The Black Death
1347 CE
Bubonic plague pandemic that decimated Eurasia.
Historical Context
In the 14th century, Europe's population was at its medieval peak but weakened by famines (1315-1317). The Silk Road trade network connected Asia and Europe thanks to the Pax Mongolica.
The Event
Originating in Central Asia, the Yersinia pestis bacterium (carried by rat fleas) arrived in Crimea in 1347 during the Mongol siege of Caffa. Infected Genoese ships brought it to Italy. In five years, it engulfed all of Europe.
Key Figures
Tatars of the Golden Horde (who catapulted infected corpses into Caffa, the first biological warfare), Guy de Chauliac (physician to Pope Clement VI).
Aftermath
Sudden death of 30% to 50% of the European population (25 million dead). Temporary economic collapse, abandonment of entire villages, and massive anti-Semitic pogroms.
Legacy & Culture
Paradoxically, the labor shortage caused surviving peasants' wages to skyrocket, accelerating the end of feudal serfdom. It transformed art (Danse Macabre) and spurred questioning of Church authority.
Historiography
For a long time, the exact nature of the disease was debated (anthrax? hemorrhagic virus?). Recent pulp DNA extraction from London fossils definitively proved it was the plague bacterium.
Sources and References
Boccace, Le Décaméron
Séquençage de l'ADN de Yersinia pestis sur des victimes médiévales
Consulter l'archive officielle ↗Chroniques de Giovanni Villani (Florence)