National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The Path of the Black Death
The Black Death caused a radical alteration in population and dramatic changes in society. In this lesson, learners will analyze maps, documents, and firsthand accounts to trace the effects of the Black Death in Europe.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Medieval Sourcebook: Black Death Described by Giovanni Boccaccio 1348
A primary source describing the Plague or Black Death's symptoms, its transmission, and its affects on societies' behavior.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Past, Present and Future of the Bubonic Plague
The bubonic plague, which killed around 1/5 of the world's population in the 14th century, is still around today -- but it now claims only a few thousand lives each year. How did that number shrink drastically? This learning module...
Flow of History
Flow of History: The Black Death & Its Impact
The Black Death and its impact across Europe is profiled. Text plus a colored graphic flowchart make the topic visually appealing and of interest to both students and educators.
Brown University
Brown University: The Plague
Comprehensive coverage of the Plague includes discussion on its origins, causes, effects, and the Plague as Literary Motif. Of particular interest are the contemporary perspectives from writers during the time of the Plague.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: The Middle Ages: The Black Death
This lesson from a unit on Middle Ages British literature focuses on the Black Death or Black Plague. It features links to information about the Black Death: "The Black Plague: The Least You Need to Know," a question and answer style...
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers: Inquiries: Black Death
A learning module on the bubonic plague that includes three supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Topics covered include what the Black Death was, how it...
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: Understanding the Black Death
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which learners compare two primary source documents to investigate how people experienced or understood the plague in 1348. Inlcudes lesson plan, PowerPoint, and original documents.
Stanford University
Stanford History Education Group: The Black Death in Florence
[Free Registration/Login Required] Website with "reading like a historian" lessons about the Black Death in Florence for teachers using primary resources in the classroom.
Smart History
Smarthistory: The Black Death
Provides a description of the Black Death, its causes, and the social and economic upheaval caused by it. With links to additional resources.
BBC
Bbc Radio 4: Voices of the Powerless: The Plague in England
This site explores the effect that the arrival of the plague had on the lives of common English men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries. Content includes an analysis of the plague's origin and spread, and the reactions of the...
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Medieval Sourcebook: The Decameron
Fordham University provides a translation of "The Decameron". This is a widely read personal account written at the time of the plague.
University of Virginia
University of Virginia: Plague and Public Health in Renaissance Europe
A collection of primary texts that describe the experiences of people who lived during the Bubonic Plague in medieval Europe, and how they tried to deal with it. For example, through avoidance of contact with infected people, and by...
University of Virginia
University of Virginia: The Florentine Chronicle by Marchione Di Coppo Stefani
Provides an original text by Marchione di Coppo Stefani about the Bubonic Plague and its devastating effect on Florentine society.
University of Virginia
University of Virginia: Laws for Sanitation Concerning Black Death
Provides information on the original laws and ordinances passed by the 14th-century town of Pistoia in Tuscany concerning sanitation by its citizens and the Bubonic Plague.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Missing Plague That Could Have Changed History
When European colonizers came to American shores, the plague they brought with them killed almost 90% of the indigenous population. But why was there no existing plague in the "New World" that affected Europeans? [12:08]
National Archives (UK)
National Archives: The Plague [Pdf]
This was the worst outbreak of plague inEngland since the black death of 1348.London lost roughly 15% of its population. While 68,596 deaths were recorded in thecity, the true number was probably over 100,000. Other parts of the country...
Hofstra University
Hofstra Univ: Why Was Bubonic Plague So Devastating to European Society? [Pdf]
The Bubonic Plague or "Black Death" came out of the eastern Mediterranean along shipping routes, reaching Italy in the spring of 1348. By the time the epidemic was abating in 1351, between 25% and 50% of Europe's population had died. The...
Ibis Communications
Eye Witness: The Black Death, 1348
This article provides a general overview of the black death, including the signs of the disease, reactions to the disaster, the breakdown of social order, and the need for mass burials.
CBS
Cbs News: Black Death "Plague Pit"
Picture a landscape of rolling grass-covered hills with grazing sheep. Who would think that buried far beneath this grassland was a gruesome site waiting to be discovered? Archeologist unearthed a pit of 48 skeletons that died as a...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Renaissance: Plague Begins
Describes the society of the Middle ages and the effect of the Plague on these societies of the Renaissance.
BBC
Bbc: Black Death
Follow the spread of the dread Black Death as it swept across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Archived.
BBC
Bbc: Paston Family Letters
The Paston letters are the first record of private correspondence to survive in Britain. Use these letters to take a peek inside a family that battles the plague, and fights for their rights to the Caister Castle in order to cement their...
The History Cat
The History Cat: The Black Death
The story of how the Black Plague killed hundreds of millions during the Middle Ages, of how it spread, of attempts to cure it, of life during the Plague, the breakdown of society, religious interpretations, ethnic conflict, and a...