The Plague and Black Death
Humans have suffered from various pandemics throughout history. A disease that caused many illnesses and deaths over the centuries was the plague. One exceptionally terrible outbreak was known as the Black Death. This guide is not for the squeamish!
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The Black Death: Worst Pandemic in History Visualized | CuriosityStream
Watch this short video to learn about the history of the plague from the 6th century AD to the present. How did the plague affect the Byzantine Empire? How did it affect Europe and the Middle East between 1300 and 1700? The disease still occurs today, but is not so deadly. Why is that?
View The Black Death: Worst Pandemic in History Visualized | CuriosityStream -
Bubonic Plague: The First Pandemic | Science Museum
This source refers to the Black Death of the 1300s as the First Pandemic, yet other sources say it was not the first one. Why do you think there might be conflicting date records of this pandemic? (Hint: Think about which areas were affected by each pandemic over the centuries.)
View Bubonic Plague: The First Pandemic | Science Museum -
The Black Death, 1348 | Eyewitness to History
The history of the plague has been passed down to us by writers such as Giovanni Boccaccio, who wrote a novel about the plague. In the introduction to his novel, he gives a vivid description of the plague’s effects on his city, Florence. Aside from the evidence of all the deaths that occurred, why would there be relatively few eyewitness accounts about the Black Death?
View The Black Death, 1348 | Eyewitness to History -
The Black Death May Have Transformed Medieval Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa | Science
Most sources report that the plague never went further south in Africa than the Sahara Desert. This article explores recent archaeological evidence that suggests otherwise.
View The Black Death May Have Transformed Medieval Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa | Science -
I Am a Black Death (The Plague) Doctor | I Am
This short, animated video is told from the viewpoint of a plague doctor seeing patients during the Black Death in Venice, Italy. Given that there are so many questions about this disease even today, hundreds of years later, it is no surprise that doctors were ill-equipped back then to protect themselves when treating the sick.
View I Am a Black Death (The Plague) Doctor | I Am -
Medieval Cures for the Black Death | Ancient History Encyclopedia
People living in the time of the Black Death had a very different understanding of the world and what caused ill health than we do today. As a result, the vast majority of their strategies to treat the plague were ineffective or made things worse. Which of their strategies worked, and which of their ineffective strategies surprised you?
View Medieval Cures for the Black Death | Ancient History Encyclopedia -
Research Reveals More Complete Picture of the Devastation Wrought by the Black Death | Smithsonian Magazine
Although the Black Death was reported to have high death tolls, actual proof of population changes has been harder to come by. Read this article to find out how one archaeologist in England determined village population levels pre- and post-Black Death.
View Research Reveals More Complete Picture of the Devastation Wrought by the Black Death | Smithsonian Magazine -
This Church Has an Eerie Visual Record of the Black Death | Smithsonian Channel
As shown in this video, at least one church in England has a long-lasting record of plague deaths from 1348. What other reminders of the plague does this church have?
View This Church Has an Eerie Visual Record of the Black Death | Smithsonian Channel -
Could the Black Death Actually Have Been an Ebola-Like Virus? | Nature
Read this blog post by student Julia Paoli to learn why some researchers think the Black Death was caused by a hemorrhagic fever virus similar to Ebola, and not the bacteria Yersinia pestis of the bubonic plague. Do you think their theory has merit? What are the barriers to determining whether a virus was the cause?
View Could the Black Death Actually Have Been an Ebola-Like Virus? | Nature -
The First Time the Plague Broke Out in the US, Officials Tried to Deny It | History
In 1900, a man in San Francisco became the first US victim of plague. How did local citizens and local and state officials respond to his death? What similarities and differences do you see between their response to the arrival of the plague in the US and the initial responses of local, state, and federal governments to the arrival of Covid-19?
View The First Time the Plague Broke Out in the US, Officials Tried to Deny It | History