Black Death Research Paper

The Black Death is a bacterial disease.

The official name of the bacteria is Yersina pestis. It was named after the

French scientist, Alexandre Yersin, who discovered this germ. This bacteria actually causes three different types of plague: bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague. The plague was an epidemic swept through Europe from 1348 through 1351,

The bacteria that causes the plague lives in the stomachs of fleas. These fleas help start the spread of some diseases. The fleas live on rats which were a lot throughout the Middle

Ages. The bacteria builds up in the flea’s stomach and as a result, there is so much bacteria, that the flea “throws up” while feeding. The flea bites a person and starts drinking the person’s

The plague first arrived in Europe in

1347 and came from the steppes area of Central Asia. The disease had been in the area for a while but did not cause a big problem because the people who lived in the area were the Mongols. The Mongols lived closely with their horses and fleas don’t like the smell of horses.

During the Middle Ages, there was no cure for the Black Death ( "the Great Mortality”) although a number of things were tried.

Doctors had no idea how the disease was spread. To stop the disease, doctors would use bloodletting and boil lancing. Bloodletting is when a doctor would cut a person and let some blood drain out. Boil lancing is when doctors would cut open the swollen sores of a person and let them drain. People would try anything to get rid of the plague. They would burn herbs, use vinegar in baths, stay in their homes or even burn down their own homes. People would leave the area as soon as any plague cases were reported. Towns and villages were wiped out by the plague. Many people believed that the plague was God’s way to punish them for being sinful. To atone for these sins,