Oasis Presents: The Truth About the Black Death

The Black Death has been called the greatest tragedy in human history.  Approximately half of the population of Western Europe died in less than two years as a result of the Black Death, and for nearly 800 years since, people have been trying to figure out who to blame:  God, who was punishing people for their sins; the stars, for being in an evil conjunction; bad people, for poisoning wells, etc.  Conventional wisdom has given up on these theories and moved on to blaming rats, for carrying the bubonic plague, and finally onto those rats' fleas, for transmitting the plague from rats to people.  Surprisingly enough, it's possible that this theory, too, is wrong.  The true story of the Black Death is a tale full of surprises, even today.