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What were some of the ways that people in Europe and the Mediterranean attempted to prevent the plague from spreading?

- Anti-semitism - Punishing themselves through self-flagellation - Prayers written on paper and rolled up into amulets where they could be worn as necklaces had been popular since the days of the Umayyad Caliphate. - They were worn with more frequency, as the wearers sought to ward off the pestilence through God's intercession.

What were the symptoms and qualities of the plague, according to the primary sources?

- Coughing of blood - The appearance of "buboes" on the body. Buboes are large lumps of pus that would occur at the site of a lymph node: on the neck, under the arms, or on the upper legs near the groin. - Blood could not circulate to the tissue that covered the bubo, causing the skin to become necrotic and dark. This symptom was the origin of the term "Black Death."

Why did most of the countries in Europe not have the opportunity to launch a trans-Atlantic maritime expedition?

- Hundred Years' war caused the delay for voyage?

Track trajectory of the spread of the plague by watching the second video in the maps section. What pattens do you observe (if any?)

- Most cases were in Europe (central). - It began spreading towards the NE - Some cases were in China

How did the bubonic plague travel to the Mediterranean?

- Several sources survive that discuss the Venetian merchants who raised anchor and evacuated Kaffa when the inhabitants fell ill, only to transport the plague to various ports in the Italian Peninsula. * The most suggestive evidence is that there were a few small towns in west Central Asia that experienced a spike in burials in their cemeteries between 1331 and 1345. * One of the most creative and convincing theories that has been suggested to explain an East Asian to Mediterranean transmission is that the Mongol occupation actually caused the local marmot and rodent population of the steppes to migrate further west. We can actually still wit-ness the migration of rodents today due to human activity. In this scenario, the infected rodents could have brought the pathogen with them, infecting merchants traveling to the western side of the Silk Roads. *

What factors gave the countries of Europe the political and economic means to fund a journey to the Americas?

- The Spanish had annexed the Canary Islands for the purposes of cultivating sugar cane as early as the 1330s. - Columbian Exchange

What steps did the heads of state in Europe and Egypt in order to stabilize their economy after the plague had killed so many of their subjects?

- The serfs were freed so that they could be taxed too (kings). - The overall result was a rise in the percentage of the population with a disposable income that they could use to buy luxury goods. * The regime put prices on the land and then sold it to their military. The intention was to generate more liquid currency and allow the Mamluks more widespread military control. However, by putting prices on the property and putting it up for sale, anyone could buy it. As it turned out, the middle class had grown so wealthy that they were able to outbid the Mamluk military troops when the land was sold off. The Mamluks lost control of several land grants that used to be a reliable source of revenue. This would have some long term consequences.

From information provided within the primary sources described in the e-book, what can we conclude about the plague with near-certainty?

- Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes the bubonic plague.