The Black Death

In the early 1340's an outbreak of bubonic plague broke out in China. It mainly affected rodents, but fleas transmitted the disease to people and once that happened, they began to infect others transmitting person to person. The plague causes fever and a painful swelling of the lymph glands, which is how it gets its name. The disease also causes spots on the skin that are red at first and then turn black.      China was one of the world's most extensive trade nations. The outbreak of plague in China spread to western Asia and Europe traveling with infected rats on ships and caravans. In 1347, several Italian merchant ships returned from a trip to the Black Sea, one of the main ports in the journey between Italy and China. When the ships docked in Sicily, many of those on board were already dying of plague. Within days the disease spread to the city and the surrounding countryside. The people realized what had happened and they drove the Italians from their city. But they were to late. The disease had already infected their city. It quickly laid waste to their city.      The disease struck and killed people with terrible speed. The Italian writer Boccaccio said its victims often "ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors in paradise."      Many scholars believe that the song "Ring around the Rosy" was written about symptoms of the black death.       Within a years time the plague had spread as far north as England, where people called it "The Black Death."  The Black Death spread across Europe, and Medieval medicine had nothing to fight it.       In winter the disease would seem to disappear, because the fleas which spread the disease became dormant. Each spring, the plague would resurface, claiming new victims. Within five years nearly a 1/3 of Europe's population was destroyed. After 1350 the disease slowed it progress but smaller outbreaks continued until finally the disease disappeared in the 1600's. For almost 300 years people lived in terror of this deadly disease. It is believed that improved hygiene and modern sanitation contributed to ending this plague.      Medieval society never fully recovered from the results of the plague. There were serious labor shortages all over Europe. By the end of the 1300s peasant revolts happened in England, France, Belgium and Italy over wage disputes.  .

Interesting historical article.

https://peoplestrusttoronto.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/irish-the-forgotten-white-slaves/