The Great Morality An Intimate History of the Black Death The Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly. I have wanted to read a book on the plague for many years. This one was in the local library and turned out to be a fascinating study. Broken down into several areas: the virus and science there of and a systematic look at the spread of the virus by country. It gives political and economic insights into the late middle ages and how societies react when all is lost.
General Notes:
1300s The Black Death originated in Inner Asia
1345 8-12 months Crimea --> China overland
1347 Europe (Sicily, Genoa, Florence, Venice...)
1348 ESP, FRA, Balkans
1348 BRT, IRL
1348 Austria, GRM
1349/50 Scotland, Scandinavia, Poland, Portugal
Viewed as punishment by God
Outbursts of anti-Semitism during plague
Decades Prior to Plague -
Overpopulation - 90% of population were rural in the mid-1300s
War between feudal states - increased use of infantry
a. Chevauchee - raiding parties widely used in European countryside killing civilians
Economic Stagnation - Between 1250 -1270 the medieval "boom" comes to an end. The Global Economy nears collapse.
Other smaller epidemics - Small Pox and Measles in late period of parts of the Roman Empire
Decline and waste disposal/sanitation issues in cities, towns and farms
Famine: 1315 - 1322 - 10% - 15% population perished prior to the plague
Climatic instability: rains made vegetation more abundant
Three Major Plague Outbreaks-
I. 6th century (Byzantium Emperor Justinian) plague outbreak
II. 1330s - Caffa (city state) on the Black Sea/Genoese colony - the dissemination of the plague starts here then is transferred to Sicily [Europe] via trade route/shipping
III. 1890s - plague outbreak India, China
Reasons for Plague Outbreak -
I. Genetic change in plague bacilli to become more virulent
II. Climatic Changes - The 14th century wind patterns changed in Eurasia altering the climate of the continent. Europe becomes wetter and Asia becomes dryer. This increased rainfall caused increased tree growth, which in turn increased food supply for the rats and than the number of rats also increased.
III. Rat Population - surge in rat population every 10-12 years
IV. Prior to that, Global Warming, (Yes, I said that!) increasing world temperatures by 1'C
a. Big Opium - Ice Age 1300 BC
b. Little Opium - Warming - 700 - 800 AD --> Crop yields increase & population increases
c. Little Ice Age -1300 AD
V. Political - Rise of Mongol Empire and the Global Economy starts picking up - rediscovery of Eurasian trade routes in Europe.
VI. Communication Routes - parallel trade routes with the Tartars and Mongols. (Yam- Mongol pony express.)
VII. Innovation - Horse collar and plow, Water mill and Wind mill
VIII. Bad Sanitation and bad personal hygiene
Note: The Etruscans had an underground drainage system to remove garbage and excrement and
the Romans had the aqueduct system to provide fresh water to cities and towns.
Types of Plague-
I. Bubonic
a. most common type of plague
b. transmitted by rat flea bite
c. 2-6 day incubation period
d. Egg shaped bubo (tumor like) - ring around the rosy, pocket full of posey, ashes, ashes, we all fall down
e. odd deformations
f. bad smell, the smell of decomposition
g. delerium
II. Pneumonic
a. transmitted by rat flea bite
b. Bacteria escapes lymph system and infects lungs
c. coughing
d. spits up blood
e. more prevalent in southern FR and ITY
III. Septicemic - rare
a. body lice is the vector - bacteria goes right into blood
b. 14.5 hours to onset of death
c. Bacteria goes right into blood
d. Shock like movements of the body
e. Extremities turn black [hence the name the black death. Swedish/Danish doctors coined the term black death in the late Renaissance from this rare form of the plague.]
Yersa Pestis Bacteria -
Y. Pestis bacteria is 1,500 - 2,000 years old. It contains non-functioning genes and three plasmids. The bacteria cluster together, versus spreading out, in the human body and cause swelling at the infection site. Y. Pestis develop several enzymes to attach the liver and spleen.
Y. Pestis is spread by the rat flea bite. (The rates transport the fleas.) The plague can be transmitted by 31 different flea species. Rodents can develop a slight immunity to the bacteria for a co-existance type of relationship. The bacteria multiples in the flea gut. The bacteria can only survive in a narrow temperature band 50' - 80' F and humidity above 80%.
The Siberian polecat, black bear, skunk and coyote are immune to the Y. Pestis bacteria.
Ok, let's go...
From the 7th century on Europe becomes isolated from Eurasia as a result of the fall of the Roman Empire. The Dark Ages begin. The 1300s represented a rediscovery of the Eurasian trade routes. Trade with the Mongols, Siberia and China, for prized furs.
The plague followed the trade routes from Caffa (Genoese colony) to Sicily (Messina and Catania) to mainland Italy. The plague enters Europe via Sicily. It's mortality rate was highest in Italy and France. The spread of the plague throughout Europe follows the trade routes. [The plague reached as far as India and Iran/Iraq.] In the 1300s the trading ships would sail near the coast lines. Many infected sailors and goods and rat/rat fleas spread the plague in a rapid fashion.
When the plague leaves Sicily it travels to the mainland of Italy. Genoa, Venice, Florence, Pistola, Perugia, Orvieto and Sienna. Each town puts of different defenses against the plague, but it doesn't matter. It still spreads rapidly, up to 2.5 miles per day. The version of the plague in Florence has two boils versus one like in the rest of Italy. The plague reaches Rome. Rome at this time is has a population of 35,000, not the thriving metropolis it once was. Petrarch, the poet, lived in Rome at the time.
The plague continues to spread to France. King Philip the Fair is ruling and the Popes, Pope Clement IV- the Pope during the plague, have taken up residence in Avignon. In Summer of 1348 the plague hits Paris.
England is next, with King Edward III ruling at the time. He loses Queen Joan to the plague. Westminster is 1.5 miles from the city. He cancels Parliament in Jan 1349. Ireland and Scotland too.
Germany witness the flagellants. Some of them were plague vectors themselves. They would wildly beat themselves and seek gods mercy.
The plague cause a break down in civilization at the time, bouts of anti-semitism and a lost generation of survivors. Slavery increased after the plague throughout Europe to replace those who had died.
Digression worth finding out more:
The Trial of Queen Joanna of Naples and Sicily in Avignon, France while the plague is raging. Joanna's Hungarian cousin/husband was found killed in the garden of her palace. She was blatantly having an affair with another man at the time. She was young, she was beautiful and she defended herself in Latin and won! How cool is that?
Nancy Goldstone's book Joanna The Notorious Queen of Naples, Jerusalem & Naples more fully outlines this story. (Yes, I think I will be reading this book in future.)
1300s The Black Death originated in Inner Asia
1345 8-12 months Crimea --> China overland
1347 Europe (Sicily, Genoa, Florence, Venice...)
1348 ESP, FRA, Balkans
1348 BRT, IRL
1348 Austria, GRM
1349/50 Scotland, Scandinavia, Poland, Portugal
Viewed as punishment by God
Outbursts of anti-Semitism during plague
Decades Prior to Plague -
Overpopulation - 90% of population were rural in the mid-1300s
War between feudal states - increased use of infantry
a. Chevauchee - raiding parties widely used in European countryside killing civilians
Economic Stagnation - Between 1250 -1270 the medieval "boom" comes to an end. The Global Economy nears collapse.
Other smaller epidemics - Small Pox and Measles in late period of parts of the Roman Empire
Decline and waste disposal/sanitation issues in cities, towns and farms
Famine: 1315 - 1322 - 10% - 15% population perished prior to the plague
Climatic instability: rains made vegetation more abundant
Three Major Plague Outbreaks-
I. 6th century (Byzantium Emperor Justinian) plague outbreak
II. 1330s - Caffa (city state) on the Black Sea/Genoese colony - the dissemination of the plague starts here then is transferred to Sicily [Europe] via trade route/shipping
III. 1890s - plague outbreak India, China
Reasons for Plague Outbreak -
I. Genetic change in plague bacilli to become more virulent
II. Climatic Changes - The 14th century wind patterns changed in Eurasia altering the climate of the continent. Europe becomes wetter and Asia becomes dryer. This increased rainfall caused increased tree growth, which in turn increased food supply for the rats and than the number of rats also increased.
III. Rat Population - surge in rat population every 10-12 years
IV. Prior to that, Global Warming, (Yes, I said that!) increasing world temperatures by 1'C
a. Big Opium - Ice Age 1300 BC
b. Little Opium - Warming - 700 - 800 AD --> Crop yields increase & population increases
c. Little Ice Age -1300 AD
V. Political - Rise of Mongol Empire and the Global Economy starts picking up - rediscovery of Eurasian trade routes in Europe.
VI. Communication Routes - parallel trade routes with the Tartars and Mongols. (Yam- Mongol pony express.)
VII. Innovation - Horse collar and plow, Water mill and Wind mill
VIII. Bad Sanitation and bad personal hygiene
Note: The Etruscans had an underground drainage system to remove garbage and excrement and
the Romans had the aqueduct system to provide fresh water to cities and towns.
Types of Plague-
I. Bubonic
a. most common type of plague
b. transmitted by rat flea bite
c. 2-6 day incubation period
d. Egg shaped bubo (tumor like) - ring around the rosy, pocket full of posey, ashes, ashes, we all fall down
e. odd deformations
f. bad smell, the smell of decomposition
g. delerium
II. Pneumonic
a. transmitted by rat flea bite
b. Bacteria escapes lymph system and infects lungs
c. coughing
d. spits up blood
e. more prevalent in southern FR and ITY
III. Septicemic - rare
a. body lice is the vector - bacteria goes right into blood
b. 14.5 hours to onset of death
c. Bacteria goes right into blood
d. Shock like movements of the body
e. Extremities turn black [hence the name the black death. Swedish/Danish doctors coined the term black death in the late Renaissance from this rare form of the plague.]
Yersa Pestis Bacteria -
Y. Pestis bacteria is 1,500 - 2,000 years old. It contains non-functioning genes and three plasmids. The bacteria cluster together, versus spreading out, in the human body and cause swelling at the infection site. Y. Pestis develop several enzymes to attach the liver and spleen.
Y. Pestis is spread by the rat flea bite. (The rates transport the fleas.) The plague can be transmitted by 31 different flea species. Rodents can develop a slight immunity to the bacteria for a co-existance type of relationship. The bacteria multiples in the flea gut. The bacteria can only survive in a narrow temperature band 50' - 80' F and humidity above 80%.
The Siberian polecat, black bear, skunk and coyote are immune to the Y. Pestis bacteria.
Ok, let's go...
From the 7th century on Europe becomes isolated from Eurasia as a result of the fall of the Roman Empire. The Dark Ages begin. The 1300s represented a rediscovery of the Eurasian trade routes. Trade with the Mongols, Siberia and China, for prized furs.
The plague followed the trade routes from Caffa (Genoese colony) to Sicily (Messina and Catania) to mainland Italy. The plague enters Europe via Sicily. It's mortality rate was highest in Italy and France. The spread of the plague throughout Europe follows the trade routes. [The plague reached as far as India and Iran/Iraq.] In the 1300s the trading ships would sail near the coast lines. Many infected sailors and goods and rat/rat fleas spread the plague in a rapid fashion.
When the plague leaves Sicily it travels to the mainland of Italy. Genoa, Venice, Florence, Pistola, Perugia, Orvieto and Sienna. Each town puts of different defenses against the plague, but it doesn't matter. It still spreads rapidly, up to 2.5 miles per day. The version of the plague in Florence has two boils versus one like in the rest of Italy. The plague reaches Rome. Rome at this time is has a population of 35,000, not the thriving metropolis it once was. Petrarch, the poet, lived in Rome at the time.
The plague continues to spread to France. King Philip the Fair is ruling and the Popes, Pope Clement IV- the Pope during the plague, have taken up residence in Avignon. In Summer of 1348 the plague hits Paris.
England is next, with King Edward III ruling at the time. He loses Queen Joan to the plague. Westminster is 1.5 miles from the city. He cancels Parliament in Jan 1349. Ireland and Scotland too.
Germany witness the flagellants. Some of them were plague vectors themselves. They would wildly beat themselves and seek gods mercy.
The plague cause a break down in civilization at the time, bouts of anti-semitism and a lost generation of survivors. Slavery increased after the plague throughout Europe to replace those who had died.
Digression worth finding out more:
The Trial of Queen Joanna of Naples and Sicily in Avignon, France while the plague is raging. Joanna's Hungarian cousin/husband was found killed in the garden of her palace. She was blatantly having an affair with another man at the time. She was young, she was beautiful and she defended herself in Latin and won! How cool is that?
Nancy Goldstone's book Joanna The Notorious Queen of Naples, Jerusalem & Naples more fully outlines this story. (Yes, I think I will be reading this book in future.)
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