The Black Death D48
The Black Death is the name for a terrible disease that spread throughout Europe from 1347 to 1350
and it was highly contagious
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There was no cure for the disease
How did it start?
The plague likely started in Asia and traveled westward along the Silk Road
The disease was carried by fleas that lived on rats
Historians think that the Black rats living on Europe merchant ships caught the disease
Eventually bringing it to Europe
How bad was it?
By the time the disease ran its course
it had at least killed on third of people in Europe and probably more
In Paris, France it is estimated that around 800 people died a day
There were so many dead that they could not bury them
They had to carry them to massive pits
The people in the Middle Ages did not know that the disease was carried by rats
This made larger cities and towns which were very dirty during the Middle Ages
Sometimes the entire towns or villages were wiped out by the plague
Much of the infrastructure of Europe was gone when the Black Death finally subsided
It was estimated that it took 150 years for Europe to rebuild