Ancient World Review

Black Death Bacterium Identified With Genetic Analysis

"A team of German and Canadian scientists has shown that today's plague pathogen has been around at least 600 years," according to Science Daily.

"The Black Death claimed the lives of one-third of Europeans in just five years from 1348 to 1353. Until recently, it was not certain whether the bacterium Yersinia pestis -- known to cause the plague today -- was responsible for that most deadly outbreak of disease ever. Now, the University of Tübingen's Institute of Scientific Archaeology and McMaster University in Canada have been able to confirm that Yersinia pestis was behind the great plague."

The Secret Of The Black Death

The Black Death peaked in Europe in 1348-1350 and by the time it was over, the "Great Mortality" had killed something like 25 million people--one-third of Europe's population at the time. In some places, it wiped out so many people that the authorities had to outlaw the ringing of church bells at funerals because the ringing never stopped. Entire villages disappeared into plague pits and bishops were sometimes forced to consecrate rivers so they could be used to dump the bodies. The exact number of fatalities is still a matter of conjecture, but there's no doubt that the Black Death was one of the worst natural disasters in human history.

Biological Warfare At The 1346 Siege Of Caffa

"A principal source on the origin of the Black Death is a memoir by the Italian Gabriele de’ Mussi. [...] This narrative contains some startling assertions: that the Mongol army hurled plague-infected cadavers into the besieged Crimean city of Caffa, thereby transmitting the disease to the inhabitants; and that fleeing survivors of the siege spread plague from Caffa to the Mediterranean Basin. If this account is correct, Caffa should be recognized as the site of the most spectacular incident of biological warfare ever, with the Black Death as its disastrous consequence. After analyzing these claims, I have concluded that it is plausible that the biological attack took place as described and was responsible for infecting the inhabitants of Caffa; however, the event was unimportant in the spread of the plague pandemic. "

Source: "Biological Warfare At The 1346 Siege of Caffa." Mark Wheelis, University of California, Davis. Published by the Center for Disease Control's journal "Emerging Infectious Diseases" in Sept. 2002. Image shows the "tentative chronology of the initial spread of plague in the mid-14th century."

Resources On The Black Death

"Thirteen hundred and forty-eight years had passed since the fruitful Incarnation of the Son of God, when there came into the noble city of Florence, the most beautiful of all Italian cities, a deadly pestilence, which, either because of the operations of the heavenly bodies, or because of the just wrath of God mandating punishment for our iniquitous ways, several years earlier had originated in the Orient, where it destroyed countless lives, scarcely resting in one place before it moved to the next, and turning westward its strength grew monstrously. No human wisdom or foresight had any value: enormous amounts of refuse and manure were removed from the city by appointed officials, the sick were barred from entering the city, and many instructions were given to preserve health; just as useless were the humble supplications to God given not one time but many times in appointed processions, and all the other ways devout people called on God; despite all this, at the beginning of the spring of that year, that horrible plague began with its dolorous effects in a most awe-inspiring manner..." Boccaccio: THE DECAMERON.

Histories of the Black Death in Britain and its effects on Medieval Europe in general can be found here and here. PubMed Central also has a good article on the "Epidemiology of the Black Death and Successive Waves of Plague" and information on the plague bacillus can be found here. The video below is from the Center for Disease Control.