Staying in France’s Medieval period this week, let’s look at the Black Death.

 Staying in France’s Medieval period this week, let’s look at the Black Death.

Because I don’t know about you, but if I think when thinking  Medieval ages the plague always comes to mind. Especially given recent history.

So let’s start with – what actually was the Black Death? It was in fact a bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis*) pandemic that occurred in Europe, Asia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.

The term 'Black Death' was not commonly used until the 15th century, and was coined in Denmark. It came into use in French, la mort noire, a full century or more later.

The Black Death of the Middle Ages was actually the plagues second time around. The first plague pandemic was known as the Plague of Justinian, which took place in 541-542.

The Plague wasn’t just limited to the Middle Ages, though that was when it was at its most severe. It continued to return to Europe and the Mediterranean throughout the 14th to 17th centuries.

I read @Statnews article (linked below) when I became curious during our own pandemic of how it compared to France’s Medieval pandemic. The writer focuses specifically on the outbreak in Provence of the Bubonic Plague from 1720, called the Great Plague of Provence. The article takes a view on what they did to combat it in comparison to what was done at least at the beginning of the recent pandemic.

*Yersinia Pestis was discovered by Alexandre Yersin (1863-1943), a Swiss-French physician and bacteriologist who studied under Louis Pasteur from 1886-1888. He became a French citizen in 1888.