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November 4, 2016

Death in the Late Medieval Period: The Black Plague

During the 1300’s, strong thirsts for power between countries, religious divisions in Europe, and competition for trade routes were common. Trade routes connected the Eastern Hemisphere with the trade of various goods and information, and controlling these trade routes proved to be rewarding. Unfortunately, these trades routes “also likely carried the deadly plague that killed as many as half of all Europeans within seven years, in what is known as the Bubonic Plague.”1

Beginning in 1348, Bubonic Plague infested merchant ships sailing from the Black Sea to Mediterranean ports, causing so much death that it was common for ships to enter European docks and harbors with at least the majority of the crew dead. Despite efforts to prevent ships from reaching land and spreading the disease, the Bubonic Plague made its way ashore. Unfortunately, people found out how contagious the Bubonic Plague was as it swept through Sicily, Italy, and into the rest of Europe. As a result of the virtual inability of people to stop the spread, many suffered and died.

The spread of the Black Plague in 1348
The spread of the Black Plague in 1348 | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

At the height of the Bubonic Plague, it had spread from China to London, devastating entire villages and bringing trade to a virtual standstill. It has been estimated that as many as 200 million people lost their lives as a result of the Bubonic Plague. In fact, it had a mortality rate that varied between regions.2 Although the Black Death was responsible for killing millions of people in Europe, it was a strong force in influencing the structure of power in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Marchione di Coppo Stephani, a chronicler who lived through the ravages of the plague in Florence during the summer of 1348 wrote,

At every church they dug deep pits down to the water level; and thus those who were poor who died during the night were bundled up quickly and thrown into the pit; they then took some earth and shoveled it down on top of them; and later others were placed on top of them and then another layer of earth, just as one makes lasagna with layers of pasta and cheese.3 

It not only underlines the crisis for a major European city, generated by the death of tens of thousands of people, but also demonstrates how, even in recording such a profound crisis, a chronicler might evoke a homely, if provocative, image of lasagna.4 People believed that the world was coming to an end. Who was to blame? Other religions, or was it God punishing people for their sins?

As a result of much death and destruction on a scale that people have never seen before, people began wondering if God had been punishing them all along. There was no safe haven for people, even in isolated Russia, for the Black Plague did not hesitate to take any lives—every one was a target.

In the same year [1346], God’s punishment struck the people in the eastern lands, in the town Ornach [on the estuary of the River Don], and in Khastorokan, and in Sarai, and in Bezdezh [at an arm of the River Volga], and in other towns in those lands; the mortality was great among the Bessermens, and among the Tartars, and among the Armenians and the Abkhazians, and among the Jews, and among the European foreigners, and among the Circassians, and among all who lived there, so that they could not bury them [sic]. 5

In fact, religious hatred and persecution was very inhumane and common. With the strong belief that other groups were responsible for the Plague, the methods involved in persecuting other religious groups were cruel. Some common examples were: burning, stoning, decapitation, and exile.

The Black Death was devastating. It had killed millions of people across Europe and Asia. Anarchy, fear, and insecurities dominated the landscape in Europe during the 1300’s.[ 5. Sharon N. DeWitte, “Age Patterns of Mortality During the Black Death in London, A.D. 1349–1350,” Journal of Archaeological Science 37, no. 12 (December 1, 2010): 3394-3400,  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3094018/ (accessed October 12, 2016).]

  1.  Andrew Lawler, “How Europe Exported the Black Death,” Science 352, no. 6285 (April 29, 2016): 501–2.
  2. Encyclopedia Britannica, February 2015, s.v. “Black Death.”
  3. Marchione Di Coppo Stefani, “The Florentine Chronicle,” 1903-1913, accessed, October 18, 2016.  http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/osheim/marchione.html.
  4.  John Henderson, “Debating Death and Disease,” History Today 64, no. 4 (April 2014): 58–59.
  5.  Celestine Bohlen, “Diphtheria Epidemic Sweeps Russia,” The New York Times, January 29, 1993, sec. World, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/29/world/diphtheria-epidemic-sweeps-russia.html.

Tags from the story

Black Death

Bubonic Plague

Recent Comments

Belia Camarena

I have always found the bubonic plague fascinating, and it blows my mind how many casualties are attributed to this disease. Prior to reading this article, I thought the bubonic plague originated in Europe; I had no idea that it arrived through merchant ships first to Italy and then to the rest of Europe. I found the account of the church graveyards especially horrifying to read because no human should ever be treated in this manner.

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09/02/2018

4:29 pm

Peter Coons

You’ve got to appreciate that off color comment about the mounds of corpses and dirt being similar to that of a nice, hot plate of lasagna. Considering the mass death tole and destruction the plague cast upon Europe, this comment strikes me as the sort of thing a man who has seen so much death that to either make a point or offer a little light hearted humor to a grim time would say. Perhaps even more interesting than that analogy, is the though process of the plague doctors, who though that herbs and spices in a bird mask would prevent them from catching it. Truly, the plague was a reset button on society that we can argue over endlessly on its necessity or chance occurrence.

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11/02/2018

4:29 pm

Johnanthony Hernandez

The Bubonic Plague has been one of the epidemics that has always peaked my interest. The thought that a plague wiped out almost half of Europe’s population within a few years is something that both interests and scares me. We seem to think that the plague died out when the epidemic came to an end but forget that there have been small outbreaks since, just not on as large of a scale as it did in Europe. We know now that it was because of the trade routes transporting infested rats but for them to think it was a punishment from God, great article.

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25/02/2018

4:29 pm

Cheyanne Redman

I learned briefly about this is high school and remember that the way they disposed and cared for these people was absolutely terrible. Even though I knew that the plague moved fast, I didn’t realize that it spread so quickly across the country. I feel this article did a wonderful job with explaining how religion was societies main focal point, they felt that they were being punished from God and didn’t devote much science into the prevention and cause of this plague. It is good to see things have switched to more of the scientific perspective.

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25/02/2018

4:29 pm

Natalia Flores

This article was very brief, but still very disturbing. The whole metaphor of making lasagna and burying large amounts of bodies makes my stomach churn. It’s mind blowing that some 20 million died from the Bubonic plague alone. They did say Europe was dirty and that you could smell London miles away, but it’s scary that they thought it was God punishing them. It’s awful all around.

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04/03/2018

4:29 pm

Auroara-Juhl Nikkels

While your article was brief, it still had a lot of information about the Black Death and the religious components to this disaster. It was crazy to learn about during high school, that twenty million people died from the Black Death. I always think if that music video about this disease that is about rats that many of my history teachers made me watch. The quotes you added to your article really helped understand the effect the Black Death had on all people and communities.

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06/03/2018

4:29 pm

Natalie Childs

While brief, I think that it was really good. The plague is such a crazy and dark part of history, with so much death and destruction. I think that the quotes that were chosen really helped drive home how horrible a time this was. While not mentioned, the craziest part of the entire thing is what made the plague so devastating. Some years, if not really soon before the outbreak, the church deemed cats to be vessels for the devil, and cats were killed in droves. With their natural predator taken out, rat populations were able to flourish and sped along the deaths of the plague.

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08/03/2018

4:29 pm

Saira Castellanos

I feel like this article did not give enough information for me to know more about the plague. I thought they were going to give information on how it spread and things people would do to spread it more and things like that. I didnt really like this article, i dont feel like i leanred much from this one. There isnt many like this on this website. It is crazy how the people thought it was God punishing the people, but other than that it was a slow read for me.

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23/03/2018

4:29 pm

Constancia Tijerina

Although this article seemed to be very brief I believe it also did not give as much information that I was hoped to be informed of. This article seems very textbook, however the research does seems to match exactly what the black plague was and how the effect of it was horrendous and graphic. I would love to see another article that would go more in depth of how the people to an effort to get away from this disaster. Overall, this article was a good read to reflect back on some history.

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25/03/2018

4:29 pm

Anna Guaderrama

It’s interesting to read this article because it went about the plague from a different perspective which I loved. However, I felt it lacked luster and didn’t really give life to the subject. It just overall fell flat and the information it presented felt like a slow read to me. It’s devastating to read about how many people died from this tragic event and it’s even crazier to read about what some people thought were the causes at the time.

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08/04/2018

4:29 pm

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