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This page is under construction by Zac-GMS Tuesday March 22 2011 =Black Death=

The Black Death
The Black Death, an outbreak of the plague, overtook Europe in 1348. To learn about what happened during the Black Death, one must learn more about the plague itself. The people of Europe attempted many different and sometimes outrageous methods to rid themselves of the horrid virus, but it was futile. The Black Death ended feudalism in Europe and left the church practically in ruins.

The Plague
The Black Death came in one main branch of the plague; bubonic. The plague comes in three forms; bubonic (mortality rate of 30-75%), pneumonic (mortality rate of 90-95%), and septicemic (100% chance of death). Symptoms appeared from the day someone got the plague, to until the infected died. The plague’s symptoms include; coughing (for pneumonic or bubonic), painful boils called “buboes,” fever of 105 degrees, vomiting, bleeding, and coughing up blood. The Black Death took many lives, averaging 800 dead a day (Cartwright.), nearly 40% of Europe’s population, eliminated.

Methods of Treatment
Soon the people attempted to purify themselves. Many bought lavender and strung it at their wrists, or kept a sphere made of gold or silver that containing pomander to fight off the virus (Drotman 26). Some doctors or monks would cleanse their fellows or patients by using a cautery iron to lance away the bubo. Doctors often used herbs to clean the air around them, or their ; one recipe of herbs included lancing the bubo, then applying warm poultice or butter to the wound and as the wound started to heal, the doctor would add onion and garlic. Doctors during the Black Death wore special leather suits with bird-like masks with herbs in the beak of the mask to purify their air and keep out viruses (//Black Death//,middle-ages.org)

Effect on Europe
Therefore, the Black Death had many affects on the world. From damaging populations and economies, to crumbling the lives of entire cities. The Black Death toppled feudalism, with lords having no one to work their land, and serfs having no lords to work for, lords finally started paying people to work their lands. The Black Death, so powerful it left entire cities in ruins, if anything. Countries became towns, cities left barren and empty. The church’s authority crumbled away, they had told townsfolk the Black Death represented God’s wrath (Parker 26) and to repent, which they did, and still the Plague continued. 12,597,789 killed by the Black Death, known around the globe as the most destructive form of the plague. Assuredly, research has shed much light onto the subject of the plague. This outbreak came in one form, the weakest, and still became the most known plague epidemic. Many treatments had been ineffectively used to halt or weaken the plague virus. The Black Death had many long-lasting effects on the world, as it toppled Feudalism and drastically changed views on the church and medicine.

=Fun Facts= =Works Cited= Cartwright, Fredrick. "Black Death",__insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/bdeath.html__. March 24 2011. "Black Death",__middle-ages.org.uk/black-death.htm__. March 24 2011. Drotman, Peter. "Plague." __World Book Encyclopedia 2001__. Chicago: ,2001. Parker, Steve. __Eyewitness Science; Medicine__. New York: DK Published, 1995. =Back to the Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages= =//This page has been revised {$pagerevisions} times. //= =//The last revision was {$revisiondate} by {$revisioneditor}. //=
 * Plague is caused by Yersinia Pestis, which can be caught from fleas on animals, or straight to humans.
 * Children in Medieval Europe thought up Ring Around the Rosy to sing.
 * //Ring around the rosy,// means the rings of lanced buboes.
 * //Pocket full o' posy,// a means of cleansing the air around a person.
 * //Ashes, ashes,// when people burned bodies since cemeteries became full.
 * //We all fall down,// dead.
 * Monks helped the infected by serving food and communion with a metal stick shaped like a "Y." It was approximately the length of a man's arm.
 * There was a king who sat between two very large bonfires. He hoped it would use up the air to burn and give him clear air. It worked, but not how he expected. Yersinia Pestis is killed in intense heat.
 * Pneumonic plague has been known to be very dangerous because once Yersinia Pestis enters the bloodstream, it goes for the lungs. The infected individual will have a violent and bloody cough, and will easily spread the virus.