Symptoms of the Bubonic Plague: A Detailed Summary

Symptoms of the bubonic plague included influenza-like symptoms, including: sudden fever, chills, and headaches. However, these symptoms were generally followed by painful, swollen lymph nodesSmall glands in the body that swell painfully when attacked by bubonic plague bacteria. in the groin, armpit, or neck. Other symptoms could include fatigue, muscle aches, and sometimes vomiting or blackened skin.

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swelling = warning sign★ lymph nodesappeared within dayskey term!

Buboes

(noun)

Buboes are painful, swollen lymph nodes that appeared in the armpits, groin, or neck of people infected with bubonic plague. They were one of the most visible signs that a person had caught the Black Death.

in a sentence: Doctors in 1348 recognized buboes as a sign that a patient was unlikely to survive.

Source: Wellcome Collection, London© factsthatcrunch.comMore Black Death Facts →

What Was the Black Death?

The Black Death is one of the most important events in Western history and is the most famous pandemicAn infectious disease that spreads across a very wide area, including the entire planet, in all of history.  A <span class="hc-term" tabindex="0">pandemic<span class="hc-term__pop">An infectious disease that spreads across a very wide area, including the entire planet. in history. A pandemic is the term used to describe the spread of an infectious disease over a wide area including the entire planet.  The Black Death occurred during the 14th century and ravagedCaused severe and widespread destruction or damage to a population or area. human populations throughout Asia and Europe as it spread along trade routes and through trading ports.  Throughout history it has also been referred to as the ‘Great Mortality’ and ‘Great Pestilence’.

The Black Death is the term that historians use to describe the spread of the bubonic plague.  It is believed that the plague first began in Central Asia and spread to Europe through vast trade routes such as the Silk Road.  Historians studying the spread of the plague discovered that the disease was spread by fleas that are commonly found on rodents such as rats and mice.

The lack of medical understanding during the time is evidenced by the remedies or cures that people believed would work.  For instance, some believed that the plague was spread by “bad air” and thought that they could cleanse the air with the burning of incenseA substance burned to produce scented smoke, which medieval people wrongly believed could cleanse bad air and stop plague..  In later outbreaks of the plague, in the 1600s, this belief led to some doctors wearing strange outfits with masks that looked like the beak of a bird; the doctors of the 1340s did not yet have this costume.  Believing that the plague was spread through the air, the doctors would fill the nose area of the mask with incense in order to overpower the “bad air”.  However, it also served to mask the smell of death, which was a common reality due to the large number of dead.

Symptoms of the Bubonic Plague

In reality, the bubonic plague was spread when infected fleas from rodents bit human beings and the disease entered their bodies.  As stated earlier, the plague had several main symptoms.  The primary symptom was the black lumps that grew in the infected person’s armpits and groin.  This was caused when the bacteria of the disease inflamed lymph nodes in the body.  The lumps would become large and after a period of time would often ooze pus and blood.  Another common symptom of the plague was gangreneWhen disease kills body tissue, causing fingers or toes to effectively die and rot. fingers and toes.  This meant that the disease killed the area around the fingers and toes and effectively caused them to die.  As the disease took hold, several other symptoms were common including: fever, cramps, seizuresSudden, uncontrolled bursts of electrical activity in the brain that cause shaking or convulsions., vomiting, extreme pain and difficulty breathing.  Often, those that were infected died soon after in just a matter of days.

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What were the main symptoms of bubonic plague that people in medieval Europe experienced?

Swollen Lymph NodesSwollen Lymph NodesSwellings called buboes grew in the armpit, groin, or neck. They could reach the size of an apple and were painful to the touch.Fever and ChillsFever and ChillsInfected people developed high fevers quickly, often within one to three days of exposure. The body shook with chills as it tried to fight the infection.Dark Skin PatchesDark Skin PatchesBleeding under the skin caused dark purple or black patches to appear on the body. These patches gave the disease its common name, the Black Death.Vomiting BloodVomiting BloodIn severe cases the infection spread to the lungs and blood, causing people to cough or vomit blood. This stage was almost always fatal within a day or two.

Source: Wellcome Collection, London© factsthatcrunch.comMore Black Death Facts →

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MLA: Beck, Elias. “Symptoms of the Bubonic Plague: A Detailed Summary.” HistoryCrunch, 15 September 2026, https://historycrunch.com/symptoms-of-the-bubonic-plague/.