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The Black Death or bubonic plague is a dreaded disease that has spread in pandemic several times through history. Often the term "Black Death" is used specifically to refer to the devastating outbreak of the plague in Europe in the 14th century. The plague was caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis) which was spread by fleas? with the help of animals like the [black rat]? ([Rattus rattus]?). There is evidence that there were outbreaks in the 800s in Europe. The last major outbreak occured during the 18th century. The plague still exists but can nowadays be treated effectively with antibiotics. The major epidemic occured in the middle of the 14th century. It is not entirely clear where this epidemic started, but it was probably somewhere around the northern parts of India. It then spread west to the Middle East. The plague was imported to Europe by the way of the Crimea, where the Genoese colony Kaffa (Feodosiya) was besieged by the Mongols. Myth (or history?) says that the Mongols catapulted infected cadavers into the city. The refugees from Kaffa then took the plague along to Genoa?, around 1347?. Some ships that arrived didn't have anyone alive when they reached their port. From Italy, the disease spread clockwise around Europe, hitting France, Spain, Britain, Germany and finally Scandinavia around 1350. The information about the death toll varies wildly from source to source, but it is estimated that about a third of the population of Europe died from the outbreak in the mid-1300s. Some villages were deserted with the few survivors fleeing and spreading the disease further. The great population loss brought economic changes based on lack of available workers. See also: Great Plague |
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#REDIRECT Black Death |
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