This is a flea that started the black plague
 

This is a rat that carried the flea

Black Death 

There is a disease (di-Zees) that happened in the Middle Ages called the Black Death. It was caused by fleas from rats but the people thought it was ether a black cloud or God is punishing them for something they did in their life time.  They thought that it was the dogs and cats but it was the rats that carried the fleas. 

The Black Plague was very deadly and contagious. People in the Middle Ages didn't know that if you were near a person with the disease they would get it so person after person would die. Sadly the doctors couldn't do anything about it. The  person with the disease would have black and blue spots. The disease killed 30 percent of Europe. The plague started in the middle 1300's.