Black Death

Black Death

Plague was a recurrent phenomenon in early societies, but the Black Death was the most widespread epidemic experienced. Originating in Asia and China, it reached the Crimea and then Sicily in 1347. Tartar armies besieged a Genoese trading outpost in the Crimea and intentionally infected the inhabitants. Some of the Genoese escaped by ship, carrying the infection that they then unknowingly spread to each port at which they landed. The plague then moved rapidly around the Mediterranean by way of the shipping routes. It subsequently reached Italy, Spain, England, and France in 1348; Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, and the Low Countries in 1349; and Scandinavia in 1350.

The epidemic was caused by Yersinia pestis, a contagious bacillus, which is carried by a number of insects, the most important being the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopsis. Under certain conditions, the infestation spreads rapidly through a population of rats. As they become infected, the rats die of the plague, and once there are too few live rats, fleas looking for new hosts may transfer to humans. There are three forms of plague: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. Bubonic plague, characterized by swelling of the lymph nodes, is the best known. Pneumonic plague occurs when the point of infection is in the lungs, and septicemic plague when the infection is in the bloodstream. The effect of plague on humans varies greatly, from mild sickness to rapid death. From surviving descriptions, most plague cases during the Black Death appear to have been bubonic, characterized by swelling of the lymph glands, vomiting, delirium, and other symptoms. The name “Black Death” derives from the deep purple coloration of the skin of those suffering from bubonic plague. Once plague had established itself in Europe, it remained endemic for about the next 300 years.

The years that the Black Death fell across Europe have long been accepted as pivotal ones in history. In the plague's wake, no aspect of society escaped unscathed. The economy, along with the population, was decimated. The feudal hierarchy and the Church that supported it were both shaken to their foundations. Europe emerged on the other side of this flea-borne pestilence a different place, in which long-accepted notions of truth were now in question and money, not promises, provided the means of purchasing a man's labor and loyalty. Although the Black Death does not seem to have influenced Chaucer's writings extensively—not in the way that Boccaccio's writings were influenced, for example—Chaucer was born into a world undergoing transformation and reached adulthood in the post-plague era. Thus, an understanding of the Black Death in context becomes important in re-creating Chaucer's world.

The Cause

The Black Death ravaged Europe for four years, beginning in Cyprus in December 1347, and spreading north to Italy. The disease worked its way northward, afflicting urban and rural areas alike. Cities were the hardest hit, presumably because of unsanitary conditions and population density. In any given area, between one-quarter and one-half of the population was lost to plague. No social class was exempted, even though the ...