In the 14th century, a devastating plague known as the Black Death claimed an estimated 75 million lives. How did the people who contracted it know their luck had run out? The Black Death arrived in Europe by sea in October when 12 Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long journey through the Black Sea.

The people who gathered on the docks to greet the ships were met with a horrifying surprise: Most of the sailors aboard the ships were dead, and those who were still alive were gravely ill.

They were overcome with fever, unable to keep food down and delirious from pain. Strangest of all, they were covered in mysterious black boils that oozed blood and pus and gave their illness its name: Early in the s, the disease had struck China, India, Persia, Syria and Egypt. However, they were scarcely equipped for the horrible reality of the Black Death. The Black Death was terrifyingly, indiscriminately contagious: People who were perfectly healthy when they went to bed at night could be dead by morning.

Today, scientists understand that the Black Death, now known as the plague, is spread by a bacillus called Yersina pestis. The French biologist Alexandre Yersin discovered this germ at the end of the 19th century.

They know that the bacillus travels from person to person pneumonically, or through the air, as well as through the bite of infected fleas and rats. Both of these pests could be found almost everywhere in medieval Europe, but they were particularly at home aboard ships of all kinds—which is how the deadly plague made its way through one European port city after another. Not long after it struck Messina, the Black Death spread to the port of Marseilles in France and the port of Tunis in North Africa.

Then it reached Rome and Florence, two cities at the center of an elaborate web of trade routes. By the middle ofthe Black Death had struck Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and London. Today, this grim sequence of events is terrifying but comprehensible. In the middle of the 14th century, however, there seemed to be no rational explanation for it. Physicians relied on crude and unsophisticated techniques such as bloodletting and boil-lancing practices that were dangerous as well as unsanitary and superstitious practices such as burning aromatic herbs and bathing in rosewater or vinegar.

Meanwhile, in a panic, healthy people did all they could to avoid the sick. Doctors refused to see patients; priests refused to administer last rites.

Many people fled the cities for the countryside, but even 777 binary options profit pipeline they could not escape the disease: It affected cows, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens as well as people.

In fact, so many sheep died that one of the consequences of the Black Death was a European wool shortage. And many people, desperate to save themselves, even abandoned their how did the black death spread trade routes and dying loved ones.

Black Death in England - Wikipedia

Because they did not understand the biology of the disease, many people believed that the Black Death was a kind of divine punishment—retribution for sins against God such as greed, blasphemy, heresy, fornication and worldliness.

Some people believed that the way to do this was to purge their communities of heretics and other troublemakers—so, for example, many thousands of Jews were massacred in and Thousands more fled to the sparsely populated regions of Eastern Europe, where they could be relatively safe from the rampaging mobs in the cities.

Some people coped with the terror and uncertainty of the Black Death epidemic by lashing out at their neighbors; others coped by turning inward and fretting about the condition of their own souls. Some upper-class men joined processions of flagellants that traveled from town to town and engaged in public displays of penance and punishment: They would beat themselves and one another with heavy leather straps studded with sharp pieces of metal while the townspeople looked on.

Then they would move on to the next town and begin the process over how did the black death spread trade routes. Though the flagellant movement did provide some comfort to people who felt powerless in the face of inexplicable tragedy, it soon began execution only stockbroker manchester worry the Pope, whose authority the flagellants had begun to usurp.

In the face of this papal resistance, the movement disintegrated. The Black Death epidemic had run its course by the early s, but the plague reappeared every few generations for centuries.

Modern sanitation and public-health practices have greatly mitigated the impact of the disease but have not eliminated it. Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault. Start your free trial today.

Scientists Blame Gerbils Not Rats for the Black Death. Researchers Use Medieval Remedy to Kill Modern Superbug. The Black Death Begins. The Black Death and the Byzantine Empire.

The Year-Old Battle That Changed the Way You Talk. You will soon receive an activation email. Once you click on the link, you will be added to our list.

Bubonic Plague and Black Death World History

If you do not receive this email, please contact us. To ensure delivery to your inbox, add us to your address book. If you changed your mind, please contact us. If you completed your subscription and still have not received an email, please contact us.

Article Videos Speeches Shop. Plague In the 14th century, a devastating plague known as the Black Death claimed an estimated 75 million lives.

Black Death Author History. Introduction The Black Death arrived in Europe by sea in October when 12 Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long journey through the Black Sea.

Black Plague Extinction 4min. Understanding the Black Death Today, scientists understand that the Black Death, now known as the plague, is spread by a bacillus called Yersina pestis. Tags Black Death Disease Middle Ages Tags Black Death Disease Middle Ages. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness.

The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever | History Today

But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Home Topics Black Death. Advertise With Us Corporate Information Around the World Employment Opportunities TV Parental Guidelines Privacy Policy Terms of Use Copyright Policy Ad Choices Closed Captioning.

We know you love history. Sign up for more! Get the Inside HISTORY newsletter for in-depth historical articles and videos. You can opt out at any time. Privacy Policy Terms of Use Contact Us. Oops, there's a problem.

You have already subscribed to this list. We encountered some problems submitting your request. Please try again later.