The bubonic plague, which is more commonly referred to as the “Black Death”, ravaged through Europe between 1347 and 1350; after being nearly forgotten and absent from Europe for hundreds of years.

During these three short years over 25 million lives were taken, nearly thousands of people died every week and the bodies of the dead were left in the streets as a chilling reminder of what had come of Europe. Life in Europe was shear panic and chaos, afflicted people who were driven crazy from their pain roamed the streets along side young children, who had been abandoned by their families, and left to fend for themselves. The bubonic plague most definitely left its mark on medieval Europe.

In 1347 life took a very dramatic turn, families and friends turned their backs on one another as soon as they were struck with this rapidly spreading disease. As the first sign of the bubonic plague was seen people began to take cautious measures: the homes of the afflicted were blocked away with the sick left to die inside alone, often the homes were burned to the ground in hopes that the plague could be stopped in its tracks. Those afflicted were driven insane by the pain; they would often run thr

ough the streets causing worry and commotion. The streets of the afflicted towns were often littered with the bodies of the dead, and since the townspeople wanted nothing to do with the sick there was nobody to bury the bodies; and so some of the bodies were buried in mass graves, which is one of the only times rich and poor alike were buried along side one another. While most of the population was in daze believing there was absolutely nothing they could do and it was just a matter of time before they too were to become victims of this mysterious disease; the rest of the population was running wild breaking into people homes, stealing, drinking, and living everyday as though it was their last.

Victims of the plague were struck down quickly, but not quick enough. Victims suffered a great deal of pain and were often driven insane by their pain. The bubonic plague started with a splitting headache, which was followed by the chills and a fever, which left the afflicted exhausted; it was also common for victims to experience nausea, back pain and soreness around their arms and legs. Within a few days the victim began to swell, these swellings were hard; pain filled burning lumps on their neck, inner thighs or underneath the arms. Soon the swellings turn black, split open, and began oozing blood and pus, sometimes the swellings grew to the size of oranges, the swellings were called buboes, and were on the victim’s lymph nodes. Death would often come quickly to the suffering, but not soon e

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