The Horror of The Black Plague In Europe in 1347 The population of Europe took a devastating turn during the fall of 1347. A disease had broken out, and was carried on the backs of rats who were infected by the fleas carrying the disease, which eventually was passed on to man, causing the enlargement of the lymph nodes, and eventually death, usually within three to four days. The blackish coloring of the swelling gives the disease its name: the Black Death or Plague. The first cases of the Black Plague were being reported, and the population was begining to fall. Changes in the size of civilization led