The Black Death was a pandemic of plague that swept through Europe during the years of 1346-1353 (Benedictow). The plague is a disease that is caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis. This bacteria commonly infects rats and other rodents and is most often transmitted to humans by fleas that feed on the infected rats and then feed on humans (CDC). Rats are common, unwanted companions in large urban areas and more importantly, on ships. There are conflicting theories on where the plague that caused the Black Death pandemic originated from, but most agree on the location where the plague first started its journey to Europe. In 1346 a plague infected army of Mongols laid siege to the Crimean trade city of Kaffa, during the siege the plague was transmitted to the people in the city (Benedictow). As the city inhabitants and trade ships began to leave Kaffa they unknowingly carried along with …show more content…
It could be argued that trade ships were a large contributing factor to the early spread of the Black Death. Once the port cities were infected the plague followed land based trade routes from these port cities into the interior cities. The Black Death marched through Europe, devastating the population. It spread throughout all of Europe and England, finally reaching Russia in 1353. The Black Death took 7 years to spread throughout Europe and Russia. In those 7 years it is estimated that 60% of Europe’s entire population perished (Benedictow). The Black Death is an example of how the increasing trade among European and Middle Eastern countries helped spread a contagious disease that otherwise may have stayed localized and affected a much smaller population base. Disease transmission was not understood very well at this time which only helped the spread of the plague. Efforts to stop the disease had little to no effect due to this lack of knowledge of controlling