Day 7

Place

Time

Language

Disease

Animal

Keyword

Person

Nature event

River

Plague

Scribe

Social response

Victims

In Day 7, a total of 8 epidemic events are known so far.

Locations and Spreading

	Date	Summary		Source	Translation	T

1320, December 25 – 1321, June 7 VN: 15.000

In 1320 there was a great inflation followed by famine and plague in almost all lands (particularlay in Flanders and Bohemia) which caused 15.000 deaths only between Christmas 1320 and Pentecost 1321.

MCCCXX Hic cessauit caristia magna et strages, qua precedentibus tribus annis homines multi in valescente fame et pestilencia magna quasi in vniuersa terra mortui sunt et precipue in Flandria, in Boemia, in monte Kettero a festo natiuitatis Christi usque pentecostes XV milia wlgi solummodo mortui sunt exceptis dinitibus et mediocribus, quorum multi fame et pestilencia perierunt.

(Translation needed)

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1348, August 7 – 1348, September 27

On August 7, 1348 the number of plague deaths in Damascus and its surroundings reached almost 300. Around September 10 (in mid-Jumādā II 749 H), the number of deceased further increased; both elite and common people died; the exact death toll remained unknown. On August 18, the governor of Syria (nāʾib al-salṭana) ordered all dogs in the city to be killed. On September 27 [or, according to one manuscript: October 3], 42 deceased were prayed for at the Umayyad Mosque alone; the mosque didn’t provide enough space for all the corpses, so some had to be placed outside the Sirr Gate.

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On Thursday, the 10th of Jumada al-Awwal, after the noon prayer, the preacher performed a funeral prayer for sixteen deceased individuals all at once. This greatly alarmed and terrified the people, as death was striking many, and the death toll in the town and its surroundings reached nearly three hundred. Indeed, we belong to Allah, and to Him we shall return. After the prayer, another funeral prayer was performed for fifteen deceased individuals at the Great Mosque of Damascus, and at the Mosque of Khalil, a prayer was performed for eleven souls. May Allah have mercy on them. On Monday, the 21st of the same month, the deputy of the Sultanate ordered the killing of dogs in the town. These dogs had become numerous throughout the town, and there were reports of them attacking people and blocking their way during the night. The defilement of places by these dogs had become widespread, making it difficult to avoid. Many had compiled sections of the hadiths regarding their killing and the differences among the scholars on this issue. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to command in his sermons to slaughter pigeons and kill dogs. Malik, in the narration of Ibn Wahb, stated that it is permissible to kill dogs in a town where they cause harm, provided the Imam permits it for the public interest. On Friday, the second of the month of Rajab, after the Friday prayer at the Umayyad Mosque, a funeral prayer was performed for someone absent, who was Judge Alauddin, the son of Judge Shubha. Then, a funeral prayer was performed for forty-one deceased individuals all at once. The interior of the mosque could not accommodate them, so some of the deceased were taken outside to the gate of Al-Sirr. The preacher and the naqeeb (head of a group) went out and prayed for all of them there. It was a significant and solemn moment, a great tragedy. Indeed, we belong to Allah, and to Him we shall return (Translation: ChatGPT-3.5)

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1348, October 7 VN: 150

On October 7, 1348 the number of people who had died of plague and were prayed for at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus reached 150 or more; not included were inhabitants of the outskirts of the city and members of the protected religious minorities (ahl al-dhimma) whose bodies were not brought to the Umayyad Mosque. It was said that on many days, casualties in the outskirts of Damascus (ḥawāḍir al-balad) reached more than 1,000. On October 7, a dust storm reached Damascus; people prayed to God and ask for this to be the end of the plague; things only got worse afterwards, though. On Miʿrāj Night (October 21), not as many people as usual gathered in the Umayyad Mosque because so many people had died of plague and many more were occupied caring for the sick and the deceased. In the beginning of Shaʿbān 749 H (the month began on October 25), many people were infected with plague (fanāʾ), and often there would be a bad smell in the city.

... ...

(Translation needed)

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1383, August 7

Letter of Coluccio Salutati criticising the panic over the plague in Florence

Responsum petit generatio, non dicam perversa et adultera, sed pusilanimis, formidolosa et, ut quod volo breviter attingam, profuga et incerta. Te nunc alloquor, meticulosissime Antoni, qui [p. 81] conceptu metu mortis, quam timere stultissimum est, puta Dei manum eludere et eius inevitabilem sententiam fugiens evitare. Quanto melius esset cogente ratione fateri quod Deus ubique est, quod ipse statuit nobis terminum, quem preterire non licet, et [p. 82] quod illa Dei providentia, cuncta disponens, ab eterno previdit et ante seculum ordinavit fixe atque immobiliter ubi, quomodo et quando cuique moriendum est, ut plane fatendum sit hanc fugam, qua nunc fervet patria nostra, non cautionem, sed insaniam esse; insanian, inquam, vanorum hominum, qui malunt fugiendo suam pusilanimitatem ostendere, quam divinam dispositionem cuncta regere confiteri; quique cum timeant videre sepelire mortuos, auderent se iactare paratos armatis congredi, quos pre ignavia primo conspectu vix possent inter gladios intueri. [...] [p. 83] Sed si vos magis hoc tempore timetis, ego vere non timeo; nam, licet frequentiora funera videam, non me magis scio quam alias esse mortalem, nec de morte sum certior nec minus de hora mortis incertus. Vos, qui trepido pectore quod fugi nequit effugitis, si clarioris intellectus lumen habetis, oppressisse huius infectionem veneni quos non videtis quosve diligitis presagite; ego vero quos efferri videor, mortuos sciam; quos expirasse nunciatum erit, defunctos credam; quos vivos aspexero, letus amplectar; quos vivere percepero, letabor aura frui; de quibus nil audiam, non minus vivos quam mortuos arbitrabor. Nunc, quod avide petitis, scitote me cum tota familia valere. Quod et de vobis, licet, ut creditis, salubriore celo fruamini, crebro audire desidero

(Translation needed)

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1400, May 7

Ironic letter from Coluccio Salutati to Padolfo Malatesta, in which he writes about Malatesta's letters concerning the escape of the population from Pesaro because of the plague

Vidi copiam littere, quam populo tuo Pensauri scribis, vellemque quod monitis tuis parentes cuncti civitatem relinquerent. Forte sunt pauci adeo lucis prodigi, quod epimediam non curantes libenter menia que tu fugis et fugienda persuades occupabunt; et morientes, ut putas, illa sibi, sed a te vigilantissime custodirent

(Translation needed)

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1464, July 7

High mortality in Forlì

Como fo una mortalità in Forlì. Eodem millesimo [1464], adì 7 de luglio, uenni a Forlì una gran mortalità, per modo ch’ el signore Cecco fogì a Forlinpolo e Madonna Isabetta con i figlioli e madonna uecchia fogì a Fiomana; e ‘l signore Pino si ‘n tornò in Lombardia; ch’ era uenuto a uedere la moglie: e cossì fogì hogn’ omo de Forliuio, chi in qua chi in là; parìa una badia robada.

(Translation needed)

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References

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