Lombardy

Place

Time

Language

Disease

Animal

Keyword

Person

Nature event

River

Plague

Scribe

Social response

Victims

In Lombardy, a total of 27 epidemic events are known so far. It is a region in Italy.

Events

	Date	Summary		Source	Translation	T

1276

Price increase in Genoa, Lombardy, Tuscany, France and in complete Italy, poverty migration and disease

In iam dicto anno [1276] victualium magna fuit penuries nedum in Ianua et districtu, set etiam in Lonbardia, Tuscia, Provintia et Francia, et quasi in Ytalia tota. In Ianua enim et districtu usque in solidos 40 frumenti mine singule vendebantur; quod autem durius est audire, nedum frumentum set nec etiam granum poterat reperiri. Qui enim granum habebant, illud ad libitum vendere potuissent, quantumcunque voluissent inde habere pretium; nisi iussio emanasset qua fuit cunctis inhibitum, ne ultra certam summam frumentum vel granum aliquatenus venderetur. Tanta autem victualium inedia nedum per totum illum annum set etiam quasi per totum sequentem regnavit, quod homines fame peribant. Qua ex causa urgente fame et fructuum paupertate, magna mulierum et hominum multitudo cum eorum familias etiam parvulis quos in cunabulis deferebant, fines Lonbardie, Tuscie, Provintie et totius Ytalie famem fugientes est egressa. Ex diversis quidem civitatibus locis et villis et quasi ex totius Lonbardie et Ytalie finibus homines mulieres magni et parvuli undique concurrebant, qui quasi fame consumpti velud mortui apparebant. Qui omnes habuerunt ad civitatem Ianuensem recursum, et quamquam Ianuensis civitas magna victualium laboraret inopia, tamen ad se fugientes non repulit; set ipsis miseris et oppressis fame [p. 283] compatiens manum aperuit et panem suum et omnia neccessaria eisdem esurientibus ministravit. Illo quippe anno et quasi toto sequenti aer infectus et pestilens celum fuit, et ad hec in omnibus iam dictis partibus morbus invaluit, quod infinitos homines et mulieres magnos et parvos fere in omnibus Ytalie partibus mors invasit.

(Translation needed)

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1277

Epidemic with deaths in Italy and Lombardy.

De magna hominum mortalitate, et de domino Mastino, qui interfectus fuit.[…] Et eodem anno (1277) fuit mortalitas maxima et magne infirmitates hominum, puerorum et mulierum quasi per universum orbem et maxime in regno Ytalie et Lombardie.

About the great mortality of men, and about Lord Mastino, who was killed. [...] And in the same year (1277), there was the greatest mortality and great illnesses of men, children, and women almost throughout the entire world, especially in the kingdom of Italy and Lombardy. (Translation: Martin Bauch)

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1277

Epidemic with many deaths and strong price increase of grain in Lombardy and Italy

Item eodem anno fuit maxima caritudo blave, ita quod sestarium furmenti fuit positum in asetum [fixing the price] ad decem solidos imperiales spelte v solidos imperiales; et secrete per episcopatum vendebatur xx solidis imperialibus starium furmenti. Et magna mortalitas hominum, infancium et mulierum fuit per Lombardiam et totam Ytaliam [...] Et illo anno fuit paucum blaudum per totam Lombardiam, ita quod starium furmenti vendebatur xij solidis imperialibus et starium spelte vj solidis imperialibus. Et fuit magna mortalitas per totam Lombardiam

(Translation needed)

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1283

Cattle disease in (northern) Italy, Lombardy and Romagna.

Et eodem anno fuit maxima bovum mortalitas per totam Lombardiam, Romagnolam et Ytaliam

(Translation needed)

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1283 – 1284

Cattle death, in the following high mortality among humans in 1284

1283 - De mortalitate boum que fuit hoc anno. Quod sequenti anno fuit hominum mortalitas subsecut[a]. Item supraposito anno Domini MCCLXXXIII fuit maxima boum mortaliltas per totam Lombardiam, Romagnolam et Ytaliam, et sequenti anno subsecuta est mortalitas hominum. Nam apud Salinum in Burgundia in quodam loco fratrum Minorum habitabant XXII fratres, quos ibi vivos invenit quidam frater Gallicus qui habitabat in Grecia et ibat Parisius; eodem anno, cum reverteretur, invenit XI ex illis mortuos, id est medietatem numeri supradicti. Audivi ab ore ipsius hec eadem apud Regium. In aliis vero partibus mundi eodem anno mortui sunt similiter multi. Et breviter ista est regula generalis, ut, quotienscumque fuerit mortalitas boum, statim sequenti anno mortalitas hominum subsequatur.

(Translation needed)

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1312, June – 1312, August

Severe epidemic in Parma and also in complete Lombardy with many deaths, mainly men, but also heat; poor people mow wild grass and sell it.

De mense junij, julij et augusti magna mortalitas fuit in civitate Parme, et etiam per Lombardiam, hominum, et pauci qui infirmabantur, liberabantur, et infra octo vel novem dies moriebantur, ita quod prohibitum fuit mortuos cridari per commune Parme per civitatem, sicut antea moris erat; et hoc evenit magis in civitate Parme quam in episcopatu, et magis in masculis quam in feminis; et multi infirmi fuerunt. Et eo tempore maximus calor fuit, et per multos burgos civitatis et stratas erbe selvatice et pabulum nascebatur sic et in campaneis, it quod ribaldi metebant pabulum et erbam que dicitur zovenzonum per burgos et stratas civitatis et portabant eam ad vendendum.

(Translation needed)

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1313, May

Price increase in Lombardy leads to famine deaths and in summer an epidemic throughout Italy

De mense Maii fuit maxima Caristia per totam Lombardiam, adeo ut multi morerentur in viis, & domibus fame terribili. Et ipso mense obiit Dominus Henricus Episcopus Rhegiensis, & tota illa aestate fuit morbus maximus per totam Italiam

(Translation needed)

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1321, August

Great cattle mortality in Parma and its surroundings and all of Lombardy.

Gran mortalità di bovi e bestie bovine ne l'episcopato di Parma masime al piano e per tutta Lombardia.

Great mortality of bovines and cattle in the episcopate of Parma on the plain and throughout Lombardy. (Translation: DeepL)

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1321, August

Great cattle mortality in Parma, surrounding areas and all of Lombardy.

Gran mortalità di bovi e bestie bovine ne l'episcopato di Parma masime al piano e per tutta Lombardia.

Great mortality of bovines and cattle in the episcopate of Parma maxime on the plain and throughout Lombardy. (Translation: DeepL)

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1347 – 1348 VN: 2,700

Cold weather followed by famine. Then outbreak of the Black Death in parts of Lombardy, especially in rural areas, but also in Varese; plague spares Milan, Novara, Pavia, Cuneo and Vercelli. Source is notorious for confused, imprecise and contradictory chronology

Dixeram supra quod tunc temporis nix erat magna et fuit verum; nam duravit super facie terre usque ad finem raensis martii vel quasi, propter quam campestria tantum fastidium frigoris et undacionis susceperunt quod biada, nive recedente, ut plurimum mortua aparebant. Ex qua multe terre habitatoribus private fuerunt, maxime in montanis partibus; deinde, fame cessante, cepit morbus prosiliens a partibus ul'tramarinis partes inferiores invadere; et primo Bononiam applicuit, videlicet anno MCCCXLIIII, in qua civitate infiniti perierunt, omni defensione et medela destituta. Due partes autem corporum dicebantur periisse. Invasitque pestilencia Januam ubi simili modo perierunt; invasit Parmam in qua multi defecerunt. Servavit Mediolanum, Papiam, Novariam, Cumas, Vercellas, set discurrando occupavit Lombardiam a dicto anno usque annum MCCCXLVII, ubi iterum super districtu Novarie vigebat; nam in dicto districtu Momum vacuavit, Bellanzagum similiter et in Burgomanerio ', ubi conversationem habebam, ubi dicti viri belligeri habitabant, perlerunt dieta clade in tribus mensibus prò completis centenaria xxvii virorum, computatis mulieribus et parvulis, nec in aliìs terris tunc insilivit novariensibus; in comitatu autem Mediolani in partibus Varixii, Anglerie, Gallarate et circumstanciis ut supra, sine numero perierunt. Cessavit itaque dieta pestilentìa moriendi, tamen in aliquibus locis discurrendo.

I mentioned above that at that time there was a great snowfall, and it was true; for it lasted on the surface of the earth until the end of March or nearly so. Because of this, the fields suffered so much from the cold and flooding that, when the snow melted, most of the crops appeared dead. As a result, many lands were deprived of their inhabitants, especially in the mountainous regions. Then, as the famine ceased, a disease began to spread from the overseas regions, invading the lower areas. It first struck Bologna in the year 1344 (sic!), where countless people perished, lacking any defense or remedy. It was said that two-thirds of the population died. The pestilence then invaded Genoa, where many similarly perished, and then Parma, where many died as well. Milan, Pavia, Novara, Como, and Vercelli were spared, but the disease spread throughout Lombardy from that year until 1347 (sic!), when it again raged in the district of Novara. In that district, it emptied Momeliano, Bellinzona, and Borgomanero, where I lived, and where the mentioned warriors lived. In three months, 2,700 men perished, including women and children, and the disease did not attack other lands in Novara at that time. However, in the surroundings of Milan, in the regions of Varese, Angera, Gallarate, and the surrounding areas, countless people perished. Thus, the aforementioned pestilence ceased in its deadliness, though it continued to spread in some places (Translation: Martin Bauch)

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1348

In Milan just a small outbreak of the plague with only 3 dead families.

A Melano (p. 147) non vi morì se non tre famiglie, alle case di quelli funno murati li usci e lle finestre, ma fu per tutta Lonbardia.

In Milan (p. 147) only three families died there, the houses of those families had their doors and windows walled up, but it was all over Lombardy. (Translation: DeepL)

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1361 VN: 11.000

The pestis secunda is ravaging Venice, France, Spain, Germany, Avignon, Lombardy and Romagna, but sparing Modena, Bologna and Tuscany. Milan suffers a loss of 11.000 people

Dicto millesimo M.ccclxj per totum illum annum in partibus orbis fuit pestilentialis mortalitas valde magna, quae de uno loco ad alium per temporis spacium transibat; fuit etiam dicta mortalitas in civitate Venetiarum, in Francia, in Hispania, in Alemania, in Avenione ubi Papa residebat et in aliquibus partibus Romandiolae et quasi in omnibus civitatibus Lombardiae, quia prout ego Iohannes de Bacano audivi ab aliquibus fide dignis, in civitate Mediolani et eius diocesi inter homines et mulieres plusquam xj. milia personarum ex dicta pestilentia obierunt, ita quod medietas personarum in locis ubi erat pestilentia habitantium et ultra creduntur ex [p. 177] dicta pestilentia decessisse; tamen dicta pestilentia ad civitatem Mutinae nec Bononiae ne in Tuscia nec in aliis multis mundi locis in dicto anno minime pertransivit. Pestilentia autem illa era apostemata pessima, ex quibus personae, ut plurimum, subito vel quasi demigrabant.

In the said year 1361, throughout that entire year, there was a very great plague-induced mortality in parts of the world, which moved from one place to another over a span of time. This mortality was also said to have occurred in the city of Venice, in France, in Spain, in Germany, in Avignon where the Pope resided, and in some parts of Romagna, and in almost all the cities of Lombardy. For, as I, Johannes de Bacano, heard from some trustworthy sources, in the city of Milan and its diocese, more than eleven thousand people, both men and women, died from this plague, so that it is believed that half of the inhabitants in the places where the plague was present and more died from this plague. However, this plague did not pass through the city of Modena, nor Bologna, nor in Tuscany, nor in many other parts of the world in that year. This plague, however, was marked by very bad abscesses, from which most people, suddenly or almost suddenly, perished (Translation needed)

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1369, August

After having been crowned empress in Rome earlier this year, Elisabeth (of Pomerania) returns to Prague on August 20 where she is ceremonially received. Because there is pestilence in Bohemia, the emperor, Charles IV, returns after the celebration to Lombardy. The pestilence raged during the whole year and with the greatest intensity in the regions towards Austria.

Eodem anno die XX mensis Augusti domina Elizabeth, Romanorum imperatrix, hoc anno, ut supra dicitur, Rome per manus domini pape coronata, Pragam venit et cum omni solempnitate a clero et populo in civitate et ecclesia Pragensi suscipitur. Imperator vero, quia pestilencia erat in Bohemia, postquam reversus est de Lombardia. [...] Eodem anno, ut supra meminimus, permitente Deo propter peccata populi fuit maxima pestilencia in Boemia, et precipue in plaga illa versus Austriam, et duravit per annum integrum. Et cum appropinquaret Pragam et ibidem incepisset eciam invalescere, indicte sunt processiones et ieiunia, et placatus est dominus Deus paciens et multum misericors, et cessavit continuo pestilenciam.

In this year at the 20th day of the month of August, Lady Elizabeth, empress of the Romans, who in this year, as said above, had been crowned in Rome by the hands of the pope, returned to Prague and was received with all solemnity by the clergy and the people in the city and in the church of Prague. The emperor, however, because there was a pestilence in Bohemia, had returned to Lombardy afterwards. [...] In the same year, as mentioned above, by God's permission due to the sins of the people, there was a great pestilence in Bohemia, especially in that region towards Austria, and it lasted for a whole year. And when it approached Prague and began to intensify there, processions and fasts were instituted, and the Lord God, patient and very merciful, was appeased, and the pestilence ceased immediately. (Translation: Christian Oertel)

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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

	Cities of Italy
Arezzo • Aquila • Aquileia • Asti • Belinzona • Bobbio • Bologna • Borgomanero • Brescia • Carpi • Catania • Cesena • Chioggia • Cremona • Como • Cuneo • Faenza • Ferrara • Figline Valdarno • Fiumana • Florence • Forlì • Forlimpopoli • Gaeta • Genoa • Iglesias • Imola • L'Aquila • Lucca • Mantua • Messina • Milan • Modena • Momeliano • Monza • Naples • Orvieto • Padua • Parma • Pesaro • Piacenza • Piombino • Pisa • Pistoia • Prato • Quartesana • Ravenna • Rimini • Rome • Siena • Tivoli • Trento • Treviso • Trapani • Savona • Venafro • Venice • Verona • Vignone • Viterbo

	Regions of Italy
Anagni • Apulia • Calabria • Casentino • Contado • Emilia • Friuli • Lombardy • Marche • Marche Mugello • Northern Italy • Piedmont • Romagna • Sicily • Southern Italy • Tuscany

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