The+Plague

The plague was a terrible illness that killed between 25 and 30 million people in Europe between 1347 and 1351 (Mraz et al, 2007), that's more than the population of Australia wiped out in four years. You'll find a lot of information about the plague, or the Black Death, in your textbooks on pages 22-25 ad 88-89.

What was it like to be sick with the plague?
Here is a secondary source describing what it was like to be infected with the plague.

How did it spread?
The plague was spread by rats and fleas. Have a look at this diagram to find out more.

Medieval plague remedy number one
The swellings should be softened with figs and cooked onions. The onions should be mixed with yeast and butter. Then open the swellings with a knife.

**Medieval plague remedy number two**
Take a live frog and put its belly on the plague sore. The frog will swell up and burst. Keep doing this with further frogs until they stop bursting. Some people say that a dried toad will do the job better.

**Medieval plague remedy number three**
One group of people, called the Flagellants, travelled the countryside whipping themselves in order to prevent the plague. Why might they have hoped this would work? Remember how medieval people understood the world.

Long term effects
The plague killed between one in every three people in England the first time it struck, it then killed many more in later years (Brewer, 1978). How would the survivors have coped with all the bodies? What might the long term effects have been? Who would produce the food and other essentials if a third of all the workers were dead? Consider these questions before reading the primary sources below.

//“At Woodeaton there were only two farmers left and they would have gone away if the abbot had not made a new agreement with them to reduce their work service…”// from the records of Eynsham Abbey, c.1385.

//“As soon as masters accuse their workers of bad work … they leave quickly and find jobs in new places at higher wages. Masters dare not upset their workers…”// from Introduction to a Law, 1376.

Homework
Email Mr Wigg (wigg.oliver.r@edumail.vic.gov.au) and tell him three things.
 * 1) Will you be doing your assignment in a group? If so who will you other group members be? Remember that groups can be no bigger than three, and I will be expecting more work from larger groups.
 * 2) Which questions will you be answering?
 * 3) What format will you be using? (Will you write an essay, give a presentation, make a sound recording with your iPad, or something else?)