Author Archives: Ruth

For the record, bubonic plague was a major cause of death until the mid-17th century. Seville had a devastating outbreak in 1647, followed by another, the last, in 1676. London’s last huge plague outbreak occurred between the two in Spain, … Continue reading →

As the farming situation slowly stabilized in the next century, the plague kept returning to clear out surplus workers. Probably, in every year until the 1600s, someone in Europe had bubonic plague; regional outbreaks occurred without becoming continent-wide events. Other … Continue reading →

We know a great deal about the 14th century plague because paper had been invented and in many places, especially around the Mediterranean, was widely available. People wrote letters and copyists made textbooks, but there was so much paper that … Continue reading →

Because the plague had such a low rate of recovery and high speed of infection, it disrupted towns and cites more than past epidemics. Cities varied in how well they coped. Probably the best-organized city in Europe was Venice. Venice, … Continue reading →

The plague’s visitation in each place lasted for about a year; the first cities struck down were starting to see no new cases, a year later. But it took a full three years for the disease to work its way … Continue reading →

Frankly, they didn’t know what to do. First, they didn’t know that a historic plague was starting; it could have been a smaller epidemic of the sort that passed through every few years. So they began by not altering their … Continue reading →