The plague in the Middle Ages: the Black Death

In short: The Black Death was a plague pandemic that struck Europe between roughly 1346 and 1353. According to common estimates, around a third to a half of Europe’s population died.

In more detail: It was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which spread along trade routes from Central Asia and the Black Sea region. The epidemic profoundly changed the economy, society and faith of late medieval Europe.

In detail

• Pathogen: Yersinia pestis was only discovered in 1894. Analysis of skeletons from plague cemeteries has confirmed that this pathogen caused the Black Death.
• Transmission: Fleas from rats and other rodents transmitted bubonic plague. Pneumonic plague could also spread directly from person to person through droplets.
• Spread: Merchant ships carried the disease from the Black Sea region to Mediterranean ports, and from there it reached almost all of Europe within a few years.
• Symptoms: Typical signs were high fever and painful, swollen lymph nodes, the buboes. Without treatment, many of the sick died within a few days.
• Explanations: People knew nothing of bacteria. The epidemic was seen as a punishment from God or blamed on corrupted air. Processions of flagellants travelled the land doing penance.
• Persecution of Jews: Jewish communities were falsely accused of poisoning wells. In many towns there were pogroms in which large numbers of people were murdered.
• Effects on labour: Because so many workers had died, wages rose in many places and the position of peasants and craftsmen changed.
• Quarantine: Port cities such as Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Venice introduced isolation periods for ships and travellers. This gave rise to the idea of quarantine.
• Later waves: Plague returned again and again until the 18th century. Today it can be treated with antibiotics (mittelalter-lebenswelt-und-gesellschaft, welthandelsrouten-von-der-seidenstrasse-bis-heute).