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Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

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Page 1: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps
Page 2: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Fig. 1. Dans Macabre

Page 3: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes

In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis.

(A few people think perhaps anthrax, a mutation of cattle murrain, hemorrhagic fever, or some unknown disease.)

Page 4: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Today, we call it the black plague or the bubonic plague—but these terms did not appear until hundreds of years later.

Other Names for the Black Death:

The Blue Sickness (the medieval British name for it)Bilbos (The medieval Italian word for it, literally “swellings”)“La Pest” (The medieval French word for it)Pestilencia Magna (The Latin words for “the Great Plague”)Ko-ta-Wen (The Mongolian word for it )Ta-Wun (The Mandarin Chinese word for it, literally. “Sore-sore”)Ta’un (The Arabic word for it)

Page 5: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Fig. 3. Map of plague routes out of China

Page 6: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Medieval people believed (probably falsely) that Mongols under Kipchak Khan Janibeg catapulted corpses infected with plague into the trading city of Kaffa in the Crimean region.

It seems to have come from Central Asia:

Mongolian records mentioned it in 1333, 1338, and 1339.Chinese and Indian records mentioned it in 1346.In Europe, it showed up at the Black Sea port of Kaffa in 1347.

Fig. 4. Kipchak Khan Janibeg: Mongolian general who besieged the port city of Kaffa

Page 7: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

From Kaffa, the plague kept spreading!

1347 Alexandria, Egypt and Messina, Sicily1348 Genoa and Venice in Italy1349 Aberdeen, Scotland and Avignon, France

Fig. 5. Map of plague route into Europe taken from “Black Death Pogroms” at http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch

Page 8: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

And spreading !

1349 Paris, France; and Mecca, Arabia1350 All of the

Scandinavian Peninsula; Baghdad in the Mid-East

1351 Kiev, Russia

. . . and spreading!

Fig. 3. Map of plague routes out of China

Page 9: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

How is plague How is plague spread?spread?

Fleas on rats spread it.The disease later could become airborne!

Fig. 6. Black rat climbing a chain, from ZooFacts.com

Page 10: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Fig. 7: Pullex Irritans, the human flea

Medieval hygiene wasoften poor, and many people had fleas or lice.

Page 11: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Fig. 8: Rattus Rattus, the European Black Rat

The European black rats also carried their own species of fleas, and the rats themselves were mostly immune to the deadly plague.

They were alsogreat swimmers,climbers, and escape artists, which made them hard to quarantine.

Page 12: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Fig. 9: Xenopsylla Cheopis, the rat flea--this pregnant female is heavy with eggs, which are visible as a black spot near her tail

Infected rat fleas, however, will also bite humans if they can’t feed on rats, and thus humans catch the disease.

Once humans are infected, the bacteria can build up in their lungs. They can then cough up microscopic particles of blood, making the disease airborne!

Page 13: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Stage I: Fever, trembling, and weakness

Stage II: Huge blue or purple “buboes” or swellings in the armpits, throat, and thighs.

Stage III: Coughing and peeing blood!

Stage IV: Death!

Fig. 10: Image of Black Death as a Minstrel

Page 14: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Q: How many Q: How many people died?people died?

A: It varied from A: It varied from place to place.place to place.

Overall, probably one-in-three people died in Europe (perhaps 50-70 million) and maybe 220 million worldwide. The world probably only had 500 million people before the plague outbreak. Some places were hit very hard and others hardly touched.

Page 15: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Florence, Italy (90% dead)Sedlec, Czechoslovakia (70% dead)Caux, Normandy (66% dead)Paris, France (42% dead)Genoa, Italy (35% dead)Dublin, Ireland (35% dead)Avignon, France (33% dead)

Some 3,000 European villages had “absolute population loss” (which means 100% of the people either died or ran away).

The New World (no deaths)Hawaii, Polynesian Islands (no deaths)Galway, Ireland (no deaths )Lindisfarne, Ireland (no deaths)Western Scotland (no deaths)Pharoese Island (no deaths)Inland Central Africa (no deaths)Sub-Saharan Africa (2% dead)Burgundy, France (4% dead)Amsterdam, Holland (5% dead)

Isolated farms, villages, and islands were least likely to suffer a pandemic.

Page 16: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

So how did such an So how did such an awful disease awful disease help“save” English?help“save” English?

To understand that, To understand that, we have to back up in we have to back up in time, and see how the time, and see how the French language French language almost became the almost became the language of Britain language of Britain before the plague before the plague hit.hit.

Page 17: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

The image to the right is the first page of Beowulf. It is written in Anglo-Saxon around 800 AD. Anglo-Saxon, or “Old English,” is the ancestor of English today.

Fig. 11. (right) The first page of Beowulf. Cotton Vitellius A.x.v. 129 r

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Edward the Confessor, king of Edward the Confessor, king of England, died without children to England, died without children to claim his throne. Afterward, three claim his throne. Afterward, three warriors fought to be king.warriors fought to be king.

Fig. 12: Bayeux Tapestry depiction of King Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon king

Page 20: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Each one had a large army, and each Each one had a large army, and each one spoke a different language.one spoke a different language.

A Viking conqueror (Harald Hardraadi)A Viking conqueror (Harald Hardraadi)

A local Anglo-Saxon ruler (Harold A local Anglo-Saxon ruler (Harold Godwinson)Godwinson)

A French warlord (Duke William of A French warlord (Duke William of Normandy)Normandy)

Fig. 15: William the Conqueror (his army spoke Norman French)

Fig. 14: Harold Godwinson of Wessex (his army spoke Anglo-Saxon)

Fig. 13: Harald Hardraadi the Viking (his army spoke Old Norse)

Page 21: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

It was a messy fight! Earl Godwinson’s army beat up the Viking one at Stambridge first.

When Godwinson’s forces marched south to fight the French invaders. At the start of the fight at Hastings, a lucky French bowman shot Godwinson in the eye and killed him. Godwinson’s Anglo-Saxon army fell apart.

Only the Frenchman, William the Conqueror, was left. Between 1066-1087, he took over of all England and became ruler.

Page 22: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Anglo-Saxon became nearly Anglo-Saxon became nearly obsolete!obsolete!Under William’s French rule, all Under William’s French rule, all laws and government documents were laws and government documents were in French. All the nobles, priests, in French. All the nobles, priests, bishops? They were now French!bishops? They were now French!

English became the language of peasants and serfs. Between 1066-1348, no major English writings appeared again until the last half of the 1300s. It looked bad for the English language!

Page 23: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

So what changed? What was different that let English make a comeback and shook up the French rulers?

The Black Plague!

The Black Plague severely messed up medieval England. It left a smaller number of workers compared to the number of aristocrats.

Yes, some noblemen did die, but not nearly as many nobles died as peasants did.

That meant labor become rare. Nobles had to offer incentives like land, money, or legal benefits to keep peasants working.

Fig. 16: Holbein Woodcut of Death Serving at Nobleman’s Table

Page 24: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

It also killed many French priests, bishops, and archbishops in England. Good priests stayed to comfort the dying, and died themselves. Bad priests ran away because they were scared, and they lost their credibility.

Because so many Norman French priests died or ran away, the church in England had to open up job positions to English replacements, not just French ones.

Priests had to be able to read and write. Now, English speakers—not just Norman French—were increasingly able to do so.Fig. 17: Holbein Woodcut of Bishop being

led by Death

Page 25: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

The next generation of workers suddenly had choices!

Don’t like working on the local lord’s farm? Pack upand move! Switch farms!Join a labor guild!

Form a chartered town!

Become a mercenary!

Increasingly, the lower-classEnglish peasants were becomingmiddle-class. They could demandmore money and more education.

Gradually, the English language—nowblended with French vocabulary—madea comeback!.

Fig. 18: Holbein woodcut of Death trying to stop a soldier from leaving

Page 26: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

English made a comeback! The language English made a comeback! The language that develops next is called “that develops next is called “Middle Middle EnglishEnglish.” It’s a lot closer to our .” It’s a lot closer to our language—but it’s spelled differently language—but it’s spelled differently and pronounced differently.and pronounced differently.

That love laste wel a fourtenyght,For it no lengere mihte laste,So nyh my lif was ate laste.Bot now, allas, to late warThat I ne hadde him loved ar: For Deth cam so in haste bime,Er I therto hadde eny time,That it ne mihte ben achieved.

--John Gower, Confessio Amantis,

Book IV

Middle English

Modern English

That love lasted only a fortnight,But it might no longer lastBecause my life was ebbing fast.But now, sadly, too late I learnedThat I had not loved this lad earlier.For Death came himself so quicklyThat there was no time,That our love might not be achieved.

--John Gower, Confessio Amantis,

Book IV

Page 27: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Geoffrey Chaucer: Geoffrey Chaucer: Finally, by the 1380s, Chaucer Finally, by the 1380s, Chaucer chose to write in English rather chose to write in English rather

than French!than French!

Most British writers before 1348 choose to use Latin or French, like John Gower.

Chaucer had been eight years old when the Black Plague hit England. Those who survived the generation of death lived in a world with more land, more wealth, more rights, and more English.

Chaucer also did his early writings in French, but he switched to English in The Book of the Duchess, Troilus and Criseyde, and The Canterbury Tales.

Fig. 19: Geoffrey Chaucer, adapted from the Hoccleve Portrait

Page 28: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

However, traces of the Black Plague However, traces of the Black Plague may still persist in some creepy may still persist in some creepy phrases today, ranging from phrases today, ranging from Shakespeare to children’s rhymes!Shakespeare to children’s rhymes!

Ring around the rosies,A pocketful of posies,Ashes, ashes,We all fall down.

--children’s rhyme (first recorded in 19th century, but may date back to the 1400s)

“A plague a’ both your houses!”

--Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene 3, line 91

Page 29: Fig. 1. Dans Macabre Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis Microbes In general, most people think it was the bubonic plague, Yersinia Pestis. (A few people think perhaps

Finis! Finis! That’s How the Black Death That’s How the Black Death

Saved English!Saved English!

--gratias tibi!

Fig. 1. Hans Holbein. Dans Macabre. 15th-Century Woodcut. Lyons, 1538.Fig. 2. Yersinia Pestis. Taken from “Black Death Pogroms” <http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/MA/judentum

EncJud_pest-black-death-pogroms-1348-1350-ENGL.html>. 14 May 2012. Web. Fig. 3. Adapted from Geoffrey Mars’ The Medieval Plague: The Black Death and the Middle Ages. New York: Doubleday, 1971. 1.Fig. 4. Kipchak Khan Janibeg. Beijing. 16th-Century Scroll Painting.Fig. 5. Map of Plague route into Europe taken from “Black Death Pogroms” at

<http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch >. 14 May 2012. Web.Figs. 6-9. All animal images taken from ZooFacts.com. 14 May 2012. Web.Fig. 10. Anonymous. Death as Minstrel. N.p. N.d..Fig. 11. First page of Beowulf. Cotton Vitellius MS A.x.v. 129 r. As reproduced in Julius Zupitza's Beowulf: Autotypes of the Unique Cotton MS Vitellius A.xv. in the British Museum with a Transliteration and Notes. E.E.T.S. O.S. 77. London:

Trubner & Co., 1882.Figs. 12-15 Foys, Martin K. Bayeux Tapestry Digital Edition. Individual license ed; CD-ROM, 2003.Figs. 16-18 Hans Holbein. Alphabet of Death. 15th-Century Woodcut. Lyons, 1538.Fig. 19 Geoffrey Chaucer. Adapted from the Thomas Hoccleve Portrait. Early 15th century.All other images free clipart from clipart.com.