The Black Death

Imagery of the Black Death ravaging cities of medieval Europe is burned into the popular imagination. But the bubonic plague wasn’t confined to Europe. It was history’s worst pandemic, and it ravaged many parts of Afro-Eurasia, killing up to 200 million people as it spread along trade routes and reshaped the social order.
The Black Death

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Featured Materials

Trade Networks and the Black Death
A medieval painting of several worshippers carrying a model of Jesus on the cross. In front of them, three men hold up a red flag.
World History Origins
Article

Trade Networks and the Black Death External link

The Black Death was caused by one huge empire and one tiny animal. It spread through trade networks across large portions of Afro-Eurasia, reshaping societies in every region it afflicted.
Source Collection: The Black Death
This painting depicts the burial of a victim of the Black Death. A grave attendant is struck by the disease. Above in the sky, St. Sebastian, pierced with arrows, kneels before God to plead on behalf of humanity, while an angel and a demon do battle.
World History Origins
Article

Source Collection: The Black Death External link

The primary and secondary source excerpts in this collection help you understand the origins and spread of the fourteenth-century Black Death, and illustrate how our understanding of the pandemic has changed over time.
Black Death and Mongols Thematic Map
OER Project
Visual Aid

Black Death and Mongols Thematic Map External link

A full-color thematic map of the Black Death and Mongols in 1200 CE, meant to help you support, extend, and challenge the frame narratives.

Lessons

Lesson 2.9
World History 1200
The Global Tapestry
1200 – 1450 CE
The Black Death
The Black Death killed tens of millions of humans in the fourteenth century. History’s worst pandemic spread across Afro-Eurasia like a wildfire, leaving ruin in its wake. Where did it come from? How did it change the world?
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Materials

Causal Map: The Black Death
World History 1200
Activity

Causal Map: The Black Death External link

Continue developing the causal mapping skills you acquired from the beginning of this lesson as you dive into mapping the Black Death.
Causation: The Black Death
World History 1200
Activity

Causation: The Black Death External link

Thinking about both the causes and consequences of the spread of the Black Death will push you toward an understanding of the complex relationship between cause and consequence.

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Teaching This Topic

How long will it (did it) last? Redefining the Black Death

How long will it (did it) last? Redefining the Black Death External link

Historian Monica H. Green offers a new interpretation of the origins of the Black Death. Combining evidence from genetics and history, she reveals the Black Death as experienced in western Eurasia is only part of a much larger story.
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