How did The Black Death start?

The Black Death started with a disease that infected and was carried by fleas. Soon enough, these fleas began housing themselves in the fur of rats. Since there was no source of water or food for the rats in their location, they soon started migrating to the cities. This was the beginning of a huge "slaughter" of the medieval world. People began dropping dead left and right from the horrible disease. Whole towns were wiped out in a matter of just days. This was not the end of the disease though. More rats also crept onto ships. Sailors were soon infected with the disease. When the sailors made port, the residents of that area had already heard about the disease and tried to ward them off. But it was too late. People had already made contact with the infected sailors. The proccess repeated itself. By the year 1348, the disease had reached Italy, Spain, England, and France. But, it did not stop there either. In the following year, the plague spread to Austria, Holland, Hungary, Switzerland, and Germany. In 1350, people in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries began their stuggle against the beast now known as The Black Death.

How long did the plague last?

The epidemic of the plague, or Black Death, started in the year of 1347; and continued to spread and kill its victims. By the year of 1350, the plague spread through ten different countries. Some of these included Italy, Spain, and England. The most victims of this disease were claimed in the three year time period of 1348-1351.
During this time period, many people and nations were wiped out.
The symptoms of the disease were black and purple spots on the body. The spots soon began to become enlarged and swollen. The victims were taken captive by death in about two to seven days. The plague lasted for four years, but it still remained a recurrent fear until the seventeenth century.

How many people died of the disease?

The Black Death wiped out twenty to fifty million people, or one-third, of the people in Europe. It took only two to seven days for the victims to die. The mortality rate was fifty to ninety percent. It is estimated that the early amount of deaths was 8.33 million. These results are not confirmed because there is no real proof of the body count, but they are estimated to be very close to the real thing. It is also believed that the total amount of deaths worldwide from the disease was seventy five million.

How did people react to the plague?

There were many reactions to the Black Death. Contemporary writers complained in their writing that they lost their natural affection for loved ones and friends. Many people also believed that the plague was God's punishment to the world for the wickedness of humanity. A religious group called the flagellants moved from town to town and whipped themselves as an attempted penance. Christians also believed that the Jews were somehow responsible for the starting of the plague, and went on to persecute them. Europeans also searched for answers in the study of astrology. There was an opinion that the cause of the plague was a conjunction of planets, including: Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Since there was no real proof that these theories were correct; people took it upon themselves to move away from infected areas, consume medicines, and burn substances that supposedly purified the air.

What was the aftermath of the plague?

The plague not only affected people, however, but also the economy. Prices were dropped because there were hardly any demands for the goods and services that were being offered and provided. But later on, the prices began to rise again because of the lack of workers that were able to perform the jobs. After the Black Death, medieval society was also more mobile than before. Laborers that were fortunate enough to survive were able to ask for more pay for the work that they did. They were also able to ask to relocate to areas that held better job opportunities for them.
The year 1351 was labeled as the last year of a major outbreak of the plague. Even though epidemics of the disease occurred later in various locations of the world for hundreds of years. It is said that some of those outbreaks were almost as severe and deadly as the first ones. The Black Death was no doubt was one of the biggest epidemics of its time.

How many people died of the plague? What were the symptoms?

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