Clinton High School, Clinton, MS - HISTORY 101commonlit_the-black-death_student

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The Black Death By Margaret Gushue 2018 The bubonic plague, commonly referred to as the Black Death, is a devastating disease that is believed to have killed around 50% of Europe’s population in... the 14th century. In this informational text, Margaret Gushue further discusses the ways in which the plague impacted Europe. As you read, take notes on how the plague changed life in Europe. “There was no one who wept for any death, for all awaited death.” — Agnolo di Tura, Sienna 1348 It was a fateful day in October 1347 when a fleet of ships docked in Sicily, a large island just off the southern coast of Italy. Their arrival would change the course of European history. They carried traders who had arrived from the port city of Caffa in the Crimea. The people who gathered on the docks to receive the ship had no idea at the time that just by being there they were signing their own death warrants. When the cabin opened, they were shocked to find the ship rampant1 with disease. There were corpses with swellings on their bodies and black spots on their skin. The remaining survivors were gravely ill with high fevers. They spat blood. They had swollen lumps in their armpits and near their groins. No one had any idea what this disease was, why it had struck, or how to help them. In just two days, most of the survivors on board had died. But by then they had spread the disease to everyone with whom they had come into contact in Sicily. It was an outbreak of bubonic plague that would later be known as the Black Death. The tradeship is the first recorded account in history of its arrival in Europe. It is difficult to know the exact death toll, but historians today estimate that between 1347 and 1351 this plague killed at least 100 million people across Europe and Asia. The Arrival and Spread of the Black Plague The Black Death, also known as “The Great Plague” or simply “The Plague,” was caused by a strand of bacteria found in a population of fleas. These fleas lived on the backs of rats in Asia. Even before the Black Death arrived on European soil, there were rumors of a deadly disease that had taken down entire armies in China. [Show More]

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