DISEASE THROUGH THE AGES For better or worse, disease has offered us entry to the world of microbes. The following environments offer a vivid record of the presence of Disease Through The Ages. Bubonic Plague: The Black Death (17th Century London scene) ...In the 14th century people in Britain and Europe began dying horrible deaths. Painful sores erupted on their bodies. The swellings, called buboes, burst and bled, turning the skin black. Within a week of infection, most victims were dead. Caused by bacteria and spread by rats, the Plague quickly killed three out of every four Europeans, about 56 million people.