The terrible sickness that killed a third of Europe — and changed the world.
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These are the new words for the Black Death. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = C (a plague) · 2 = F (a disease) · 3 = D (a rat) · 4 = A (to spread)
5 = H (to blame) · 6 = B (a grave) · 7 = E (to flee) · 8 = G (a cure)
Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one.
The story began far from Europe, in the dry grasslands of Central Asia. There, a tiny living thing — a kind of bacteria — lived in the blood of wild animals and in the small fleas that lived on them. A flea is a very small insect that bites animals and people. On its own, the sickness could not travel fast.
But in the 1300s, the world was already connected. Long roads carried silk, spices and food from Asia to Europe. These same roads also carried rats, and the rats carried fleas, and the fleas carried the disease.
In 1347, ships from Italy sailed home from the Black Sea. The sickness travelled with them, hidden in the rats on the ships. Sailors who looked healthy went home, but in a few days they were dead. The disease spread very fast, from the ports into the towns. People died of an illness that no one understood, and no cure helped.
1. How did the sickness travel from Asia to Europe?
2. What did the rats and fleas do?
1. It travelled west along the trade roads from Asia to Europe, and then came to Italy on ships from the Black Sea in 1347.
2. The disease lived in the fleas, the fleas lived on the rats, and the rats travelled with people and on the ships — so trade carried the sickness everywhere.
The disease worked fast. First, people felt very tired and ill with a fever. Then big, dark, painful swellings grew on the neck and under the arms. Many people who suffered from these swellings were dead in three or four days.
So many people died, so fast, that there was no time to bury them one by one. Dead bodies lay in the streets. In many towns, people dug one big grave and put many bodies in it together. Across Europe, about one person in three died. Whole villages became empty. People who had money fled to the countryside. People who could not, stayed and prayed.
People were very afraid of the sickness, and they wanted to know why it came. Some blamed the stars. Some blamed bad air. Sadly, many blamed other people. In some places, Jewish communities were blamed for the disease and attacked, with no good reason — only fear. Fear led to panic, and panic led to cruelty.
1. What happened to the body when a person got the disease?
2. When people were afraid, who did some of them blame?
1. First a fever, then big dark painful swellings on the neck and under the arms. Many people died in three or four days.
2. Some blamed the stars or bad air, but many blamed other people. In some places, Jewish communities were wrongly blamed and attacked.
No one in the 1300s knew about bacteria or fleas. But some towns slowly learned one thing: if you keep sick people away from healthy people, fewer people die. The port of Ragusa — today the city of Dubrovnik, in Croatia — made a new rule. Ships and travellers had to wait alone, away from the town, before they could come in.
They had to wait forty days. In the Italian language, "forty" is quaranta. This is where we get the English word quarantine. It is one of the oldest health rules we still use today, and it comes from the time of the Black Death.
The worst wave ended around 1351, but the disease came back again and again for years. The world after it was not the same. So many workers had died that the ones who lived could ask for more money. The old way of life, where poor farmers worked for rich lords, began to break. People trusted the Church less, because it could not stop the sickness. Out of this terrible time came big changes — in work, in money, and in how ordinary people saw their lives.
1. Where does the word "quarantine" come from? What is special about the number forty?
2. Name two ways the world changed because so many people died.
1. The port of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik) made ships and travellers wait alone for forty days. "Forty" in Italian is quaranta, which gives us the word "quarantine."
2. Any two of: workers who lived could ask for more money; the old farmer-and-lord way of life began to break; people trusted the Church less; there were big changes in work, money and society.
Here are five moments, mixed up. Put them in the right order — then reveal to check.
A. The port of Ragusa makes ships wait alone for forty days.
B. The disease lives quietly in animals and fleas in Central Asia.
C. Ships carry the sickness to Italy in 1347.
D. Workers who lived become few, and ask for more money.
E. Afraid people blame others, and some communities are attacked.
Order: B → C → E → A → D.
In English, some verbs and adjectives always take a small word after them — a preposition like of, from, with, at. You cannot guess these. You learn them together, as one phrase. This story uses a lot of them.
Write the small word (of, from, with, at) that goes with each verb or adjective.
1. Millions of people died the plague.
2. The people were very afraid the sickness.
3. Many sailors were ill a fever.
4. The streets were full dead bodies.
5. People who suffered the swellings often died.
1. of — we say die of an illness.
2. of — we say afraid of something.
3. with — we say ill with an illness.
4. of — we say full of something.
5. from — we say suffer from an illness.
Write the right small word in each gap. Then read it out loud.
In 1347, people were afraid the new disease. Many were ill a fever, and the towns were full sick people. The doctors were not good stopping it, and millions died the plague.
of (afraid of) · with (ill with) · of (full of) · at (good at) · of (died of)
Each small word belongs to its verb or adjective. Learn them together, as one phrase.
Keep these pairs ready — you will use them in the Speak tab.
There is a real podcast about the Black Death. It is for native speakers, so it is fast and quite difficult — that is normal! You do not need to understand every word.
From the Noiser podcast network. About 50 minutes. It plays on the Noiser site, or search "Short History Of The Black Death" on Spotify.
Play on Noiser →Prefer Spotify? Open the show and find the Black Death episode.
Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of the Black Death in your own words. Use these steps to help you: the sickness in the animals and fleas of Asia → the trade roads and the ships of 1347 → the fear, the swellings and the graves → people blame others → the forty-day wait at Ragusa → the new world after.
Try to use the pairs (died of, suffered from, afraid of, full of, ill with) and some of the key words (plague, disease, rat, spread, blame, grave, flee, cure).
When the plague came, afraid people blamed other people. Do you think people still do this today? Think of an example you know — from a recent sickness, from the news, or from your country's history.
Tell a story of your own. It can be about a sickness, a hard time, or a big change. Use the pairs to say what happened — died of, suffered from, afraid of, ill with, full of.
Not sure what to talk about? Choose one: