Source+5

"The Black Death: Bubonic Plague." //The Black Death: Bubonic Plague //. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2012. .


 * 1) The Bubonic Plague originated in China, in the early 1330's.
 * 2) Normally affects rodents, but fleas transmit the disease to humans.
 * 3) Easily contagious from one person to another, usually spread rapidly.
 * 4) Symptoms include: fever, painful swelling of buboes, and red spots on the skin that turn black.
 * 5) Since China was so busy with it's trading, it was obvious that it would spread out into the world.
 * 6) October, 1347: Italian merchants on a ship were found already dying of the disease when they docked in Sicily. Disease then spread through the city and countryside.
 * 7) Lawyers did not wish to see the dying for their wills, nurses and nuns were to care for the sick. Many were not given a proper burial ground.
 * 8) By August, the disease spread all the way up to England, where they gave it the nickname "Black Death," because of the black spots produced from it.
 * 9) Being in medieval times, they had not any way to fight back against the disease.
 * 10) Because the fleas, which aided in the spread of the disease, were dormant in the winter, it seemed like the plague had disappeared, but in the Spring, it returned and took more lives.
 * 11) This rotation occurred for about five more years, killing around 1/3 of Europe's population (around 25 million people).
 * 12) Centuries after the climax of the disease, small outbreaks continued to occur. Everyone was still scared for their life.
 * 13) The disease was finally gone in the 1600's.
 * 14) Because many people from churches and such prayed against the plague and it still did such damage, political turmoil and physiological questioning was born.
 * 15) There were many labor shortages because of the fact that MANY people died.

http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html