The Black Death

The Black Death was the name given to the Bubonic Plague, which destroyed 30-60% of the population of Europe, from 1346 until 1353, killing so many people that the stench of death was in the air. People placed flowers as close to their noses as possible to avoid the smell. During this time, there was also famine in Europe, because no one was well enough to work. There were so many bodies that the people had to cremate them. Some people saw this as a judgment from God, and went around publicly whipping themselves, others just stayed home, or ran away to the countryside hoping to escape the plague. The symptoms of the disease were large red boils that would turn black after a while. Once the boils turned black, the person would usually die within three days. The Black Death was usually spread by rodents such as rats, and doctors did not know how to treat the disease because medical knowledge was scarce at the time. Although doctors did try things like bleeding a person out, thinking the disease might be in the blood, it did not work. In the end, the disease slowly went away, though there were other small outbreaks of it, but eventually it disappeared. The Black Death was an extremely destructive disease which, after killing around 50% of the entire European population, it took many years to regain their former population.