When most people think of the Black Death, the persecution of the Jews is not the first thing that comes to mind. John Aberth, the author of The Black Death describes this unusual and unknown fact when he says that "scapegoating minority groups seems to be a common vocation in times of crisis, and medieval Christian society during the Black Death did not no exception” (Aberth 117). . In saying this, Aberth compares the persecution of the Jewish population during the Black Death to other judgments that have been passed on minority groups throughout history. This pattern is very common during tragedies such as the plague, because it is human nature, especially during this time, to place blame on someone or something. But why exactly did the responsibility for the Black Death fall on the shoulders of the European Jewish people? Focusing on the horrific treatment of the Jewish people during the plague, I will show that Christians used the plague to lessen their debt to the Jews, including murdering Jews throughout Europe. The Black Death, also known as the Great Death and Bubonic Plague occurred in the years 1347-1350. Although it didn't last very long, the plague is said to have killed more than 1.5 million people during its short period of activity throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death was a very horrible and horrible disease that caused fever, headache, chills, weakness and inflammation of the lymph nodes, causing the worrying appearance of buboes on the neck, groin and armpits . Petrarch, an Italian scholar, described his feelings toward the plague when he wrote, “O happy posterity, who will not know such abysmal misfortune and who will regard our testimony as a fable” (qtd. in Nohl 17). Here, P...... middle of paper ....... In the aftermath of the plague; The Black Death and the world it created. New York: The Free Press, 2001. Print. Cohn Jr, Samuel K. The Black Death and the Burning of the Jews. Past and present. August 2007. Volume 196, number 1. Print.Horrox, Rosemary. The Black Death. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994. Print. Nohl, Johannes. The Black Death: A Chronicle of the Plague. Yardley: Westholme, 2006. Print.Pedro IV, King of Aragon. “Response to Tárrega’s Jewish program. December 23, 1349". The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350: A Brief History with Documents. Ed John Aberth. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 142-143. Print. Stow, Kenneth. Papal and Royal Attitudes with regard to Jewish loans in the 13th century. Merriam Webster, Vol. 6. 1981. pp.161-184 “Money lending”. April 13, 2014.