What is What were the symptoms of the Black Death??

The Black Death — GCSE History Revision

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The basics

Setting the Scene

📖 Setting the Scene

It arrived in 1348, carried by fleas on rats in ships from Asia. Within two years, the Black Death killed between 30-50% of England's population, perhaps 2 million people. Victims developed black swellings (buboes) in armpits and groin, vomited blood, and usually died within days. Nobody understood why. People carried herbs and posies, believing this would protect them from bad air. Some towns lost 80% of their population. Entire villages disappeared. Medieval medicine had no answer, because it didn't understand the cause.

▶ The Black Death, OverSimplified (10 mins)

What were the symptoms of the Black Death?: Buboes (swellings in armpits/groin), black blotches on skin, fever, vomiting blood, most victims died within days

Key terms

History glossary

What were the symptoms of the Black Death?: Buboes (swellings in armpits/groin), black blotches on skin, fever, vomiting blood, most victims died within days

Exam tip

Earn the mark scheme marks

📝 Exam Technique: The Black Death as a Turning Point?

For significance questions : Did the Black Death change medicine? The answer is complex:

YES (short-term changes): Some doctors started questioning Galen (his cures didn't work); some began recording symptoms more carefully

NO (continuity): Same theories (miasma, humours, God) used to explain later plagues; Church still controlled medical education

SOCIAL change: Labour shortages → peasants demanded higher wages → contributed to Peasants' Revolt 1381

Conclusion: Black Death exposed the failure of medieval medicine but didn't immediately change it: that took the Renaissance

Paper 2 focus: "Explain the significance of the Black Death for the development of medicine" (8 marks), show both the short-term impact AND why real change was delayed until the Renaissance

🏫 Edexcel 1HI0/11, Medicine in Britain (Paper 1, Option 11): This topic is tested on Paper 1 alongside the Historic Environment (Western Front). Edexcel question types differ from AQA:

Question 3, similarity or difference over time: Compare two periods and support each point with specific evidence. "Describe two features of..." is a Section A (Western Front historic environment) question, not a thematic study question.
"Explain why..." (12 marks): Explain two or three reasons with specific evidence. Level 3 (7 to 9 marks) requires explained reasons; Level 4 (10 to 12 marks) requires explanation showing how factors connect or reinforce each other.
"How far do you agree that..." (16 marks + 4 SPaG): Extended writing. Two sides: evidence FOR the statement, evidence AGAINST. Reach a supported judgement. Level 4 (13 to 16 marks) requires a consistently argued judgement. SPaG marks reward accurate spelling of key historical terms.

Now try it yourself

Quiz · Question 1 of 8

In which year did the Black Death first arrive in England?

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Role of the Church