KO: Black Death
Subject: History | Year: 7
Name: _________________________ Class/Set: ____________ Date: ____________
1. Key Knowledge / Core Facts
- 1347: The plague arrived in Sicily, Europe, via merchant ships from the Black Sea.
- 1348: The Black Death reached England, first recorded at Melcombe Regis, Dorset, in June.
- Vector: The Yersinia pestis bacteria was carried by fleas living on black rats.
- Trade Routes: The disease spread rapidly across the continent via the Silk Road and maritime trade.
- Mortality Rate: Between 30% and 50% of the entire European population is estimated to have died.
- Living Conditions: Overcrowded, unsanitary medieval towns with open sewers accelerated the spread.
- End of Outbreak: The initial, most virulent wave subsided in England by 1350.
2. Key Vocabulary
- Buboes: Large, painful swellings in the lymph nodes, typically in the groin or armpits.
- Miasma: The medieval belief that "bad air" or foul smells caused and spread disease.
- Flagellant: Religious extremists who whipped themselves in public to beg God for forgiveness.
- Pestilence: A fatal epidemic disease; the term often used by medieval people for the plague.
- Feudalism: The social hierarchy where peasants worked land for a lord in exchange for protection.
- Statute of Labourers: A 1351 law attempting to freeze wages at pre-plague levels.
- Yersinia pestis: The scientific name for the bacteria that caused the Black Death.
3. Symptoms and Varieties
- Bubonic Plague: The most common form; characterized by buboes and internal bleeding.
- Pneumonic Plague: An airborne version that attacked the lungs; spread through coughing and sneezing.
- Septicaemic Plague: A rare but 100% fatal version that infected the bloodstream directly.
- Stage 1: Appearance of painful buboes in the neck, armpits, or groin area.
- Stage 2: Victim suffers from high fever, severe headaches, and violent shivering.
- Stage 3: Internal bleeding causes dark blotches to appear under the skin.
- Stage 4: Victims usually died within three to five days of the first symptoms appearing.
4. Medieval Beliefs and Treatments
- Divine Punishment: Many believed the plague was sent by God to punish mankind for their sins.
- Astrology: Doctors blamed a specific alignment of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in 1345.
- Jewish Scapegoating: Innocent Jewish communities were falsely accused of poisoning wells and persecuted.
- Four Humours: Physicians tried to balance bodily fluids through bloodletting or purging.
- Lancing: Cutting open buboes to "drain the poison," which often led to fatal infections.
- Aromatherapy: Carrying sweet-smelling herbs (posies) or vinegar to block "corrupt air."
- Flagellation: People joined processions to whip themselves, hoping to show penance to God.
5. Social and Economic Consequences
- Labour Shortage: The massive death toll left very few peasants to work the land.
- Wage Increases: Surviving peasants demanded higher pay, as their labour was now more valuable.
- Social Mobility: The breakdown of the feudal system allowed some peasants to buy their own land.
- Power of the Church: The Church’s reputation suffered as priests died and prayers failed to stop the disease.
- Land Use: Many landowners moved from labour-intensive crops to sheep farming for wool.
- Peasants' Revolt: The tensions caused by the Statute of Labourers eventually contributed to the 1381 uprising.
6. Key Timeline
- October 1347: Plague-infested ships dock at Messina, Sicily.
- June 1348: The Black Death is first recorded in Dorset, England.
- November 1348: The plague reaches London, leading to thousands of deaths daily.
- 1349: The disease spreads further north into Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
- 1350: The first major wave of the plague begins to die out in Britain.
- 1351: Parliament passes the Statute of Labourers to control the rising power of peasants.
7. Check for Understanding
Task A: Identify the specific bacteria responsible for the Black Death.
Task B: Define the term 'Miasma' and explain its role in medieval medicine.
Task C: Which version of the plague attacked the lungs and was spread through the air?
Task D: Multiple Choice Question:
What was the primary purpose of the Statute of Labourers (1351)?
- a) ☐ To provide free medicine to the poor.
- b) ☐ To stop peasants from demanding higher wages.
- c) ☐ To encourage people to move to the cities.
- d) ☐ To ban the practice of flagellation.
⚠ TEACHER’S GUIDANCE
🎓 Pedagogical Pulse
- Delivery: For Year 7, focus on the 'Beliefs vs. Reality' aspect. Students often find the gruesome symptoms engaging, but use this to pivot towards the significant socio-economic shift (the end of Feudalism).
- Misconceptions: Clarify that while we know it was fleas and rats, medieval people had zero knowledge of germs. Ensure students use the term 'Miasma' when discussing medieval perspectives.
- Differentiation: For Greater Depth (GDS) students, encourage them to link the 1351 Statute of Labourers directly to the causes of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt.
✅ Answer Key & Mirror-Labeling
- Task A Answer: The bacteria is called Yersinia pestis.
- Task B Answer: Miasma is the belief that "bad air" or "corrupt smells" caused disease. Medieval people used it to justify carrying sweet herbs or cleaning streets to stop the plague.
- Task C Answer: The Pneumonic Plague.
- Task D Answer:
- b) ☐ To stop peasants from demanding higher wages. (The law aimed to return wages to 1346 levels to protect the interests of the landed gentry).
