Added: Oct 12, 2008

From: worldcruiser12

Duration: 6:22

Dead littered the streets everywhere. Cattle and livestock roamed the country unattended. Brother deserted brother. The Black Death was one of the worst natural disasters in history. In 1347 A.D., a great plague swept over Europe, ravaged cities causing widespread hysteria and death. One third of the population of Europe died. "The impact upon the future of England was greater than upon any other European country." (Cartwright, 1991) The primary culprits in transmitting this disease were oriental rat fleas carried on the back of black rats. Medieval people called the 14th century catastrophe either the "Great Pestilence"' or the "Great Plague".[17] Writers contemporary to the plague referred to the event as the "Great Mortality".The term "Black Death" was introduced for the first time in 1833.[18] It has been popularly thought that the name came from a striking late-stage sign of the disease, in which the sufferer's skin would blacken due to subepidermal hemorrhages (purpura), and the extremities would darken with gangrene (acral necrosis). However, the term is more likely to refer to black in the sense of glum, lugubrious or dreadful.[19]The Black Death was, according to chronicles, characterized by buboes (swellings in lymph nodes), like the late 19th century Asian Bubonic plague. Scientists and historians at the beginning of the 20th century assumed that the Black Death was an outbreak of the same disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and spread by fleas with the help of animals like the black rat (Rattus rattus). However, this view has recently been questioned by some scientists and historians.[20] New research suggests Black Death is lying dormant.[21]It is eastemated that 75 million people died during the plague

Channel: Education

Tags: black  blackdeath  dead  death  europe  ilness  italian  killing  norge  norway  people  pest  plague  rats  sick  svartedauen  virus 

Rating: 3.00 (2 ratings)    Views: 171    Comments: 1

deathofnone Says:

Oct 14, 2008 - the picture in 3:19 looks frightfull