Leprosy

In Leprosy, a total of 4 epidemic events are known so far. It is an illness.

Place

Time

Language

Disease

Animal

Keyword

Person

Nature event

River

Plague

Scribe

Social response

Victims

Events

	Date	Summary		Source	Translation	T

1213, January 18

Death of Queen Tamar of Georgia by an unknown disease, maybe Leprosy, in the town of Agara

'

Tamar stopped in Nach’armagevi, a place located high in the mountains. And all the didebulis and nobles were there with her. she took care of the state’s affairs and particularly those related to the churches and monasteries. And while she was there, she caught a disease, one that eats away at us people; it progressed day after day, becoming more and more severe. she hid it for a long time, so as not to worry anybody. But when the illness resisted treatment, with no benefit from medicine, the Queen revealed she had it. This disease of Tamar was probably inevitable; such long-lasting military burdens prey upon the natural weakness of women, and Tamar’s body could not live and remain protected from all kinds of accidents. But see, the people, who were devoted to her deserve much pity: how could they deal with such a disease? They took her in a palanquin to Tbilisi, and a few days later they decided, as they were wont to do, to climb into the woody mountains. They were in a hurry, and took Tamar there, still, in the palanquin. But her merciless disease took on yet graver form. They brought her to the fortress of Agari. And all the searches for a medical cure turned out to be vain. [...] on the eighteenth of January, Tamar fall asleep with the sleep of a righteous one; and the sun went out of Georgia, and only the urge to glorify her grave, gave sense to the earthly life among all us Christians (Translation needed)

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1288

Encouragement of marriages by the municipality of Bologna; fear of epidemics because of the weather, therefore banishment of lepers from the city to a hospital and financial aid for the poor.

Costumava in questi tempi il Senato di honorare e favorire li Matrimonij che fra li Cittadini si facevano dentro la Città, et in questo medesimo anno se ne feccero quarantuno Matrimonij nel quale lassendolo il Senato fece fare altre tante casselline di panno rosato, et a ciaschuhno secondo era il [S. 150] ne presentò una. Era questo favore di tanta stima che lo spos gloriandosi per otto giorni continui portava in capo la detta cappellina di Rosato. Et da li in poi lo spos la serbava in casa come segno di particolar favore fattogli dal Senato. In questo medesimo anno volle il Senato che si fabricasse un ponte vicino alla città per cui passa l'aqua del Fium Savena. Et perche pareva che l'aere et le gravi infermità minacciassero qualche disordine ne' corpi humani morendo gli' Infermi quasi di repentina morte fù dal senato fatto quest' ordine che nessun Leproso o contaminato nella persona habitasse, ne si accortasse alla Città per ispatio di re miglia, ma si fermasse all' Hospital di S. Lazzaro. Et se alcuno di detti infettati fosse povero, il Senato darebbe per ciascuno povero lire dieci.

It was the custom in these times for the Senate to honour and favour the marriages of citizens within the city, and in this same year forty-one marriages took place, in which the Senate had many other rosy-coloured boxes made, and to each one, according to the [S. 150] order, it presented one. This favour was of such esteem that the bride gloriously wore for eight continuous days the said chapel of Rosato on her head. And from then on, the bride kept it at home as a sign of the special favour done him by the Senate. In the same year, the Senate demanded that a bridge be built near the city through which the waters of the river Savena flow. And because it seemed that the air and the serious infirmities threatened some disorder in the human body, with the infirm dying an almost sudden death, the Senate ordered that no lepers or those infected in person should live in the city, nor should they be seen by the city for a distance of three miles, but that they should stay at the Hospital of S. Lazzaro. And if any of the infected were poor, the Senate would give each poor person ten lire. (Translation: DeepL)

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1284 – 1288, December 10

Example of leprosy in Rurikids dynasty. Illnes of Vladimir Vasylkovich prince of Volodymyr-Volynsky.

Кнѧѕю же Вълѡдимероу лежащю в болести своей пол[ъ]но д҃ лѣт[а]. Болезнь же его сице скажем[ъ]. Нача емоу гнити исподнѧа оустна – пръвого лѣта мало, на дроугое и на третїе бол[ь]ма почѧ гнити. И еще ж[е] емоу не вел[ь]ми бол[ь]ноу сѫщю, но ездѧше на кони, когда хотѧше”. […] Исходѧщю ж[е] д҃-мү лѣтоу и наставши ѕѣмѣ, начѧ бол[ь]ма нечимо: опада емү все мѧсо съ брады и зоубы исподнїи выгниша вси, и челюсть бороднаа перегни. Съй же быс[ть] вторыи Ӏевъ. […] и ѡт[ъ]пада емоу мѧсо все съ бороды, кость борѡд[ь]наа перегнила бѧше, и быс[ть] видѣти и гортан[ь]. И не въкоуша по з҃ недел[ь] ничтож[е], развѣ одиное воды, и тое ж[е] поскоудоу. И быс[ть] в че[твьрто]к[ъ]: на ноч[ь] поча изнемогати, и ӕко быс[ть] в коуры, и позна в собѣ д[оу]хь изнемагающь ко исходоу д[оу]ши.

Prince Vladimir lay suffering in great pain a full four years. We will tell of his pain in the following way. His lower lip began to rot. Only a little in the first year but in the second and third year, it decayed even more, and yet he was not very ill, but rode his horse when he wanted to […] As the fourth year was coming to a close and winter [had] set in, [Volodimer's illness became worse]. All his flesh parted from his chin, his lower teeth rotted away completely, and his lower jaw [also] decayed. He was [indeed] the second Job. […] All his flesh parted from his chin and the bone had decayed [to such an extent] that one could see his larynx. And for seven weeks he did not take anything except water and that very little. By nightfall Thursday he began to fail in strength, and when it was time for the cock to crow, he knew that his spirit was failing to allow his soul to leave [his body].

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References

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