Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant and thank you for joining me for today's History lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources today, and my top priority is to make sure that by the end of our lesson, you're able to successfully meet our learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on Mediaeval Medicine and Health, where we've been asking ourselves, "How much was known about medicine and health?" By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to evaluate the reasons why the Black Death was so deadly.

There are four key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are epidemic, bacteria, divine and quarantine.

An epidemic is when a large number of people get the same disease over the same period of time.

Bacteria are a type of germ which sometimes cause disease.

If something is divine, then it is related to God, and a quarantine is when people are kept away from others because they have or might have a disease.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by focusing on the Black Death and its impact.

In 1348, Britain was struck by the Black Death.

This was the name given to a deadly plague epidemic, which had begun in Asia before spreading across Europe in the last years of the 1340s.

The Black Death was actually a combination of two diseases, bubonic and pneumonic plague.

Both forms of plague shared the same ultimate cause, the bacteria known as Yersinia pestis.

However, the two forms of plague spread and affected victims differently.

Bubonic plague was spread by fleas.

These fleas lived on infected rats, but when the animals died, they sometimes transferred to human hosts.

Flea bites allowed the bacteria responsible for the plague to enter people's body tissues.

Victims formed painful buboes, which were lumps, and developed high fevers and often vomited blood.

Pneumonic plague, meanwhile, was spread by contact with an infected person's blood, or even when they coughed or sneezed.

The pneumonic form of the plague infected people's lungs and was even more deadly than the bubonic plague, killing almost everybody who was infected by it.

Because there was no knowledge of germs like bacteria in the mediaeval period, the real cause of the Black Death was not understood at the time.

Subsequently, the plague proved to be incredibly deadly.

Between 1348 and 1350, it's estimated that one third of the population of Britain was killed by the Black Death.

That amounts to roughly 1.

5 million people.

Indeed, in a single London cemetery in April, 1349, 200 plague victims were being buried each day.

So thinking about everything that we've just heard, which two forms of plague spread during the Black Death? Was it bubonic, pneumonic, or septicemic? Remember, you're looking for two answers to this question, so pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Now, okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answers were A and B, the two forms of plague which spread during the Black Death were the bubonic and pneumonic plagues.

And let's try another question.

This time, I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence, which reads, "Bubonic plague infected people's lungs and could be spread by coughing and sneezing." So consider which word appears to be incorrect and what should it be changed to? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the incorrect word was bubonic and that it should have been changed to pneumonic.

Pneumonic plague infected people's lungs and could be spread by coughing and sneezing.

And this time we have a true or false statement on the screen, which reads, "The actual cause of Black Death was not known at the time it struck mediaeval Britain." So is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our answer.

So how could we tell that original statement was correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the Black Death was caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis, but there was no knowledge of germs in the mediaeval period.

And let's try one more question, just to make sure our understanding is really secure.

What proportion of Britain's population was killed by the Black Death between 1348 and 1350? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said one third.

One third of Britain's population is estimated to being killed by the Black Death between 1348 and 1350, this amounts to roughly 1.

5 million people.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge of the Black Death and its impact into practise.

I want you to complete the table to summarise what the Black Death was.

So you need to describe the causes of the Black Death, how it was spread and its death toll.

As part of your answer, you should refer to both the bubonic and pneumonic plague.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to complete the table to summarise what the Black Death was.

For the causes of the Black Death, your answer may have included that a bacteria called Yersinia pestis caused the Black Death.

The infections of body tissues led to people catching the bubonic plague and the infections of the lungs led to people developing the pneumonic plague.

For how the Black Death was spread, you may have said the bubonic plague was spread by fleas living on infected rats, and that the pneumonic plague was spread by infected people's coughs, sneezes, and blood.

And for the death toll, you may have said that one third of Britain's population was killed in the epidemic from 1348 to 1350, and that in a single London cemetery in April, 1349, 200 plague victims were being buried each day.

So really well done if your own responses look something like those models which we've just seen there.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson, where we're going to focus on religious responses to the Black Death.

Religious responses to the Black Death were very widespread.

In part, this was because people didn't understand what really caused the disease.

It was also a result of religion commonly being used by mediaeval Christians to explain and respond to sickness.

Many mediaeval Christians interpreted the Black Death as divine punishment for sin.

It seemed as if only God's anger could be responsible for such a devastating epidemic.

Indeed, the Black Death was sometimes compared with the biblical story of Noah and the flood, in which God destroyed the world for its sins, saving only one faithful family.

Consequently, many approaches to treatment and prevention in response to the Black Death were religiously informed, with a particular emphasis on penance, which involves actions designed to show people are sorry for their behaviour.

In some cases, this meant praying, not only to God, but also to saints such as Saint Roch who was associated with plague.

Some Christians went even further.

Groups known as flagellants travelled around, whipping themselves to show God they were punishing themselves for their sins, hoping that this would bring about divine forgiveness and therefore an end to the plague.

In some cases, religious intolerance led people to suspect non-Christians were responsible for the Black Death.

In many parts of Europe, there were massacres of Jews who were accused of poisoning wells to cause the plague.

However, this did not occur in England, as the country's Jewish population had already been expelled in 1291, more than half a century before the Black Death reached the country.

So let's make sure our understanding of everything we've just heard is secure.

Which biblical story of destruction was the Black Death sometimes compared to? Was it the birth of Jesus, Noah and the flood or the testing of Job? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

The biblical story of Noah and the flood, which involves the destruction of the whole world except for one faithful family, was often compared to the Black Death by mediaeval Christians who used it to help explain that the plague must have been sent by God as a punishment for sin.

And let's try another question.

This time I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

"Flagellants whipped themselves as a form of blank in the hope of gaining divine forgiveness." So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the missing word was "penance".

Flagellants whipped themselves as a form of penance in the hope of gaining divine forgiveness.

And let's try another question.

In many parts of Europe, which group was accused of causing the plague and attacked for it? Was it foreigners, Jews, or physicians? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

In many parts of Europe, Jews were blamed for causing the Black Death and attacked for that reason, as religious intolerance led many people to suspect non-Christians of causing the disease.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge of religious responses to the Black Death into practise.

I want you to study the image.

Explain how it can help historians understand religious responses to the Black Death.

You should refer to specific details in the image and your own knowledge as part of your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done to everybody for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to study the image and explain how it can help historians understand religious responses to the Black Death.

And your answer may have included, "The image shows a group of people walking together.

Near the front, one person is holding a cross whilst others behind hold whips, which they are hitting themselves with.

The people shown in the image are flagellants.

During the Black Death, groups of flagellants whipped themselves to show they were punishing themselves for their sins.

It was hoped that this would help achieve divine forgiveness as many mediaeval Christians believed that, because the Black Death was so devastating, it must have been sent by God as a punishment for sin." So really well done if your own answer looks something like that model, especially if you were including both details from the image and details from your own knowledge.

And so now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we're going to focus on non-religious responses to the Black Death.

There were no effective cures in the mediaeval period to treat people infected by the Black Death.

Nevertheless, some responses to the plague offered more effective protection than others.

Whilst religion was a more popular explanation amongst ordinary people, many scholars in mediaeval society used astrology to explain the causes of the Black Death.

Indeed, the official scientific explanation given for the plague was that it had been caused by an alignment of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in 1345.

All the same, miasma and the theory of the four humours were used more commonly than astrology to explain the causes of the Black Death.

To protect themselves from bad smells, which were believed to create miasma, many people walked around with pomanders or posies, which were a small bunch of flowers.

For similar reasons, there were efforts to keep streets clean.

Unintentionally, this could be helpful as a preventative method, because street cleaning removed the filthy environments in which flea-carrying rats bred and multiplied.

However, the sheer scale of plague deaths meant that street cleaning became increasingly hard.

In 1349, King Edward III of England complained that London streets were foul with human waste and the air of the city poisoned.

Meanwhile, many doctors continued to assume plague victims were suffering from an imbalance between their four humours.

Consequently, many of those infected with plague were treated ineffectively through methods like bloodletting and purging, which were intended to restore the balance between their humours.

So about what we've just heard, which group was most likely to use astrology to explain the courses of the Black Death? Was it ordinary people, priests, or scholars? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was C, scholars were the group most likely to use astrology to explain the causes of the Black Death.

Indeed, the official scientific explanation for the Black Death provided by scholars blamed an alignment of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in 1345.

And let's try another question.

What was the main motive for street cleaning during the Black Death? Was it to get rid of infected rats, to prevent miasma or to provide work and jobs? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B, the main motive for street cleaning during the Black Death was to prevent miasma.

Whilst this had no medical benefits, unintentionally, cleaning streets got rid of the environments in which flea-carrying rats would breed and multiply.

So it did have some actual benefits.

One response to the Black Death which proved effective was preventing contact between those who were and those who were not infected.

This made it particularly difficult for the pneumonic form of the plague to spread, as people would avoid the coughs and sneezes of those who were infected.

Authorities adopted this strategy by using quarantine laws.

For example, houses which had experienced an outbreak of the Black Death were often required to quarantine.

Similarly, people who are new to an area might be quarantined for 40 days in case they were infected, whilst large events like religious ceremonies were banned.

However, these laws were not always used by authorities and it was hard to make sure that people obeyed them.

Some individuals also looked to protect themselves by moving away from plague infected areas, especially if they lived in towns.

However, this was much easier for the wealthy to do, who might own multiple properties and could afford the expense of transport than it was for the poor.

Records suggests that the plague killed a greater proportion of Britain's poor than it did its rich.

So thinking about what we've just heard, we have a statement on the screen which reads, "Quarantines demonstrate that some effective treatments for plague were used in response to the Black Death." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that original statement was incorrect? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said quarantines could be effective, but quarantining is a method for preventing the spread of plague, not treating those who are already infected.

And let's try another question.

What type of preventative method involved separating new arrivals to an area? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was quarantine.

Given the lack of knowledge about what caused the Black Death and its deadliness, some people were willing to try desperate methods which they believed could treat or prevent infection.

In some cases, this involved shaving chickens and strapping them to the buboes of a plague victim in the mistaken hope that the disease might be transferred to the animal.

In other cases, people took medicines made from poisonous mercury or purchased pills made from stags horns, which they were promised could protect them from the Black Death.

In truth, none of these methods had any effect on the bacteria responsible for causing the plague.

So which statement about the availability of medicine during the Black Death is most accurate? Is it that no medicine was available, that available medicine was ineffective, that most medicines made the plague worse or that many effective medicines were available? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Now, okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

Although there were many medicines which were available during the Black Death, none of these were effective because they did nothing to fight the bacteria that actually caused the disease.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the Black Death and responses to it into practise.

I want you to study Alex's claim.

Alex says that the Black Death was so deadly because mediaeval Britain had no effective ways to respond to it.

So how far do you agree with Alex's claim? And I want you to explain your answer.

You should consider both the strengths and weaknesses of Alex's claim.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Now, okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you how far did you agree with Alex's claim and told you that you needed to explain your answer.

So your answer may have included, "Alex is correct that many died during the Black Death due to ineffective responses.

The true cause of the plague was not understood, so methods of treatment and prevention often focused on the wrong things.

For example, as it was often believed that the Black Death was a divine punishment for sin, some Christians known as flagellants responded by whipping themselves.

This was intended to show penance, but offered no protection from Yersinia pestis, the bacteria responsible for the plague.

Likewise, traditional medical responses, such as bloodletting, and panicked responses, like drinking of mercury, did not protect people from the bacteria either, and so most who relied on these methods still died if they became infected.

However, it is an exaggeration to say that there were no effective responses in mediaeval Britain.

For instance, whilst attempts to keep streets clean were mistakenly intended to prevent miasma, this action did remove the filthy environments which flea-carrying rats bred in.

As a result, it was harder for the bubonic plague to spread, although high death rates meant that many streets were not regularly cleaned.

Similarly, the use of quarantines could be very effective.

For instance, when infected households were prevented from contacting others, it was not possible for them to spread the pneumonic form of the plague.

However, quarantines were not introduced by all authorities and were not always obeyed, so many people still died." So really well done if your own response to this question looks something similar to the model which we've just seen.

And so now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about the Black Death.

We've seen that the Black Death was caused by bacteria, but this was not known in the mediaeval period.

The Black Death was an incredibly deadly epidemic, killing one third of Britain's population between 1348 and 1350.

Many Christians assumed the Black Death was a divine punishment and hoped penance would protect them from the plague.

A wide range of treatments were used to try and cure those who were infected, but all mediaeval treatments were ineffective against the plague.

And some people avoided the plague by avoiding contact with those who were infected, especially in areas where quarantines were introduced.

So really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources today as part of our thinking about mediaeval medicine and health, and I look forward to seeing you again in future.