The Black Death started in 1347 and ended in 1352. By 1352, 25,000,000 people died. One third of the population in Europe was killed. Approximately 25 percent of the population in Europe died during the fourteenth century. Over one hundred animals can get this disease. Infection occurs when you are bitten by a flea. Fleas bit rats who then carried the disease. Fleas also bit humans and ate their blood and humans then became infected. Men and women gave all that had from the Church, hoping that God would protect them from the illness. The Black Death caused red spots which turned black, and this is where the name "Black Death" came from. The disease caused extreme pain, black swelling about the size of an egg, and then death within a few days. A famous Italian poet, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), once stated,"ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors in paradise."

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