Brown University
Brown University: The Plague
Comprehensive coverage of the Plague includes discussion on its origins, causes, effects, and the Plague as Literary Motif. Of particular interest are the contemporary perspectives from writers during the time of the Plague.
Bibliomania
Bibliomania: Samuel Pepys
This site from Bibliomania.com provides biographical information on Samuel Pepys, one of the most prominent politicians of his time. Includes several links, including a link to the full text of his diary.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: The Renaissance, 1300 1600
Find a selection of readings to enhance teaching humanism and the Italian Renaissance and follow up with some of the questions available through MIT.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control: Plague Information
Find out all about plagues on the website by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
OpenStax
Open Stax: Europe on the Brink of Change
From a chapter on "The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492," this section describes the European societies that engaged in conversion, conquest, and commerce and discusses the motives for and mechanisms of early European exploration.
BBC
Bbc History: British History: Middle Ages: Reign of Richard Ii, 1377 to 1399
Richard II of England reigned in a time of restive change brought on by Black Death. His personal view of kingship and his military decisions are highlighted as significant factors in his loss of the throne. The author offers the opinion...
Curated OER
Science Kids: Science Images: Life & Death Illusion
This black and white image is a very famous example of an optical illusion. Designed and drawn by C. Allan Gilbert, the name of the image is 'All is Vanity'. It represents both life and death where the meaning of existence is intertwined.
Other
America.gov: Archive: Edgar Allan Poe [Pdf]
An essay, formatted to be printed and displayed as a poster, offers an illustrated exploration of Edgar Allan Poe's life and writing. Accompanied by audio excerpts and transcripts of Poe's well-known works, "The Masque of the Red Death,"...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Book Pairings: "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak
Death narrates a poignant tale of collecting lives and stories through Nazi Germany while constantly circling back to Liesel, who survives because of the love she shares and her love of language. Selected (6) reading passages (grades...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Renaissance: Plague Begins
Describes the society of the Middle ages and the effect of the Plague on these societies of the Renaissance.
BBC
Bbc Radio 4: Voices of the Powerless: The Plague in England
This site explores the effect that the arrival of the plague had on the lives of common English men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries. Content includes an analysis of the plague's origin and spread, and the reactions of the...
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Medieval Sourcebook: The Decameron
Fordham University provides a translation of "The Decameron". This is a widely read personal account written at the time of the plague.
University of Virginia
University of Virginia: The Florentine Chronicle by Marchione Di Coppo Stefani
Provides an original text by Marchione di Coppo Stefani about the Bubonic Plague and its devastating effect on Florentine society.
PBS
Pbs a Science Odyssey: Bubonic Plague Hits San Francisco
This site details how Bubonic Plague is controlled, contained, and eliminated, and includes the results of the last time that Plague has hit America in numbers.
BBC
Bbc: The Story of Africa: Islam
This BBC series site charts the growth of Islam in Africa until the 1880s.
Then Again
Then Again: Web Chron: The Age of Reform 1300 1600.
This website provides a chronological timeline of theo-social experiments, renaissance, reformation and wars on religion from 1300-1600.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Missing Plague That Could Have Changed History
When European colonizers came to American shores, the plague they brought with them killed almost 90% of the indigenous population. But why was there no existing plague in the "New World" that affected Europeans? [12:08]
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Presidential Reconstruction
After the death of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson was responsible for implementing Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. Read about his views on African-Americans, and the leniency he offered Confederate leaders and soldiers....
South Carolina Educational Television
Etv: Kids Work! History of Medicine
A brief history of medicine told in five snapshots of time: ancient times, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the early modern period (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), and modern times.
BBC
Bbc: Paston Family Letters
The Paston letters are the first record of private correspondence to survive in Britain. Use these letters to take a peek inside a family that battles the plague, and fights for their rights to the Caister Castle in order to cement their...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Pre Colonization European Society
The Church, disease, and large urban centers dictated societal structure in European societies before the colonization of the New World. Read more about Europe during the Middle Ages.
Civil War Home
Home of the American Civil War: Robert Gould Shaw
A brief description of the life and death of Robert Shaw and his involvement with the black regiment, the 54th Massachusetts. From "Who Was Who In the Civil War" by Stewart Sifakis.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Charles Clinton Spaulding
Brief account of the life of Charles Spaulding, American business leader who built the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company into the nation's largest black-owned business by the time of his death, when it was worth about $40...
Curated OER
Web Gallery of Art: Night and Her Children, Sleep and Death
An image of "Night and Her Children, Sleep and Death", created by Asmus Jakob Carstens in 1794 (Black chalk on paper, 745 x 985 mm).