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During the Middle Ages, there were neither restaurants nor hotels open to the public so people
often were offered food and shelter from nuns and monks. Hostels were available for travelers to stop for the night.
In addition, convents and monasteries offered the only facilities to treat the sick and injured.
During the Middle
Ages books were copied by hand because the printing press had not been invented.
The Crusades
The
Crusades were a series of wars fought by European Christians to take back the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Muslims
believed that the Holy Land was theirs and the Christians had no right to it.
Melons, apricots, lemons, oranges,
sugar, and rice were among the new foods the Crusaders came across in the East.
Crusaders started to use spices
such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg in their food.
The Crusaders' ships returned filled with foods
and spices. In addition, they brought back Persian rugs, Chinese silks, and Damascus steel. After that, the European
demand for these products increased greatly.
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The
Plague spread from Europe to Africa and Asia.
In 1348 it hit Egypt and killed thousands in Cairo alone.
In 1349 the Plague struck east of the Mediterranean Sea, all the way to the Persian Gulf resulting in thousands of
people in Baghdad dying.
People called the Plague the most terrible of terrors because no one knew what caused
the disease. One third of the population of Western Europe was wiped out.
The children's rhyme "Ring
Around the Rosie" came from the plague years.
The "ring" is the rash around the eyes that
develops with the illness.
The "posies" were flowers people carried in the hope of warding off the plague.
The "all fall down" refers to people dying from the Plague.
Today the bubonic plague can be cured
with antibiotics. There are vaccines against the bubonic plague but they don't always work.
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Suger created the Gothic style for buildings.
14th Century->Prague
Saint Vitus Cathedral
Page song-Medieval Drum Dance
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