Middle+Ages+Artifacts


 * THE BLACK DEATH || FREDERICK I || CROSSBOW ||
 * [[image:black_death.jpg width="377" height="401"]] || [[image:frederick_1.jpg width="301" height="427"]] || [[image:cross_bow.jpg width="367" height="430"]] ||
 * This is a image of a person that has the Bubonic plague also called the Black Death. This killed almost a third of the population. Black Death is caused by the Yersin bacillus, a bacteria that is common in the stomach of certain fleas. The disease was carried by rats. This happened because there is usually a balance between bacillus, fleas, and rats that is generall harmless but the bacillus multiplies there will be problems. When the fleas digestive tract gets blocked it causes them to regurgitate the bacillus into the blood stream its attached to. They believed it first appeared in Europe in 767 A.D., but it probably originated in Asia. There was a series of droughts. the animals migrated because of the drought but they carried the disease with them spreading it to the Black Sea. Then it came in contact with Italian traders. The black death spread to Syria, Palestine. and Mesopotamia. Black boils appear on the body. Italy lost between 30% and 60% of its population. People accused the Jews for the outbreak of the disease and many innocent people were killed. The surviving people wanted to get increase their salaries. The price for goods and service increased,too. The surviving peasants were unhappy so for the lords to keep workers they lower rents. || A gilded bronze reliquary made in Aachen around 1155-1171 Frederick known as Barbarossa"red beard" around this time a war was going on between the Holy Emperor and the Germans. Frederick I was the son of the duke of Swabia and Judith, the daughter of the Welf duke of Bavaria. He was born in Wailbilingen,Germany around 1123. He was elected on March 4, 1152 as a German king in Frankfurt. 5 days later he was crowned in Aachen. Frederick had power struggle with the Catholic Church. He didn't accept the papacy's de facto authority over the monarchs of Europe. Frederick got the pope to sign a treaty of alliance at Constance in 1153 after he denied to acknowledge the treaties between his predecessor and the Byzantines against the Norman kingdom in Sicily. Germany was happy with the provided protection. Frederick moved his armies against the Lombards in northern Italy. Pope Adrian IV crowned his the Holy Roman emperor in Rome on June 18, 1155. He struggled to increase the power of temporal officials but the church had solidified its authority after the divisive Investiture Controversy. He struggled with the power against the Vatican. The taxes were collected in Italy from their allegiances. Frederick vowed to recapture the Holy Land for the pope. this was called the Third Crusade but he never made it to Jerusalem. Frederick drowned on June 10, 1190.  || The crossbow existed in ancient Greece but even earlier than that was in Hans dynasty in China. The crossbow was a horizontally held bow that was made of wood with a notch for an arrow. The crossbow was used during the Crusades. It was easy to use and didn't require the years of practice. It was hard to make though. The crossbow was first made of wood and eventually steel. When made of steel it increased its power and allowed even armor to be rendered useless at close range. In 1139 A.D., the crossbows were banned with Christians by the catholic church. It was replaced by the use of gun power weapons during the 14Th and 15Th centuries .  ||