Template:1346-00-00-Orient

1346

Report of Gabrielle de Mussis: In the Orient happened an unexplained plague, depopultating many regions. During the siege of Feodosia (Caffa) by the Tartars, their army was afflicted by the disease. The plague, which initially struck the Tartars, spread than also inside the city, because they ordered the plague-stricken corpses to be thrown over the walls of Caffa. The situation deteriorated, and people were expecting the impending judgement Day.

Anno domini MCCCXLVI. in partibus orientis, InfinitaTartarorum et Saracenorum genera, morbo inexplicabili, et morte subita corruerunt. Ipsarumque parcium latissime regiones, Infinite prouincie, regna magnifica, vrbes, Castra, et loca, plena hominurn multitudine copiosa, morbo pressa, et horrende rnortis morsibus, propriis Acollis denudata paruo tempore deffecerunt. Nan (!) locus dictus Thanna, in partibus orientis, uersus Acquilonem Constantinopolitana contrada (I) sub Tartarorum dominio constituta, ubi merchatores ytalici confluebant, cum propter quosdam excessus, superuenientibus Tartaris infinitis, modico temporis Interuollo (!) obsessa, et hostiliter debellata, deserta penitus remaneret. Accidit ut uiolenter christianj merchatores expulsi, Intra menia Terre Caffensis, quam ab olim illa Regione Januenses extruxerant, fugientes christiani sese pro suarum tutione personarum et rerum, Tartarorum formidantes potenciam, Armato Nauigio receptarent. Ha deus. Ecce subito, gentes Tartarorum profane, vndique confluentes, Caffensem urbem circurndantes, incluxos christicolas obsederunt, fere Triennio perdurantes. lbique hostium exercitu Infinito uallati, vix poterant respirare, licet Nauigio Alimenta ferrente illud talle subsidium intrinsecis spem modicam exhyberet. Et ecce Morbo Tartaros inuadente totus exercitus perturbatus longuebat et cottidie Infinita millia sunt extincta videbatur eis, sagittas euolare de celo , tangere et opprimere superbiam Tartarorum. qui statim signati corporibus In iuncturis , humore coagulato in Inguinibus, febre putrida subsequente, expirabant, omni conscilio et auxilio medicorum cessante. Quod Tartari, ex tanta clade et morbo pestifero fatigati, sic defficientes attoniti et vndique stupefacti, sine spe salutis mori conspicientes, cadavera, machinis eorum superposita, Intra Caffensem vrbem precipitari Jubebant, ut ipsorum fectore(!) intollerabili, omnino defficerent. Sic sic proiecta videbantur Cacurnina mortuorum, nec christiani latere, nec fugere, nec a tali precipicio liberari valebant, licet deffunctos, quos poterant marinis traderent fluctibus inmergendos. Moxque toto aere inffecto, et aqua uenenata, corrupta putredine, tantusque fetor Increbuit ut vix ex Millibus vnus, relicto exercitu fingere conaretur qui eciam uenenatus alijs ubique uenena preparans, solo aspectu, loca et homines, morbo Inffieret uniuersos. Nec aliquis sciebat, uel poterat viam lnuenire satutis. Sic undique Orientalibus, et meridiana plaga, et qui in Aquilone degebant, sagita percussis Asperima, que coporibus crepidinem Inducebat, morbo pressis pestiffero, fere onmes, defficiebant, et morte subita corruebant. Quanta, qualisque fuerit mortalitas generalis, Cathaijnj, lndi, Perses, Medi , Cardenses, Armeni, Tarsenses, Georgianj, Mesopotami, Nubiani, Ethijopes, Turchumani, Egiptij, Arabici, Saraceni, Greci et fere toto oriente corrupto, clamoribus, flectibus(!) et singultibus occupati, a supra dicto Millesimo usque ad Millesimo, CCCXLVIIII in amaritudine commorantes, extremum deij Judicium suspicantur.

In the year of Our Lord 1346, in the eastern regions, innumerable races of Tartars and Saracens perished due to an inexplicable plague and sudden death. Vast regions of these parts, countless provinces, magnificent kingdoms, cities, castles, and places filled with a dense population, were struck by the plague and succumbed to the horrific bites of death, being emptied of their inhabitants in a short time. For instance, a place called Thanna, in the eastern parts, towards the north near the territory of Constantinople under Tartar rule, where Italian merchants used to gather, was besieged and attacked by countless Tartars over a short period, and left completely desolate after an onslaught. It happened that the Christian merchants, violently expelled, fled to the fortified city of Caffa, which had been constructed long ago in that region by the Genoese, seeking protection for their lives and belongings. The Tartars, fearing the power of their enemy, surrounded the city and laid siege for nearly three years. Besieged by the massive Tartar army, the inhabitants barely managed to survive, despite some help brought by ships carrying supplies, which offered them only slight hope. Suddenly, the Tartars themselves were struck by disease, and their entire army began to weaken and was daily afflicted, with countless numbers dying. It seemed as if arrows were falling from the sky to strike and humble the pride of the Tartars. The infected showed signs in their joints and groins, with a thickened fluid, followed by a putrid fever, causing them to die despite all medical advice or aid. Exhausted by this disastrous plague, the Tartars, seeing no hope of recovery and stunned by the devastation, ordered the bodies of their dead to be catapulted into the city of Caffa to spread the intolerable stench and weaken the inhabitants. Thus, the Christians could neither hide nor escape nor free themselves from this danger, even though they threw the corpses they could into the sea to be carried away by the waves. The air was soon contaminated, the water poisoned, and the corruption spread so intensely that scarcely one in a thousand survived to flee, those who did often carrying the infection, spreading it wherever they went and infecting people and places simply by their presence. No one knew or could find a way to salvation. Thus, in the eastern regions, the southern lands, and the northern inhabitants, struck by the harshest arrows of disease that ate into the body, almost everyone succumbed and fell to sudden death. The scale and nature of the widespread mortality were such that the Cathayans, Indians, Persians, Medes, Kardians, Armenians, Tarsians, Georgians, Mesopotamians, Nubians, Ethiopians, Turcomans, Egyptians, Arabs, Saracens, Greeks, and nearly the entire East, overcome by cries, weeping, and sobs, suspected the final judgment, remaining in bitterness from the said year 1346 until 1349. (Translation: Martin Bauch)

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