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The Black Death 1348
Coming out of the East, the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history. By the time the epidemic played itself out three years later, anywhere between 25% and 50% of Europe's population had fallen victim to the pestilence.
The plague presented itself in three interrelated forms. The bubonic variant (the most common) derives its name from the swellings or buboes that appeared on a victim's neck, armpits or groin. These tumors could range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple. Although some survived the painful ordeal, the manifestation of these lesions usually signaled the victim had a life expectancy of up to a week. Infected fleas that attached themselves to rats and then to humans spread this bubonic type of the plague. A second variation - pneumatic plague - attacked the respiratory system and was spread by merely breathing the exhaled air of a victim. It was much more virulent than its bubonic cousin - life expectancy was measured in one or two days. Finally, the septicemic version of the disease attacked the blood system.
Having no defense and no understanding of the cause of the pestilence, the men, women and children caught in its onslaught were bewildered, panicked, and finally devastated.
The Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio lived through the plague as it ravaged the city of Florence in 1348. The experience inspired him to write The Decameron, a story of seven men and three women who escape the disease by fleeing to a villa outside the city. In his introduction to the fictional portion of his book, Boccaccio gives a graphic description of the effects of the epidemic on his city.
Weapons
Knight's armor went through many changes. In the 12th century, the knights used an armor called mail. Mail was very little chains linked together to make one big suit of armor. These suits took on average about five years to make. These suits also took a lot of money to make. When all this work was done it weighed about twenty to thirty pounds and that was only the chest, arms, and back. When they were in battle the mall guarded arrows but not good strong blows with a mace. The armorers took that in consideration and made plate armor. But they only put plate armor in the sensitive parts that could not take as many hard blows.
Those suits lasted until the 15th century and then they started to make full body suites out of plate armor. Helmets varied some covered the face and some did not. Some had decorations on them such as eagles beaks. Horses had to wear armor too. They wore it around their neck and head. Knights had to wear padded doublet and tied with satin and strips around their knees to keep it from rubbing. It took a squire an hour to put on a suit of armor.
A knight had to follow special laws and this was called chivalry. These laws were difficult to follow because there was a lot of them. they had to be well behaved near women. A knight had to keep his word no matter what the case. Even in battle, they had rules to follow. One was if they got captured, they could not try to escape. Another rule they had to follow is that they had to be generous to his defeated enemies. That means they could not leave the other knight to die in the field. As you can see, it was very hard to be a knight because of the laws and the heavy armor.
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Actual footage from the Middle Ages