The Black Death

1. Where did the Black Death originate from?

The first historical record of the black death is in the Gobi Desert in 1338/39. It reached
China and India by 1346. It infected the Black Sea port of Kaffa by 1347. One legend says
that the Mongols infected the city of Kaffa by shooting infected corpses over the walls with
catapults however, it is more likely that rats carried infected fleas into the town. Fleeing
ships then carried infected rats to Constantinople, Italy, and Marseilles during the year
1347. In 1348, the first outbreaks appeared in England. In July 1349, it spread to Scotland.
In 1350, it reached Scandinavia. In 1351, it arrived in Kiev, Ukraine.

2. What were to symptoms of the black death?

Once infected the victim will first experience a high fever, aching limbs and tiredness, in days
the lymph node in the neck, armpits and groins will start to swell and turn black. This is
where the black death got its name.

This is an account of a doctor from the time. Not only the burn blisters appeared but there
are developed gland boils on the groin, the thighs, the arms or on the neck.

At first the boils were the size of a hazelnut and were

accompanied by violent shivering fits, which made the infected person so weak they could
not stand up. They were forced to lay in their beds consumed by violent fever. Soon boils
grow to be the size of a walnut, then to the size of a chicken egg and they were extremely
painful. The boils irritated the body causing the person to vomit up blood. The pus-filled
swelling, otherwise known as bubos, attack the nervous system causing the person to
become crazed and delirious with fever.

Once the swollen lymph nodes started to burst within the body, the person will not live much
longer, and death usually occurred in less than a week. Once the person who introduced the
virus in a town or village dies, the other people in the village will already be in the early
stages of infection. It's believed that malnutrition played a part of making the spread of the
plague worse. Many who died had endured years of famine as the result of severe storms
and droughts, making their weakened immune systems vulnerable.
3. How long did it take for the black death to kill people?
There were several strains of the plague. The strains had differing symptoms and time to
death after infection.

The sickness lasted three days and on the fourth day the person passes away, but for
another strain they died two to seven days after they were infected. One of the worst strains
is the one that infects the lungs, once the person is infected they will only live for another two
days.

4. What did people believe were the causes of the Black Death in the 14th century?

People of the 14th century argued on what caused this terrific plague, with many
explanations being offered. The main reason people believed the Bubonic Plague was
spreading was because of religion, from divine punishment because of unholy behaviour to
Jewish people being at the cause. People also believed that the disease spread through bad
smelling winds, called miasmas, that carried the disease out of Asia to Europe, or, it was
caused due to steams out of the interior of the earth. Others said that the Black Death was to
be traced back on evil humours carried in the air or earthquakes releasing poisonous fumes.

5. Why do you think people believed that these were the causes?

People believed these causes because they couldnt fathom the fact that animals carried the
disease, and they could then pass the infection on to humans. So, they reverted to the old
beliefs of physicians Hippocrates and Galen, who thought infection of was mixed compound
of the four humours, blood, mucus, yellow gall and black (which is obviously not entirely
true). People back then also had a lot religious prejudice, and Jewish were an easy target for
the Christians, Muslims and Spiritualists, which is why they were blamed for poisoning wells,
even there was virtually no proof of this.

6. What did people believe were the cures for the Black Death in the 14th century, and
7. How did people try and protect themselves from the Black Death?

Plague doctors (the people that wore bird-like masks to protect themselves), were
completely unable to prevent or cure the plague. They tried different diets, cures and
techniques, but none were ever successful in preventing the plague from spreading
throughout Eurasia. Here are some of the cures they tried;
Rubbing onions, herbs or a chopped-up snake on the buboes, or cutting up a pigeon
and rubbing it over an infected body!
Drinking vinegar, eating crush minerals, arsenic, mercury and even ten-year-old
treacle.
Sitting close to a fire or in a sewer to drive out the fever, or fumigating the house with
herbs to purify the air.
Religious people who believed god was punishing for your sin, went on processions
whipping themselves.
Doctors often tested urine for colour and health, with some even tasting it to test!
 8. Names for the black
death
Today, it's best known as the Black Death or the bubonic plague. Medieval people called it
"the blue sickness," La pest, and the Great Mortality. The name bubonic comes from the
medieval Latin word bubo which means a sore, growth, or swelling. In Mongolia, the first
outbreaks were called ko-ta-wen (this literally means sore-sore) and in southern China,
the term was ta-wun, from which we get the Arabic term ta'un meaning a disease.

9. The life of a victim of the black plague

Day one
I have a boy who works with me in the fields, at work he was shivering even though it
wasnt cold. I went to talk to him and ask him what was wrong but he seemed
unresponsive and unsure of what was happening. The rest of my day was completely
normal apart from him.
Day two
The young boy wasnt at work at all today, there was no sign of him at all. I went and
asked his friend and the girl just looked down at her sandals and I asked her again, she
seemed annoyed at me and she snapped. She said hes got the Black Death and if you
want dont to catch it then stay away from me. I caught it from him, thats why I have all
these red boils on my neck. She reached out to touch my hair but I hit her hand away from
my face, only realising that touching her hand with my hand would be just as bad as her
touching my face. As I walked home from the fields my legs buckled and I fell to the
ground. As my head hit the ground I noticed a small lump on my leg that burst when it hit
the rocky ground. As I pulled myself back up I found it incredibly hard to find the strength
to pull myself back up. As I continued to walk home my legs ached especially where my
knees buckled. The spot on my leg where the blister burst was red with parts of skin
hanging of it. It was disgusting and I knew I would have to get it cleaned up before dad
saw. He would be furious to know that I was sick. We couldnt waste our few precious first
aid stocks.
During that night, I woke up shivering but also boiling hot. I got up to get a glass of water
because my throat was so dry but when I sat up I screamed, my feet were too painful for
words to explain. They stung and throbbed but also were so painful I couldnt even feel
them. I almost fainted because of the pain I experienced, I fell back onto my bed of straw
and hessian sacks and looked at my feet, the bases were covered with disgusting red
boils that were covered with small black dots. My first thought was that I had what that
woman had. She called it the black death, the name scared me, it sounded horrible and
terrifying. I was so exhausted but I couldn't go back to sleep, I knew I couldn't no matter
how hard I tried.
Day three
My father came in and yelled at me for being late for work, I had absolutely no strength to
even be rude back. He told me that when he came back he expected me to be up and
ready for work or I would be in big trouble. Fifteen minutes later he came back and he was
furious with me, I showed him the boils on my feet, neck and legs he freaked out. He cried
out and then ran out of the room. From then on things just got worse, I was delirious and
completely unresponsive. About an hour later I could no longer move at all, I assumed my
father had left and I knew that he would never come back for me.

10. What can the Black Death teach us about responding to modern day pandemics?`
Most serious contagious diseases are never completely eradicated
Some places are much more prone to diseases and are more likely to have disease origins
Climate change will have an effect on viruses, cause an increase
Panic may be more of a problem in contemporary society
Responses to pandemics need to be proactive rather than reactive to lessen the number of
infected and dead
Terrorist use of disease is most likely right around the corner.

By Will, Isaac, Nicolle, Emily