It is the year 1347.  
I have heard about a group of people called the Mongols.  I learned that the Mongols are rough and extremely cruel, brutal people.  They come from a place that is north of China.  They will kill whoever it takes to conquer land.  I heard they also rape many women, which makes me very afraid of them.  I truly hope that they do not come to take over our manor. 

Some people were running into our manor, looking extremely shaken and worried.  Some of them were crying.  They informed the people in our manor about a strange disease that’s been killing many people in Europe.   They say people have sinned so much that the air has turned bad, and whoever breathes in the bad air gets infected.  I don't understand why this is happening.  Why must God punish us like this?  What have we done?  

Some people in our village have already died of this strange plague.  They get disgusting bubbles, which I believe are called buboes, on their neck and armpits that then turn black.  That is probably why they have started to call this disease the Black Death.  They usually die a violent death and sometimes cough and spit up blood.  My husband was sadly infected with the horrible disease.  He got the buboes and eventually died.  I didn’t exactly love him, because our marriage was arranged, but it made me go into a stage of shock, because someone close to me had just lost their life.  Peasants like me just keep dying.  Only about two people on our manor who have been infected have survived.  They have gone to the church, but the church refuses to care for them, which is outrageous.  But, there are people called flagellants that whip their backs to show repent for what they had done to God for Him to give us the black death.  Maybe I should do that do, because I'm not sure how else do deal with this.

I am absolutely terrified at this point.  It almost seems impossible that I won’t get infected and die a horrible death. On the other hand, the nobles have been hiding out in their castles, keeping the doors locked so no one can get in or get out.  They will do anything to protect themselves and no one else.  They have a higher change of surviving the plague than the peasants do.  Honestly, I can’t think about the future at all right now.  All that’s on my mind is death, death, and more death.  There are so many dead people around that I am starting to lose hope in my survival.  I have to carry flowers to smell to avoid the stench of rotting bodies that are being fed on by flies.  There are so many mass burials for people, but there are just too many dead people to bury.  This feels like the apocalypse.

Dear Journal,
King John was an awful king.  He did whatever he wanted just to benefit himself, no matter how much it cost everyone else.  The only reason he is king is because his brother, King Richard the Lionheart, died.  Thankfully the Magna Carta is now limiting what King John can do.  His monarchy is getting weaker because he has to consult the nobles before doing things.  The government now has more checks and balances, and there is more of an idea of parliament.  The king can no longer tax without consent from the nobles.  The king is under the law, and he has to obey the law also.  The king can’t just do whatever he wants.  Before, it was rex lex, the king was above the law.  Now, it is lex rex, the law is above the king.