Life in the Middle Ages - the Black Plague

904 Words4 Pages
Life in the middle ages was harsh and uncompromising. During these times, many people lived in poverty. The streets were dirty and people were unhygienic with little idea of germs which they shared with others. Doctors had no advice for the suffering people of the Black Death and there was no medicine for curing the symptoms. The Black Death was one of the most important historical events of the medieval era. This paper presents research of the Black Death which was an epidemic tragedy, wiping an estimated 75 million people from the world population between 1331 and 1353. The paper will investigate the origin of the black plague, symptoms of the Black plague and the social effects of the black plague. The Black Death began in Northeast China in 1331, wiping out nine-tenths of China’s population. It made its way west across Asia to the Black Sea by 1347. The plague appeared to have travelled by trade ships, along with refugees and trading goods. When the Black Death reached the shores of Europe in 1348, it almost instantly unleashed a rampage of death. Bates, C., Salkeld, L. (2011) described “The Black Death is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by bacteria carried by fleas that lived on black rats.” (p.1). The Back death is recorded as the worst diseases in history. One in three people every day died from the suffrage symptoms of the Black Death. These symptoms included swellings, or buboes, which would appear in areas such as armpits, legs, neck, or groin, which at first were a red colour. The bubo then turned a dark purple or black colour which would burst into open wounds and lead to severe infection. Other symptoms included a very high fever, delirium, vomiting, muscular pains, bleeding in the lungs and mental disorientation. Approximately two to four days after contracting the symptoms the victim would die. During the time
Open Document