Black Death appears in Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Britain and North Africa

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 8.1.1: North African Writing and Culture: Arabic, Anglophone, Francophone, Hispanic.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Lia Brozgal (University of California, Los Angeles), Helen Rachel Cousins (Birmingham Newman University), Ziad Elmarsafy (King's College London), Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Dalia Mostafa (University of Manchester), Nora Parr (SOAS, University of London), Rita Sakr (Maynooth University)

Domains

Plague - Virological or Bacteriological Epidemic

Dates

Date of occurrence 1348

Places

Africa - North (Location)
France (Location)
Greece (Location)
Italy (Location)
Spain (Location)
United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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In 1348, the pandemic that became known as the "Black Death", a manifestation of the bubonic plague, arrived in Europe. Carried by Oriental rat fleas living on black rats, it spread rapidly through the Mediterranean and then throughout the European continent. Between 1348 and 1353, it was responsible for the deaths of between a third and half of the entire European population. In some areas it was even higher: the German cities of Hamburg and Bremen, for example, saw mortality rates of more than 60%. The lack of any obvious cause of this pestilence led to minority groups being used as scapegoats, and the Jewish communities of cities including Mainz, Cologne and Strasbourg were completely exterminated by a desperate Christian population.

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117 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Black Death appears in Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Britain and North Africa". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 July 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=9454, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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