The Black Death is one on the most deadly pandemics in the history of humanity. The sickness ravaged Eurasia from the late 14^th century to the early 15^th century killing between 75-200 million people. The reason for these deaths was the bacterial infection caused by Yersinia pestis also known as the bubonic plague. A person is infected with the bubonic plague when they are bitten by a flea infected with the disease. The most common symptom of the bubonic plague are painful lymph nodes, known as buboes. They are commonly found on the armpits, groin area, and neck region of the body.

            The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of Central Asia. There are many ways that the plague could have traveled from Asia to Europe. The most common way was along the Silk Road. The plague would travel with Mongol armies, Eastern traders, or merchant ships on their way to Constantinople. It is estimated that 25 million people died before the plague reached Europe. The plague was introduced to Europe via Genoese traders. Under siege by the Mongol army, the Mongols catapulted their diseased dead over the walls of the Genoese city of Kaffa. The Genoese fled on their ships taking the plague with them. When they arrived in Sicily most of the Genoese were dead or dying from the plague. The Sicilians immediately ordered the ships out of the harbor, but it was too late. The plague had reached Europe.

          

  The plague began to spread from city to city. It spread from Italy into France, Germany, England, and the rest of Europe. It was a time of panic and death. The disease was deadly and terrifying. It was said that a person could be perfectly healthy when they went to bed at night and be dead by morning. The Europeans were not prepared for this kind of disease, they had no idea what this disease was, how it was transmitted, or where it came from. People would do whatever they could to escape the disease. Doctors would stop tending the sick, priests would not give last rights, shops would close, and people would try to run away to the countryside, but the plague would always catch up to them. Livestock was also susceptible to the plague and began to die off as well. In the end more than 20 million people died in Europe which was about a third of Europe’s population at the time.

            Many people at the time believed that the plague was a punishment from God, a divine verdict to make the people pay for their sins against God. During the time period this idea was not that far-fetched. Death was everywhere at the time, and people had no idea what this disease was or where it came from. Where else could a disaster like come from except for God himself. Now we know that this was not divine power but a disease that was easily spread and extremely dangerous at the time. If you were to contract the Bubonic Plague today it could be easily treated with an antibiotic. This only shows how far we’ve come as a species and it makes us wonder what is the next disease that is going to destroy us all.

For more information check out this video - http://www.history.com/topics/black-death/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-the-plague?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false

Resources - 

http://www.history.com/topics/black-death

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague