• The plague epidemic raged in Europe from 1348 to 1351 and, according to rough estimates, destroyed from 25 to 60% of Europeans.
• It is difficult to find out the exact number of deaths from medieval sources. Mortality rates varied from area to area. According to the latest data from researchers, the number of deaths from the plague ranged from 75 to 200 million people.
• The name “Black Death” appeared relatively recently, and during the epidemic and for a long time after it, the disease was called “The Great Mortality” or “Pestilence”.
• Although the period that refers to the Black Death ended in 1351, the plague returned periodically to Europe until the end of the 15th century.
• The Black Death was the second pandemic in Europe. The first occurred back in the sixth century, and it also brought many misfortunes, but it was not as devastating as the second.
• The Black Plague followed closely on the heels of a surge in population growth in Europe, which, coupled with a two-year period of cold weather and heavy rains that washed away grain harvests, led to population congestion in cities that provided fertile ground for the contagious disease.
• In 1346, rumors of the black plague originated in China and spread through Asia, Persia, Syria, India and Egypt to Europe. According to these rumors, the entire population of India died out.
• During the siege of the Genoese city of Caffa by the Tatars in 1347, its inhabitants are said to have been infected with the plague when the Tatars began dumping victims of the disease into the city.
• In November 1347, the crews of several Genoese merchant ships landed in the Sicilian city of Messina after a trading voyage along the coast from the Black Sea to Italy. There were dead and dying sailors on the ships, many of whom had strange black tumors on their necks, armpits or groins. Many of them were coughing up blood. Those who were alive died within a few days.
• From Sicily, the disease spread throughout Europe within three years, moving north and reaching Iceland and Greenland. The plague and the simultaneous changes in climate put an end to European colonization of the shores of Greenland.
• In the Italian city of Siena, more than half the population died out. Work on the construction of the cathedral, which was planned to be the largest in the world, stopped, and the construction of this structure never resumed. Truncated transepts (cross naves) still stand in the city as a memory of the Black Death, which stopped construction.
• In May 1349, the plague reached Bergen, Norway. She got there with the crew of a ship that delivered a cargo of wool from England. A few days later, the crew and passengers of this ship died.
• Most experts believe that the plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a flea-borne bacillus that parasitizes rats and other rodents that were common in medieval homes.
• In November 2000, a study of the dental pulp of plague victims from a burial site in France showed the presence of Yersinia pestis in all 20 samples taken from three victims.
• Yersinia pestis causes three types of deadly plague: bubonic plague, caused by bites from infected fleas, in which the bacilli move to the lymph nodes and multiply rapidly to form growths called buboes; pneumonic plague, an infection in which the patient coughs up blood and spreads the disease through the air; septicemic plague, which spreads through the blood and almost always causes death.
• The mortality rate of bubonic plague was 30-75%. The pulmonary form killed 90-95% of infected people. The septicemic plague killed almost everyone and is still considered incurable.
• Many believed that the plague was sent down from above as punishment for the innumerable sins of mankind.
• Jews were often blamed for the appearance of the plague, who allegedly tried to destroy Christians with the help of this disease, although they themselves were dying from this disease.
• Under terrible torture, Jews involuntarily confessed to poisoning wells and other water sources to spread the infection.
• As a result of these forced confessions, Jews in the German city of Strasbourg were given a choice: either convert to Christianity or be burned. About 2,000 Jews were executed.
• Many doctors believed that a bad smell could scare away the plague. Therefore, they doused the patients with urine and smeared them with feces, that is, they did everything to make the disease spread even more.
• Washing the body was discouraged during the plague for two reasons. Firstly, together with changing clothes, it was considered a manifestation of vanity, which incurred the wrath of God. Secondly, it was believed that after washing, pores on the skin opened, through which contaminated air could more easily enter and exit, spreading disease. The latter prejudice existed in Europe until the 19th century.
• It is difficult to find out the exact number of deaths from medieval sources. Mortality rates varied from area to area. According to the latest data from researchers, the number of deaths from the plague ranged from 75 to 200 million people.
• The name “Black Death” appeared relatively recently, and during the epidemic and for a long time after it, the disease was called “The Great Mortality” or “Pestilence”.
• Although the period that refers to the Black Death ended in 1351, the plague returned periodically to Europe until the end of the 15th century.
• The Black Death was the second pandemic in Europe. The first occurred back in the sixth century, and it also brought many misfortunes, but it was not as devastating as the second.
• The Black Plague followed closely on the heels of a surge in population growth in Europe, which, coupled with a two-year period of cold weather and heavy rains that washed away grain harvests, led to population congestion in cities that provided fertile ground for the contagious disease.
• In 1346, rumors of the black plague originated in China and spread through Asia, Persia, Syria, India and Egypt to Europe. According to these rumors, the entire population of India died out.
• During the siege of the Genoese city of Caffa by the Tatars in 1347, its inhabitants are said to have been infected with the plague when the Tatars began dumping victims of the disease into the city.
• In November 1347, the crews of several Genoese merchant ships landed in the Sicilian city of Messina after a trading voyage along the coast from the Black Sea to Italy. There were dead and dying sailors on the ships, many of whom had strange black tumors on their necks, armpits or groins. Many of them were coughing up blood. Those who were alive died within a few days.
• From Sicily, the disease spread throughout Europe within three years, moving north and reaching Iceland and Greenland. The plague and the simultaneous changes in climate put an end to European colonization of the shores of Greenland.
• In the Italian city of Siena, more than half the population died out. Work on the construction of the cathedral, which was planned to be the largest in the world, stopped, and the construction of this structure never resumed. Truncated transepts (cross naves) still stand in the city as a memory of the Black Death, which stopped construction.
• In May 1349, the plague reached Bergen, Norway. She got there with the crew of a ship that delivered a cargo of wool from England. A few days later, the crew and passengers of this ship died.
• Most experts believe that the plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a flea-borne bacillus that parasitizes rats and other rodents that were common in medieval homes.
• In November 2000, a study of the dental pulp of plague victims from a burial site in France showed the presence of Yersinia pestis in all 20 samples taken from three victims.
• Yersinia pestis causes three types of deadly plague: bubonic plague, caused by bites from infected fleas, in which the bacilli move to the lymph nodes and multiply rapidly to form growths called buboes; pneumonic plague, an infection in which the patient coughs up blood and spreads the disease through the air; septicemic plague, which spreads through the blood and almost always causes death.
• The mortality rate of bubonic plague was 30-75%. The pulmonary form killed 90-95% of infected people. The septicemic plague killed almost everyone and is still considered incurable.
• Many believed that the plague was sent down from above as punishment for the innumerable sins of mankind.
• Jews were often blamed for the appearance of the plague, who allegedly tried to destroy Christians with the help of this disease, although they themselves were dying from this disease.
• Under terrible torture, Jews involuntarily confessed to poisoning wells and other water sources to spread the infection.
• As a result of these forced confessions, Jews in the German city of Strasbourg were given a choice: either convert to Christianity or be burned. About 2,000 Jews were executed.
• Many doctors believed that a bad smell could scare away the plague. Therefore, they doused the patients with urine and smeared them with feces, that is, they did everything to make the disease spread even more.
• Washing the body was discouraged during the plague for two reasons. Firstly, together with changing clothes, it was considered a manifestation of vanity, which incurred the wrath of God. Secondly, it was believed that after washing, pores on the skin opened, through which contaminated air could more easily enter and exit, spreading disease. The latter prejudice existed in Europe until the 19th century.