In October 1347, the Black Death finally made its way to Europe. 12 The Genoese merchant ships arrived at the Sicilian port of Messina, when the locals gathered at the docks, they were very surprised to see that most of the sailors were dead or seriously ill (Staff). Sailors from the 12 abandoned ships had large black boils on their bodies that released blood and pus. This gave the disease its name; the black death. During the remainder of the century, the Black Death would return several times, killing an estimated 20 million Europeans (Snell). The Black Death unleashes a deadly fury on Europe. Nearly a third of the European population perished. The Black Death comes in three forms: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic. The most common bubonic form is contracted when a person is bitten by an infected flea that was on rats. Once infected, you will start showing signs within a few hours to seven days. In Giovann Boccaccio, Decameron, he describes the symptoms of the Black Death: In both men and women, it first manifests itself by the appearance of certain tumors in the groin or armpits, some of which grow as large as an apple common, others like an apple. egg... From the two parts of the body mentioned, this deadly gavocciolo soon began to spread and spread in all directions indifferently; after which the form of the disease began to change, black or livid spots appearing in many cases on the arm, thigh, or elsewhere, sometimes few and large, sometimes tiny and numerous. As the gavocciolo had been and still was an infallible sign of approaching death, so too were these stains on whomever they showed themselves. (Boccaccio 3)The second form, pneumonic plague, attacked the respiratory system ("...... middle of paper ......ecameron." Trans. Array1351. 3. Web. April 14, 2014. Staff from the Mayo Clinic. “Diseases and Conditions: Plague.” Mayo Clinic Np, March 26, 2013. Web April 14, 2014. “The Black Death and the Revival.” “The Black Death”. About.com Education > Medieval History.com. April 14, 2014. Staff, History.com, April 14, 2014. of the Web Renaissance. 2014. .