by Casey Clay

Created on: July 21, 2008   Last Updated: August 05, 2008

Of all the events in medieval history, one of the best known is probably the spread of a horrible disease known as the "Black Plague" or "Black Death." While it is well known that this particular disease had a devastating effect on the population of Europe, it is probably less well known that the disease also carried with it some unintended consequences. While wiping out one-third to two-thirds of the entire population of Europe, the disease also managed to shock the social and economic foundations of almost every European society. As the plague swept through almost every European community it acted as a catalyst for the breakdown of the feudal system.

The Black Plague is believed to have originated in the Himalayan region around 1250 AD. Plague usually is transmitted from the bite of a flea. It is speculated that fleas that live on marmots indigenous to the Himalayan region were the original transporters of the deadly disease. There are a few different theories as to how the disease made its way to the European landmass. The theory that most scholars seem to agree with is a migration of the disease carrying rodents from their native region in the Himalayas. The reason for this is most likely because of climatic shifts in the area. Lack of food drove the creatures out of their native area. This migration put them in contact with human populations, thus, putting humans in contact with the disease carrying fleas. It also put the animals in contact with other, more far ranging, animal species. Other rodents such as mice and rats would become infested with plague carrying fleas when in contact with the marmots. If, or rather, when the fleas bit the humans or animals, the bacterium that causes plague, known as yersinia pestis, came into contact with an open wound, thereby infecting with the plague the person who was bitten.

Three types of plague were prevalent in Europe during the time span of 1348-1350 AD the height of the plague outbreak. The most prevalent form was bubonic plague this was the form that was contracted from the bites of fleas. People who were infected with this type of the disease would develop enlarged, pus filled lymph nodes, a fever, and hemorrhaging beneath the skin. This hemorrhaging would appear to turn the skin black in the eyes of the medieval Europeans. When the enlarged lymph nodes would burst they would also emit dark colored blood and pus. This is how the name "Black Death" came to be coined.

A second type of plague was that of pneumonic

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