The Black Death – A History of the Bubonic Plague

The Signs of Impending Death

The Black Death 1347–1352 CE is the worst plague outbreak of the medieval world, unprecedented and unequaled until the 1918–1919 CE flu pandemic in the modern age.

Unknown Author, People suffering from plague outside temple, print, Library of Congress, Washington D.C. — Unknown Author, *People suffering from plague outside temple*, print, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

1346

The cause of the plague is unknown. The Black Death spread to Europe when Mongol King Janibeg’s army attacked the Genoese trading port of Kaffa in Crimea. As infected soldiers died from the disease, Janibeg catapulted the infected bodies over city walls, causing the under-siege Genoese to also become infected.

Pieter Bruegel, Triumph of Death, oil on panel, 1563, National Museum of the Prado, Madrid. — Pieter Bruegel, *Triumph of Death*, oil on panel, 1563, National Museum of the Prado, Madrid.

May 1347

Survivors in Kaffa escaped by sea, leaving behind streets covered with corpses. The ships carried the epidemic westward to Mediterranean ports, quickly spreading the disease inland.

Rev. C. Arthur Lane, Illustrated Notes on English Church History, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London. — Rev. C. Arthur Lane, *Illustrated Notes on English Church History*, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.

November 1347

The plague arrived in France by a Kaffa ship and quickly spread through the country. About 60% of the population succumbed to the disease. Many crazed with pain and vomiting blood. Their armpits, neck, and groin were all swollen, while ghastly black sores had spread all over their bodies.

Michel Serre, Vue du Cours pendant la peste de 1720, oil on canvas, 1721, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille. — Michel Serre, *Vue du Cours pendant la peste de 1720*, oil on canvas, 1721, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille.

Unknown Author, Franciscan Monks Treat Victims of Leprosy, World History Encyclopedia. — Unknown Author, *Franciscan Monks Treat Victims of Leprosy*, World History Encyclopedia.

What is the bubonic plague?

The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form during the Black Death, with a mortality rate of 30-75% and symptoms including high fever, headaches, painful aching joints, nausea and vomiting, and a general feeling of malaise. Of those who contracted the bubonic plague, 4 out of 5 died within a week.

October 1348

The plague entered England through the port of Melcombe Regis in Dorset. Even the royals fell victim to the pestilence. Following the infection and death of King Edward III’s daughter Princess Joan, the plague reached London. As the devastation growed, Londoners fleed to the countryside, inadvertently spreading it further. In one year, the plague hit Wales and killed 100,000 people.

Rita Greer, The Great Plague 1665, oil on canvas, 2009, Wikimedia. — Rita Greer, *The Great Plague 1665*, oil on canvas, 2009, Wikimedia.

The pestilence killed so quickly that an infected person could have breakfast with friends and family…
…and dinner with ancestors in Paradise.

—Giovanni Boccaccio

Neither physicians nor medicines were effective… There was such a fear that no one seemed to know what to do.

—Marchione di Coppo Stefani

No bells tolled, and nobody wept no matter what his loss because almost everyone expected death…
…This is the end of the world.

—Sienese Chronicler

June 1349

An English ship brought the Black Death to Norway. The ship’s crew was dead by the end of the week and the pestilence ravaged the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The loss of life led to a substantial weakening of the kingdoms, as well as a population decline from which it took several centuries to recover.

Michael Wolgemut, The Dance of Death, ink on paper, 1493, Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel. — Michael Wolgemut, *The Dance of Death*, ink on paper, 1493, Nuremberg Chronicle of Hartmann Schedel.

1351

The Black Death faded, possibly thanks to quarantine efforts, leaving half of Europe dead. The plague killed an estimated 25 million people, with half of Paris’s population of 100,000 people perishing. In Florence, Italy, the population was reduced from 120,000 to 50,000 in 1351.

Johannes de Castua, Danse Macabre, tempera on canvas, 1490, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana. — Johannes de Castua, *Danse Macabre*, tempera on canvas, 1490, National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana.

Varying Reactions to the Disaster

Black Death was not just about sickness of a person. It was a social and cultural illness that affected every dimension of society.

Marcantonio Raimondi, The Plague in Crete (/'Il Morbetto'), print, ca. 1514–1515, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. — Marcantonio Raimondi, *The Plague in Crete (/'Il Morbetto')*, print, ca. 1514–1515, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

No one was safe anywhere near the sick or the dead. It was thought that the foul smells that emanated from garbage, rotting flesh and various other substances which were perceived as unclean.

In treating patients, physicians tried to protect themselves by wearing long waxed gowns, goggles and beak-like masks filled with herbs to purify the air and block the stink of death and decay.

The beaked plague doctors became synonymous with suffering and tragedy. To common people, they were perceived as the messengers of death and the distributors of God’s punishment.

But they died too.

Unknown Artist, A Physician Wearing a Seventeenth Century Plague Preventive Costume, watercolor on paper, 1910, Library of Congress, Washington D.C. — Unknown Artist, *A Physician Wearing a Seventeenth Century Plague Preventive Costume*, watercolor on paper, 1910, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

Eventually, European countries almost all adopted the same cruel policy which was entirely to avoid the sick and everything belonging to them. People by the thousands fled the cities and towns for the countryside, only to find death there too. Farmers stopped tending animals and crops. There were food shortages and price hikes. Law and order broke down. Tight-knit communities broke apart and so did families.

Unknown Artist, The Triumph of Death (Palermo), fresco, ca. 1446, Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, Sicily, Wikimedia. — Unknown Artist, *The Triumph of Death (Palermo)*, fresco, ca. 1446, Galleria Regionale della Sicilia, Sicily, Wikimedia.

Many believed that the plague was God’s punishment to the world for the wickedness of humanity. The Roman Catholic Church, a powerful force throughout medieval Europe, urged people to save themselves by praying and confessing.

Angelo Caroselli, The Plague at Ashdod (after Poussin), oil on canvas, 1631, The National Gallery, London. — Angelo Caroselli, *The Plague at Ashdod (after Poussin)*, oil on canvas, 1631, The National Gallery, London.

But God is deaf nowadays and prayers have no power.

—William Langland

Rich men, trust not in wealth. Gold cannot buy you health.

—Thomas Nashe

The whole world, as it were, placed within the grasp of the Evil One.

—Brother John Clyn

Unknown Artist, Flagellants in the Netherlands town of Tournai, ca. 1349, Science Photo Library. — Unknown Artist, *Flagellants in the Netherlands town of Tournai*, ca. 1349, Science Photo Library.

The flagellant movement

During the pandemic, a religious group called the flagellants moved from town to town and whipped themselves as an attempted penance. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church, the movement gained popularity until the Pope Clement VI ordered local church leaders and governments to stamp them out in 1349.

In Germany, Jews were falsely accused of spreading the plague through food and water contamination. They were mercilessly tortured, burned alive, and subsequently executed in the city center or synagogues. Overall, these responses did nothing to stop the spread of the disease or save those who had been infected.

Pierart dou Tielt, Burning of the Jews, Miniature from Tractatus quartus by Gilles de Muisit, ca. 1353, Belgian Art Links and Tools. — Pierart dou Tielt, *Burning of the Jews*, Miniature from Tractatus quartus by Gilles de Muisit, ca. 1353, Belgian Art Links and Tools.

Dutch School, Martin Luther preaching, detail from the altarpiece of the Church of Torslunde, 1561, Church of Torslunde, Meisterdrucke. — Dutch School, *Martin Luther preaching, detail from the altarpiece of the Church of Torslunde*, 1561, Church of Torslunde, Meisterdrucke.

The European Reformation

The perceived failure of God to answer these prayers contributed to the decline of the medieval Church’s power and the eventual splintering of a unified Christian worldview during the Protestant Reformation.

Mass Burials

With upwards of 20 million dead, life was at a standstill and there were not enough living to bury the dead.

A. Corrodi, The plague in Winterthur in 1328, lithographs, 1860, Welcome Collection. — A. Corrodi, *The plague in Winterthur in 1328*, lithographs, 1860, Welcome Collection.

Such was the multitude of corpses brought to the churches every day and almost every hour that there was not enough consecrated ground to give them burial. In Siena, Italy and other cities, bodies of black death victims were carted to mass graves.

Pierart dou Tielt, The burial of the victims of the plague in Tournai, Miniature from Tractatus quartus by Gilles de Muisit, ca. 1353, Belgian Art Links and Tools. — Pierart dou Tielt, *The burial of the victims of the plague in Tournai*, Miniature from Tractatus quartus by Gilles de Muisit, ca. 1353, Belgian Art Links and Tools.

Great pits were dug and piled deep with the multitude of dead. And they died by the hundreds both day and night.

—Agnolo di Tura del Grasso

Father abandoned child, wife husband, one brother another … And I buried my five children with my own hands.

—Thomas Nashe

Men and women wandered around as if mad … the world could never again regain its former prosperity..

—Bavarian Chronicler

What is a plague pit?

A plague pit is the informal term used to refer to mass graves in which victims of the Black Death were buried. Plague pits were used especially often during major plague outbreaks. For example the number of deaths in the parish of St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, in 1665 was almost six times normal.

Results of the Black Death

The encounter with the plague had economic, social, and religious effects that vastly changed European society and contributed to the emergence into the Renaissance.

Unbekannter Künstler, Great Plague in London, etching and watercolor, 1665, Art Prints on Demand. — Unbekannter Künstler, *Great Plague in London*, etching and watercolor, 1665, Art Prints on Demand.

Established power structured that churches and the ruling classes had not stopped or controlled the plague. Those who survived began to question the authority of the bishops and the nobles.

With such a large population decline from the pandemic, wages soared in response to a labour shortage. The remaining workers demanded higher wages but were refused.

Stained-glass window in Eyam Church depicting the plague outbreak, Business Insider. — *Stained-glass window in Eyam Church depicting the plague outbreak*, Business Insider.

By the end of the 14th century, peasant revolts broke out in many places. At the same time, the breakdown of the feudal social order would pave the way for change in philosophy, science and culture. That would become known as the Renaissance.

Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Blessed Bernard Tolomei Interceding for the Cessation of the Plague in Siena, oil on copper, 1665–1747, Jean Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. — Giuseppe Maria Crespi, *Blessed Bernard Tolomei Interceding for the Cessation of the Plague in Siena*, oil on copper, 1665–1747, Jean Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

The Renaissance marks the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas and achievements of classical antiquity.

Learn More

Jacopo Tintoretto, Saint Roch Cures the Plague Victims, oil on copper, 1549, The Church of Saint Roch, Venice, The Eclectic Light Company. — Jacopo Tintoretto, *Saint Roch Cures the Plague Victims*, oil on copper, 1549, The Church of Saint Roch, Venice, The Eclectic Light Company.

What happens after the Black Death, it’s like a wind—fresh air coming in, the fresh air of common sense.

—Gianna Pomata

The evidence for a considerable degree of resiliency, and for people simply carrying on, is reasonably strong.

—Richard Emery

A History of the Bubonic Plague