McKay AP Euro Cornell Notes Ch 12 & 13
Chapter 12: The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages
Use this outline to preview the chapter before you read a particular section in your textbook and then as a selfcheck
to test your reading comprehension after you have read the chapter section.
I. Prelude to disaster
A. Poor harvests led to famines in the years 1315-1322.
1. Fewer calories meant increased susceptibility to disease and less energy for growing
food.
B. Diseases killed many people and animals.
C. Economies slowed down and population growth came to a halt.
D. Weak governments were unable to deal with these problems.
1. Starving people turned against rich people and Jews.
2. English kings tried to regulate the food supply, but failed.
II. The Black Death
A. Genoese ships brought the bubonic plague--the Black Death--to Europe in 1347.
1. The bacillus lived in fleas that infested black rats.
2. Some claim that it came from the east by way of the Crimea.
B. Pathology and care
1. The bubonic form of the disease was transmitted by rats; the pneumonic form was
transmitted by people.
a. Unsanitary and overcrowded cities were ideal breeding grounds for the black
rats.
2. Most people had no rational explanation for the disease, and out of ignorance and fear
3. The disease, which killed millions, recurred often and as late as 1700.
many blamed it on Jews, causing thousands of Jews to be murdered.
a. It spread to central Europe and eastward--although its toll was less in Poland.
b. In Hungary, type-D blood people may have been immune.
c. Its last occurrence was in France in 1721.
d. A vaccine was not developed until 1947.
C. The social and cultural consequences of the Black Death
1. Priests, monks, and nuns cared for the sick, and as the clergy were killed off even women
performed the services of priests.
2. In the towns the plague meant population decline, labor shortage, and high inflation.
Wages increased and labor productivity increased as did per-capita
Use this outline to preview the chapter before you read a particular section in your textbook and then as a selfcheck
to test your reading comprehension after you have read the chapter section.
I. Prelude to disaster
A. Poor harvests led to famines in the years 1315-1322.
1. Fewer calories meant increased susceptibility to disease and less energy for growing
food.
B. Diseases killed many people and animals.
C. Economies slowed down and population growth came to a halt.
D. Weak governments were unable to deal with these problems.
1. Starving people turned against rich people and Jews.
2. English kings tried to regulate the food supply, but failed.
II. The Black Death
A. Genoese ships brought the bubonic plague--the Black Death--to Europe in 1347.
1. The bacillus lived in fleas that infested black rats.
2. Some claim that it came from the east by way of the Crimea.
B. Pathology and care
1. The bubonic form of the disease was transmitted by rats; the pneumonic form was
transmitted by people.
a. Unsanitary and overcrowded cities were ideal breeding grounds for the black
rats.
2. Most people had no rational explanation for the disease, and out of ignorance and fear
3. The disease, which killed millions, recurred often and as late as 1700.
many blamed it on Jews, causing thousands of Jews to be murdered.
a. It spread to central Europe and eastward--although its toll was less in Poland.
b. In Hungary, type-D blood people may have been immune.
c. Its last occurrence was in France in 1721.
d. A vaccine was not developed until 1947.
C. The social and cultural consequences of the Black Death
1. Priests, monks, and nuns cared for the sick, and as the clergy were killed off even women
performed the services of priests.
2. In the towns the plague meant population decline, labor shortage, and high inflation.
Wages increased and labor productivity increased as did per-capita