The Black Death
- 1346: In the Mongol capital of Sarai, the deadliest outbreak occurred. The plague was carried towards the Black Sea. Mongol King Janiberg was planning a siege, but the outbreak stopped him. The army has to toss dead people over city walls.
- May, 1347: Both sides of the siege are losing men. The streets are covered with corpses. A once infected ship arrives in Constantinople and loses 90% of its population.
- October, 1347: A Caffan ship docks in Sicily with barely any crew. The plague kills half of the population in Sicily then migrates to Messina. Residents start to flee carrying it to Italy's mainland which wipes out one third of the population by the following summer.
- November, 1347: Plague arrives in France, brought by one of the Caffa ships that docked in Marseille.
- January, 1348: A new plague strain enters Europe through Genoa, brought by a Caffan ship. Genoans attack the ship which causes it to leave but they are still infected. Italy faces both strains. It spread throughout Europe causing more ship inspection and more deaths.
- April, 1348: In a anti-Semitic rage around Europe, the plague emerges. Jewish communities have continuous massacres. 40 Jews were murdered at Provenance.
- June, 1348: Plague enters England in Dorset. Spreads in the town, fleeing citizens spread it inland.
- Summer, 1348: Religious zealots known as the Flagellants first appeared in Germany. Plague hits Marseille, Paris and Normand. Then it splits into two. It moves through Austria and Switzerland. A rumor started that the Jews poisoned the well and caused this. In Germany and France, Jewish communities were completely annihilated. Safe havens were created for Jews.
- October, 1348: King Edward III’s daughter Princess Joan dies. Londonerds flee to the countryside in hopes of finding food. Edwards blames the spread on garbage and human excrement piled up in streets of London and the Thames River.
- February, 1349: In Strasbourg, on Valentines day, 2,000 Jewish people were burned alive. 3,000 Jews tried to defend themselves against christians in the spring, but were slaughtered.
- April, 1349: Wales gets hit by the plague which is brought by fleeing people from southern England and kills 100,000 people.
- July, 1349: Black Death is brought to Norway by an English ship when it runs aground. The crew dies by the end of the week and the plague travels to Denmark and Sweden. The king tries to please God but two of his brothers die. It moves into Russia and eastern Greenland which cause the vikings to halt their exploration.
- March, 1350: Scotland, which has not been hit yet, decides to take advantage of England's weakness and attack them. Troops became infected whi;le waiting on the border. 5,000 of them died. Retreating troops bring the disease back to Scotland.
- 1351: The spread begins to die down, after deaths between 25-50 million, and leading to the Jewish massacre of 210 Jewish communities. Europe lost about 50% of its population.
- 1353: Social and economic systems were sent spiraling, easier to get work for better wages, average standard of living rises. Feudal systems are dying which cause aristocrats trying to pass laws to stop peasants from revolting which cause revolts in France and England. The plague still resurfaces times throughout the centuries.
Describe how the plague got to and spread through Europe.
The plague, also known as the Black Death, spread rapidly throughout Europe. The Mongols had to retreat but in order to extinguish their enemies they catapulted their dead and infected bodies over the city's walls. The townspeople of Coffa get infected which infects their boats. The plague rode on the merchant boats coming from there that were going to Europe. Corpses were found below deck by the Italians. They were reported of having sickness clinging to them. The towns tried to ban the ships but it was too late. It is spread very rapidly. Survivors only have one place to turn. The mother of God. The boats had rats on them which carried the disease.
