Student project which does a good overview and also Includes death of famous people from the Plague.

1. BLACK PLAGUE
“I had assumed that I would age with all my friends growing
old around me, dying off very gradually one by one. And
here was a plague that cut them off so early.”
-Thom Gunn

2. How It Began
• It started in the early 1330’s in China. The plague mainly affected rodents
and fleas, but since China did trades with Asia and Europe, these countries
soon were affected.
• In October 1347, Italian merchant ships returned from the Black Sea to
Europe. Many on board were already dying from the plague.
• The fleas began to affect Europe’s people, which allowed it to spread
rapidly among the people.
• The disease spread within days.

3. Symptoms
• Swollen lymph nodes (armpit or groin)
• Accrual gangrene
• Chills
• High Fever
• Muscle cramps
• Seizures
• Skin color changes to a pink hue in extreme
cases
• Bleeding out the cochlea
• Blood vomiting or coughing
• Black dots scattered on body
• Skin lesions

4. Precautions People Took
• Cleaned villas
• Killed rats and burned all corpses
• Buying herbs from wise women
• Blocking people who had disease
• Wouldn’t let ships enter land

5. Death Rates
25 million people died in under 5 years, 1347-1352.
Est. Population of Europe
Population
75
70
59
48 50
38
1000 1100 1200 1300 1347 1352

6. Famous People Killed
• Alfonso XI of Castile
• Peter IV of Aragon’s wife, daughter, and
niece
• Byzantine Emperor’s son
• Louis X le Hutin’s daughter
• John II of France’s fiancé

7. End of the Plague?
There was no cure for the Black
Plague, but the disease did die
down. Some people developed an
immunity, while others were just
lucky. Evolution took it’s course
on the Black Plague.