent as it was
believed that it would kill disease.
Black Death was also treated by lancing the buboes
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and applying a warm poultice of butter, onion and
garlic. Various other remedies were tried including
tobacco, arsenic, lily root and dried toad!
Bloodletting was commonly thought to be one of the best ways to treat the plague. The blood that
exuded was black, thick and vile smelling with a greenish scum mixed in it.
6. Means of Prevention
Because they did not know the cause of
the disease, there was no viable means of
prevention, only treatment for the
symptoms
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7. Travels of the Disease
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The hardest hit countries include Italy, France and Spain
which lost, in areas, up to 80% of their population.
8. Impact on the Population
Large percentages of European population
were killed - approx. 25 million people
Lack of workers: Fields remained
unplowed and animals untended -
resulting in food shortages
Lack of leadership: Social structure
www.plaguedoctocrl.com collapsed without lords or priests
9. Social Effects
Families Communities Countries
• Loss of family members • Serf were free to leave • Many courts and
could be devastating their land to seek higher legislatures were
• Sickness was wages abandoned
potentially long and • The power of the • The “100 Years War”
painful, while family church was weakened was postponed due to the
members watched •Persecution of minority large number of deaths
• Family name could not groups as scapegoats • Art changed to reflect
be carried on in many the plagues effects
cases
All pictures from: www.blackandwhitpics ofthe plague.com
10. Economic Effects
Family Communities Countries
• With the death of • Wages rose, due to • Nation-wide recession
family members, wages lack of qualified labor, •Inflation of prices,
could not be earned blurring the lines between particularly wheat
• Increased standards of classes •Trade between
living for survivors - more • Higher class citizens countries becomes
resources for fewer began to dress more difficult
people extravagantly - to • Riots by the working
emphasize their class class for better conditions
standing
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11. Possible Solutions
Make sure that the population has ample supplies of:
rose, lavender, wormwood, mint, and other herbs for
remedies (especially dried toad)
Appropriate apparel: to prevent infections
Pray to God for salvation
Flagellation
Isolation
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12. Obstacles
Fewer doctors due to mortality rates
Lack of scientific research to identify a
cure
No knowledge of how the disease was
spread
Dense areas of population where the
disease spreads fastest
