For the final paper of this course, you will write a 1250-word essay that explores the following question:
What was the historical significance of the Black Death?
The essay should offer a clear thesis grounded in historical evidence, and address the following questions
What were the causes of the Black Death pandemic and the trajectories of its extensive spread?
** In answering this question, you will examine the reasoning articulated by both people of the period AND the historians of our age. That means the use of both secondary and primary sources
How did people experience, cope with, and confront the pandemic?
In answering this question, you might want to rely on a primary source that provides testimony to people’s living experiences.
What were the consequences of the Black Death?
In answering this question, you should think about the social, political, economic, and cultural effects of the pandemic.
The material you will use in the assignment:
At least one primary source from the following list (selection available on Canvas under Modules >> “Final Paper”)
Ahmad al Maqrizi, Excerpts from The Plague in Egypt
Ibn Khaldun, Excerpts from the Muqaddimah
Giovanni Boccaccio, Excerpts from Decameron
Excerpts from The Report of the Paris Medical Faculty
Three secondary sources:
Monica H. Green, “The Four Black Deaths,” The American Historical Review Vol 125, Issue 5 (2020):1601-1631 (already analyzed for the secondary source analysis #4)
Your secondary source of choice (already analyzed for the annotated bibliography assignment)
Your secondary source of choice (already analyzed for the annotated bibliography assignment)
