In the 14th century (the 1300's), a horrible disease struck Asia, Africa, and Europe. The people called this illness the
Black Death. The disease started in Europe in the 1340's.
Infected people first broke out with red ring shaped marks with dark center spots on their arms and necks. They would
run high fevers. They became even more ill, and then they died.
In just two years, 25 million people died of the plague. In ten years, the plague had killed over 1/3 of Europe's
population. Can you imagine what the people must have felt?