For Harvest, a total of 25 epidemic events are known so far. It is a keyword.
Table
| Page | DateStart date of the disease. | SummarySummary of the disease event | OriginalOriginal text | TranslationEnglish translation of the text | ReferenceReference(s) to literature | Reference translationReference(s) to the translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1224-00-00-Rus territory | 1224 JL | Famine and plague/pest in the Rus territory. Upraising of magicians in Suzdal’ city. | [6532] В се же лѣто въсташа волъсви в Суждали, избиваху старую чадь къ дьӕволю наоущенью и бѣсованью, глаголюще, ӕко си держать гобино. Бѣ мѧтежь великъ и голодъ по всеи тои странѣ; идоша по Волзѣ вси людьє в Болгары, и привезоша [жито] и тако ѡжиша. Слъıшав же Ӕрославъ волхвы, приде Суздалю; изъимавъ волхвы, расточи, а другъıми показани, рекъ сице «Богъ наводить по грѣхомъ на куюждо землю гладом(ъ) или моромъ, ли ведромь, ли иною казнью, а человѣкъ не вѣсть ничтоже».<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> | In this year (1224), magicians appeared in Suzdal', and killed old people by satanic inspiration and devil worship, saying that they would spoil the harvest. There was great confusion and famine throughout all that country. The whole population went along the Volga to the Bulgars from whom they bought grain and thus sustained themselves. When Yaroslav heard of the magicians, he went to Suzdal'. He there seized upon the magicians and dispersed them, but punished some, saying, "In proportion to its sin, God inflicts upon every land hunger, pest<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a>, drought, or some other chastisement, and man has no understanding thereof".<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a> | None | |
| 1259-04-00-Paris 001 | April 1259 JL | Great mortality in Paris. | In Paschate etiam post fuit maxima mortalitas Parisius, et antequam essent vindemie fuit vinum ad IIIIor denarios per totum Parisius. | At Easter 1259 and afterwards, there was a great mortality in Paris, and before the grape harvest, wine was sold for 4 denarii throughout Paris. | Template:Annales Clerici Parisiensis 1877, p. 187. | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1259-05-00-St. Albans | May 1259 JL | Air corruption was followed by disease and bad weather and harvest. | Item in mayo [1259] fuit maxima aeris corruptio per totum mensem. Inde subsecute sunt multe infirmitates et mortalitas hominum. Arbores non fructificabant. Item mense Julio multa tonitrua et terribilia et fulgura cadentia. Item mense octobri ad festum sancti Dionisii per tres dies continuos et noctes horrid tempestas celum commouit et undas et multi naufragio perierunt | Moreover, in May 1259, there was severe air corruption throughout the entire month. As a result, many illnesses and deaths followed among people. The trees did not bear fruit. Additionally, in July, there were many terrifying thunderclaps and lightning strikes. Furthermore, in October, around the feast of Saint Denis, for three continuous days and nights, a dreadful storm stirred the sky and the waves, and many perished in shipwrecks. | Template:Chronicon S. Andreae in Antona Sempentrionalis (bis 1339) 1929, p. 101. | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1331-00-00-Iceland 002 | 1331 JL | Mortality of cattle and bad harvest in Iceland in 1331. | Felli vetr inn micli. Váran a korn i a Islandi. | A very hard winter (1331) when the cattle died. Bad harvest in grain in Iceland. | Skálholtsannáll. In: Gustav Storm: Islandske Annaler indtil 1578. Kristiania 1888, p. 206. | Translation by Carina Damm |
| 1334-Summer-France | June 1334 JL | In France, Burgundy, and the Champagne raged a plague during the three months of summer. In Paris (where the author stayed) died 16.000 people in one hospital. | Eodem anno mense Mai gelu intolerabile vineas omnes in partibus Almanie. Tantum destruxit, quod post vindemia luxit. In Burgundia vero et in Francia et Campania, ubi tempore vindemie pertransivi, non tantum dampnum factum fuisse conspeci. Aliam autem plagam Deus hoc anno eisdem terris intulit, quia mortalitatis pestilencia plurimos homines tunc percussit. Parysius namque infra tres menses estivales in hospitali regis, quod ante monasterium beate virginis in kathedrali ecclesia situm est, quod dolenter refero, sedecim milia hominum sunt mortua et in cimiterio innocentum sepulta, me etenim in ipso hospitali existente et compassivo animo contuente. Tot sunt in brevi mortui, quod vix erant tot, qui hos tollerent et ad tumulum deportarent. | In the same year in the month of May an unbearable frost destroyed all the vinyards in the German lands so that the grape harvest was in grief. But in Burgundy and in France and the Champagne, through where I passed during grape harvest, I did not see such damage. But God put in this year another load on these lands since a deadly plague killed many people then. For in Paris died during the three months of summer in the royal hospital, which is situated in front of the monastery of the Holy Virgin at the cathedral church, as I report with regrets, 16.000 people, and they were buried at the graveyard of the innocent. In fact, I stayed in this hospital and watched with a compassionate heart. So many died in a short period of time that there were hardly as many who could pick them up and bring them to their graves. | Peter of Zittau, Chronicon Aula regiae (Kronika Zbraslavská), in: Emler (ed.), Fontes rerum Bohemicarum IV, Prague 1884, pp. 1-337, 321. | Translation by Christian Oertel |
| 1341-00-00-Iceland 001 | 1341 JL | Bad harvest caused by volcanic ash from an eruption of Hekla in 1341 | Kom upp elldr i Heklufelli med oari oc osku falli oc eyddwz margar bygdir. Myrkr svo mikit um daga, sem um nætr a vetr. | There was a fire in Mount Hekla with a bad harvest and ash fall and many towns were laid waste. Such a great darkness during the day as during the nights in winter. | Annales regii. In: Gustav Storm: Islandske Annaler indtil 1578. Kristiania 1888, p. 155 | Translation by Carina Damm |
| 1341-12-22-Pisa | 22 December 1341 JL | Price increase and famine lead to a great mortality in Pisa, especially among adolescents and the general captain Fazio Novello della Gherardesca died. | Nel milletrecentoquarantuno, essendo stato grande caro di grano l'anno dinansi che ss'era fatto la piassa del Grano e ffue grandissima fame, di che l'anno 1341 ditto si ffue grande mortalità di giovani. Inella quale mortalità, a d*i vindtidue, 22, di dicienbrew moritte lo ditto conte Fasio, nella chui morte ne menòe Pisa grande duolo e quazi tutta Toschana e ciaschuno lo piansse come se fusse stato suo padre o suo figluolo. | In the year 1341, since there had been a great shortage of grain in the year of the wheat harvest, and there was great hunger, there was a great mortality of young men. In this mortality, on the 22nd day of October, the said Count Fasio died, in whose death there was great grief in Pisa and all of Tosca and everyone mourned him as if he had been his father or his son | Template:Cronica di Pisa 2005, p. 105. | Translation by Thomas Wozniak |
| 1347-00-00-Florence 001 | 1347 JL | Until harvest-time the problems of food shortage still existed in Florence. The first signs of the Black Death were seen in this time, but the plague arose already 2 year earlier in the East. The symptoms were horrible and many people died. | Altero dehinc anno, priusquam segetes maturescerent, eaedem quae superiori tempore difficultates rei frumentariae populum tenuere. Maturis deinde frugibus atque collectis, difficultates illae pristinae cessavere. Variis tamen morborum generibus laborabatur, et pestilentiae, qua postmodum vastata Italia est, signa quaedam horrenda tunc primum apparuerunt. Ea clades biennio fere ante (quantum haberi notitia poterat) in Orientis partibus coorta; mox inde per populos pestilenti contagio evagata, alia subinde appetendo loca, regiones cumulatis funeribus inanierat. Febris erat sopifera et inguinis tumor. Id quasi venenum quoddam robustissimos iuvenes, alioquin sanos, repente invadens, paucissimis interdum enecabat horis. Contagia omnium exitiosa erant. Ea igitur tunc civitatem ingressa imbecilliora primum corpora puerorum puellarumque conficere coepit; inde ad firmiora transgrediens, per omnem sexum aetatemque vagata est. | The next year, up until harvest-time, the People were preoccupied with the same difficulties of provisioning as before; but once the crops ripened and were harvested, these earlier difficulties ceased. Yet they were still suffering from diseases of various kinds, and certain horrid signs of the pestilence which afterwards devastated Italy then became manifest for the first time. As far as one can tell, this disaster had arisen two years earlier in parts of the East, then soon spread with epidemic virulence from populace to populace, seeking out one place after another, emptying whole regions with piles of corpses. It caused a sleep-inducing fever and a swelling in the groin. Like a kind of poison it suddenly attacked the most robust young men, otherwise healthy, and killed them in a few hours. It was the most destructive of all epidemics; and it was this epidemic that entered the city at that time. It began by first consuming the weaker bodies of boys and girls, then passed on to the stronger, spreading through both sexes and persons of every age. | Leonardo Bruni: Historiarum Florentini populi libri XII, Vol. 2, p. 310. | None |
| 1350-00-00-Herford | 1350 JL | The Black Death and its social consequences like deserted settlements and disintegration of society; symptoms pointing to gastroenteritis before buboes were visible. In cities, mass graves are built. Maybe unusual weather in 1348. | Et in ejus "Principio celum spissa caligine terras / Pressit, et ignavos inclusit nubibus estus" (Ovid, met. VII, 526) hominusque viscera primo torrentur flammisque fatiscunt, ut dicetur anno Karoli IV. tertio [1348]. Ceperuntque nasci in inguinibus hominum vel in aliis locis delicatioribus glandule in modum nucis vel dactili. Quas mox subsequebatur febrium intollerabilis estus, ita ut in triduo homo extingueretur. Sin vero aliquis triduum transegisset, habebat spem vivendi. Erat autem ubique luctus, ubique lacrime. Nam ut vulgi rumor habebat, querentes cladem vitare hinc inde fugerunt. Et relinquebantur domus deserte habitatoribus, solis catulis domos servantibus. Peculia sola remanebat in pascuis, nullo astante pastore. Cerneres pridem villas seu castra repleta agminibus hominum, postera die, universis vel mortuis vel fugientibus, cuncta esse in summo silentio. Fugiebant quoque filii cadavera parentum insepultorum. Parentes obliti pietatis viscera, natos relinquebant estuantes. Si quem antiqua forsitan pietas perstringebant, ut vellet sepelire proximum, restabat ipse insepultus, et dum obsequebatur, perimebatur. Dum funeri obsequium prebebat, ipse funus sine obsequio manebat. Videres seculum in antiquum redactum silentium. Nulla vox in rure, nullus pastorum sibilus. Nulle insidie bestiarum pecudibus. Nulla dampna in domesticis volucribus. Sed corvorum subito nimis multiplicatorum tota die crocitationes super viventes et super mortuos hyatus. Sata transgressa metendi tempus intacta expspectabant messorem. Vinea, amissis foliis, radiantibus uvis, illesa manebat hyeme propinquante. Nullus cernebatur percussor, et tamen visum oculorum superabant cadavera mortuorum. Intra civitates cymitera sepeliendis non sufficiebant unde et in campis sepulturas hominum novas faciebant. Simile quid dictum est anno Justiniani …. | And, as one says about the third year of Charles IV reign (1348), "at its beginning thick fog covered the heavens and the earth, / And sluggish heat was confined in the clouds". And human entrails were first drenched with torrents and burst into flames. And there began to grow in the groins of men or in other delicate places glands resembling nuts or dates. Soon followed by an intolerable heat of fevers, so that within three days a person would perish. But if someone passed three days, they had hope of living. Everywhere there was mourning, everywhere tears. For, as the common rumor had it, those lamenting to avoid disaster fled hither and thither. And deserted houses were left behind, inhabited only by stray dogs. Only wealth remained in the pastures, with no shepherd present. You would see villages or camps recently filled with crowds of people, but on the next day, with everyone either dead or fleeing, everything was in total silence. Even the children fled the bodies of their unburied parents. Parents, forgetful of their natural affection, abandoned their suffering children. If perhaps ancient compassion moved someone to want to bury their neighbor, that person remained unburied themselves, and while they were attending to the burial, they were killed. While they offered funeral rites, their own funeral remained without ceremony. You would see the world returned to ancient silence. No voice in the countryside, no shepherd's whistle. No lurking danger from wild beasts for the flocks. No losses among domestic fowl. But suddenly, the cawing of crows, too numerous, echoed all day over the living and the dead. The crops, surpassing the time of harvest, awaited the reaper untouched. The vineyards, stripped of leaves, with ripening grapes, remained untouched as winter approached. No reaper was seen, yet the corpses of the dead outnumbered the sights of the eyes. Within cities, burial grounds were insufficient for burying, so new human graves were made in the fields. Similar things were said in the year of Justinian ... | Heinrich von Herford 1859, p. 274. | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1355-00-00-Florence | 1355 JL | In Florence dry and beautiful until mid-April, then much rain, from June very dry until mid-October. Then much precipitation with loss of a third of the seed grain. In summer, many infections and febrile diseases [rabies outbreak in Calabria?], total loss of the fruit harvest, many dead farm animals; good grain harvest; reason: A lunar eclipse on 16th of February. | Martedì notte alle ore IIII e mezzo, a dì XVI di febbraio MCCCLV, cominciò la scurazione della luna nel segno dell' Aquario, e all'ore V e mezzo fu tutta scurata, e bene dello spazio d'un altra ora si penò a liberare. E non sapiendo noi per astrologia di sua influenzia, considerammo li efetti di questo seguente anno, e vedemmo continovamente infino a mezzo aprile serenissimo cielo, e apresso continove acque oltre al modo usato e i rimanente d'aprile e tutto il mese di maggio, e apresso continovi secchi e stemperati caldi insino a mezzo ottobre. E in questi tempi estivali e autunnali furono generali infezzioni, e in molte parti malatie di febri e altri stemperamenti di corpi mortali umani, e singularmente malatie di ventre e di pondi co lungo duramento. Ancora avenne in questo anno un disusato accidente alli uomini, e cominciossi in Calavra a fFiume Freddo e scorse fino a Gaeta, e chiamavano questo accidente male arrabiato. L'affetto mostrava mancamento di celabro con cadimento di capogirli con diversi dibattimenti, e mordieno come cani e percotiensi pericolosamente, e assai se ne morivano, ma cchi era proveduto e atato guariva. E fu nel detto anno mortalità di bestie dimestiche grande. E in questo anno medesimo furono [p. 729] in Fiandra, e in Francia e in Italia molte grandi e diverse battaglie, e nuovi movimenti di guerre e di signorie, come leggendo si potrà trovare. E nel detto anno fu singolare buona e gra ricolta di pane, e più vino non si sperava, perché un freddo d'aprile l'uve già nate seccò e arse, e da ccapo molte ne rinacquono e condussonsi a bbene, cosa assai strana. E da mezzo ottobre a calen di gennaio furono acque continove con gravi diluvii, e perdessene il terzo della sementa, ma il gennaio vegnente fu sì bel tempo, che lla perduta sementa si raquistò. I frutti delli alberi dimestichi tutti si perderono in questo anno. Non aremmo stesa questa memoria se lla scurazione predetta non vi ci avesse indotto. | On Tuesday night at half past twelve o'clock, on the sixteenth day of February MCCCLV, the moon began to wax and wane in the sign of Aquarius, and at half past five o'clock it was all darkened, and within another hour it was free. And not knowing by astrology of its influence, we considered the effects of this following year, and saw continually until mid-April very clear skies, and thereafter continually counting waters beyond the usual manner and the remainder of April and the whole month of May, and thereafter dry and warm dry spells until mid-October. And in these summer and autumn times there were general infestations, and in many parts sicknesses of fever and other distempering of human bodies, and singularly sicknesses of the belly and abdomen with long duration. Again, in this year, an unfortunate accident happened to men, and it began in Calavra at Fiume Freddo and went as far as Gaeta, and they called this accident an angry disease. The affection showed a lack of celabrums with the fall of the head with various fights, and they bit like dogs and perished dangerously, and many died, but those who were provided and cured. And there was great mortality of domestic beasts in the said year. And in this same year there were [p. 729] in Flanders, and in France and Italy many great and diverse battles, and new movements of wars and lordships, as you will read. And in the said year there was a singularly good and abundant harvest of bread, and more wine was not hoped for, because one cold April the grapes that had already been born dried up and burned, and from the beginning many of them were reborn and were well, which is a very strange thing. And from the middle of October to the middle of January, there were heavy rains, and a third of the seed was lost, but the coming January was such good weather that the lost seed was regained. The fruits of the dimestique trees were all lost in this year. We would not have written this memoir if the aforementioned destruction had not induced us to do so. | Template:Matteo Villani 1995, Vol. 1, pp. 728-729 | Translation by DeepL |
| 1355-08-00-Cyprus | August 1355 JL | In Cyprus and Tunis and surroundings were great abundance of locusts, which destroyed the harvest and the fields. It followed a famine and a mortality among the people. | Come abondarono grilli in Cipri e 'n Barberia In questo tempo abbondarono nell'isola di Cipri tanti grilli, che rimpierono tutti i campi alti da terra un quarto di braccio, e consumarono ciò che verde trovarono sopra la terra, e guastarono i lavori per modo che frutto no se ne poté avere in quest'anno. E 'l simigliante avenne questo medesimo anno MCCCLV i molte parti della Barberia, e massimamente nel reame di Tunisi; ed essendo mancato il pane al minuto popolo di Barberia, metteno i grilli ne'forni, e cotti alquanto incrosticati li mangiavano i Saracini, e con questa brutta vivanda mantenieno la misera vita, ma grande mortalità seguitò di quello popolo. |
How crickets were abundant in Cyprus and in Barbaria At that time there were so many crickets on the island of Cyprus that they covered all the fields up to the height of a quarter of an arm and consumed all the greenery they found on the ground. They destroyed the crops to such an extent that no fruit could be harvested that year. Something similar happened in the same year, 1355, in many parts of Barbaria, especially in the kingdom of Tunis. As bread became scarce for the common people of Barbarie, they put the crickets in ovens, and after they were baked and crusted, the Saracens ate them. With this unappetising food they maintained their miserable lives, but great mortality followed among this people. |
Matteo Villani 1995, Vol. 1, p. 703. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1356-00-00-Mainz | 1356 JL | A plague emerges in Germany after a year of inclement weather, cold, and bad harvest. | Anno Domini trecentesimo quinquagesimo 6. crevit vinum tam debile, quod vix homines bibere poterant, et si vinum vetus poterat inveniri, in hoc non poterat tam preciose ... nisi biberetur; et homines, qui poterant hoc habere pro excellenti precio, gavisi sunt quasi gratis haberent; et annona preciosa; et facta est pestilencia in multis partibus terre. | In the year of our Lord 1356, wine grew so weak that scarcely could people drink it, and if old wine could be found, it couldn't be valued as highly... unless it was to be drunk; and people, insofar as they could have this for an excellent price, rejoiced as if they had it for free; and there was a dearth of grain; and a pestilence occurred in many parts of the land. | Chronicon Moguntinum 1885, p. 4. | Translation by Martin Bauch; None; |
| 1357-00-00-Central Germany | 1357 JL | A plague along the Rhine, in Hesse, Thuringia and Wetterau. | Eodem anno circa festum ascensionis fuit regina Ungarie et rex Romanus in Maguncia causa peregrinationis cum magna multitudine gentis. Eo quoque tempore fuit divulgatum per (p. 6) totam terram Renensem per litteras auctenticas, quod Antechristus natus esset, et narrabantur infinita signa que fecisset. In nativitate et post eciam dicebatur de multis miraculis de maximo calore qui deberet advenire, et de magnis fluviis et de multis preliis; que Deus avertat! Anno predicto facta est magna pestilentia in multibus partibus Rheni et in Hassia et Thuringia et Wedderabia, et annona preciosa est, quia crevit valde modicum siliginis, sed bonum, et vinum similiter. Eodem anno circa festum Marie Magdalene [Juli 22] eclipsis lune facta est, quia fuit plenilunium, et facta est in quantitate manus, et postea eodem die reintegrata est. |
In the same year around Ascension Day, the kings of Hungary and the Roman king stayed in Mainz with a large entourage because of the journey to the East. At the same time, rumours spread throughout the Rhine region through genuine letters that the Antichrist had been born. There was talk of countless signs that he had brought about. At Christmas and afterwards, there was talk of many miracles, of tremendous heat to come, of great masses of water and many wars. God forbid! In the predicted year, a great pestilence occurred in many parts of the Rhine area, as well as in Hesse, Thuringia, and the Wetterau, and grain was scarce because the wheat crop grew very little, albeit good, and similarly with wine. In the same year, a lunar eclipse occurred around Mary Magdalene on 22 July. It was a full moon, the eclipse reached hand-width, but shortly afterwards, on the same day, the moon was full again. | Chronicon Moguntinum 1885, p. 5-6 | Translation by Martin Bauch; None; None; |
| 1358-00-00-Cologne | 1358 JL | A plague along the Rhine, in Cologne, with inclement weather, cold in wintern and dearth of foodstuffs. | Eo tempore est facta pestilencia valida in partibus inferioribus et in Colonia et inibi. Eo tempore antequam vindemia inciperet vinum fuit tam preciosum, quod vinum venale non inveniebatur; sed postea statim quando uve erant collecte vinum optimo foro erat, sicut unquam in decem annis antea factum est: ita ego vidi et audivi. Hyeme sequenti Rhenum est compactum circa tres septimanas. | At that time (1358), a severe pestilence occurred in the lower regions and in Cologne and its vicinity. At that time, before the grape harvest began, wine was so precious that it was not available for sale; but afterward, as soon as the grapes were collected, the wine was of the best quality ever seen in the market, as it was never in the past ten years: so I saw and heard. The following winter, the Rhine was frozen for about three weeks. | Chronicon Moguntinum 1885, p. 7. | Translation by Martin Bauch; None; |
| 1365-00-00-Strasbourg | 1365 JL | Price increase and plague during the stay of Englishmen in the Alsace region | Türunge. Donoch in den andern joren kam missewahs und müse die die fruht verossent, das diese türunge wol 6 jor annander werte. und wenne korn underwilen abe fluog in einre ernen, daz ein viertel kam an 8 sol. oder an 10 sol. d., so sluog es in dem jore wider uf, also das ein viertel kornes die 6 jor gewonlichen galt 10 sol. Oder 12 sol. und dicke ein pfunt oder 18 sol. Darzuo koment ouch sterbotte, also daz noch disen [p. 490] Englendern vil unglückes kam in Elsas. aber noch den andern Engelendern die darnoch koment über zehen jor, kam kein breste noch türunge, wie wol es ein grosser volg was und lunger in dem lande logent denne die vördern Engelender. und von den selben andern Engelendern wurt hernoch geseit in dem fünften capitel. |
Price increase. After that, in the following years, there was a poor harvest, and the crops were ruined, so that this price increase lasted for about six years in a row. And when grain sometimes fell in price during a harvest, so that a quarter of it cost 8 or 10 shillings, it would rise again that same year, so that a quarter of grain, which usually cost 10 or 12 shillings during those six years, sometimes reached a pound or 18 shillings. Additionally, there was also a plague, so that after the Englishmen great misfortune befell the Alsace. But in the years following the other Englishmen, who came over the next ten years, there was no more plague or price increase, although it was a great people, and they stayed longer then the first Englishmen. More about those other Englishmen will be mentioned in the fifth chapter. | Jacobus Twinger von Könishofen: Chronik 1870-71, p. 489-490. | Translation by Moritz Uebelhack |
| 1370-00-00-Florence | 1370 JL | Due to the bad weather in the previous year, there was a great famine in Florence. This was fuelled by wars in Italy and a mortality of cattle, which is why no livestock came to Florence. | Rubrica 723a - Come' in questo anno fu grande carestia d'ogni cosa. Nel detto anno [1370] fu grandissima carestia, perocchè per la gran pioggia dell'anno passato, e perchè era stata guerra, non s'era raccolto assai abbastanza; di che convenne si mandasse per grano di fuori. E valse quell'anno lo staio fiorentino, tre mesi: ciò fu febbraio, marzo e aprile e parte di maggio, un fiorino lo staio. E quel medesimo anno di vino fu gran carestia, perocchè valse fiorini uno la barile di ricolta, e di state fiorini uno e mezzo il barile. Ancora fu carestia di carne, perocchè quell'anno era stata in Lombardia la guerra e in Toscana e in molte luogora, per la quale cagione non era venuto a Firenze bestiame di Puglia, donde ne solea venire assai. Quell'anno v'ebbe mortalità di bestiame, la qual cosa gittò assai carestia oltre all'altre cagioni di sopra narrate. | Rubrica 723a - How in that year there was a great famine of everything. In the year in question [1370] there was a great famine because not enough grain had been harvested due to the heavy rains of the previous year and the war, so grain had to be brought in from outside. In the months of February, March, April and partly in May, a staio of Florentine grain cost one florin. In the same year there was a great shortage of wine, as a barrel of wine cost one florin and in summer one and a half florins. There was also a shortage of meat, because in that year there was war in Lombardy and Tuscany and in many other places, which is why no cattle came to Florence from Apulia, where they often came from in the past. In that year there was a great death of cattle which, in addition to the other reasons mentioned above, caused a great famine. | Marchionne di Coppo Stefani 1903, p. 275 | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1389-00-00-Pistoia | 1389 JL | Grain increased a lot in price and the municipality of Florence had to import grain, otherwise there would have been a great famine. In Pistoia, Arezzo and Città di Castello was a great mortality because of the plague. | Capitolo XXVIII. - Che valse il grano e'l vino in questo anno in Firenze, e come la mortalità fu nel loro contado in più parti. Questo anno fu molto caro il grano in Firenze, alcuna volta valse lo staio lire tre, e 'l vino valse di vendemia dieci fiorini il cogno perché ne fu molto poco,' e tutte l'altre cose furon care mollo, e alli poveri mancò il guadagno, e a' cittadini crebbono le spese, e a gran parte de' cittadini pareva istar male; e se non fosse che 'l Comune, con grande sollecitudine e spese, fece venire di Pelago di mollo grano di più parti del mondo circa di 30 milia moggia, grande moltitudine di gente nella città e nel contado arebbono patito grandissima nicistà di vittuvaglia; ma quel grande riparo li salvò. In questo anno medesimo fu grande mortalità in Pistoia e in tutti li luoghi e intorno a quella; e morivano di posteme pestilenziose e velenose in due o in tre di; e alla città d'Arezzo e in tutto il suo contado cominciarono a morire di pestilenzia, ed ebbevi Castello che vi mori più che 'l terzo delle bocche. E ancora la della mortalità in molte terre d' Italia grandissima; della qual cosa molto isbigottirono i Fiorentini temendo di non averla l'anno vegnente. |
Chapter 28: The development of the value of grain and wine in Florence this year and the mortality in its surroundings. Grain was very expensive in Florence that year. Sometimes a bushel cost three lire, and the wine of the harvest was sold for ten florins a barrel, because there was very little of it. All other things were also expensive and the poor lacked income, while expenses for the citizens increased, causing great inconvenience to many citizens. If the municipality had not taken great care and expense to import large quantities of grain from Pelago and other parts of the world, some 30,000 moggia, there would have been a great famine in the city and the countryside. But these extensive measures saved them. In the same year there was a great mortality in Pistoia and in all the surrounding areas. People died of pestilential and toxic abscesses every two or three days. In the city of Arezzo and its entire surrounding area, they began to die of the plague, and in Castello more than a third of the population died. Mortality was also very high in many other parts of Italy, which worried the Florentines greatly, as they feared they would suffer the same fate the following year. |
Anonymus: Cronica volgare 1915, p. 88. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1390-00-00-Florence 001 | 1390 JL | In January and February fine weather and the crops were of good quality. The entire year was a plague. The harvest was small, except for the wine and oil. | Nota, che nel 1390. secondo la Natività di Cristo, fu Pasqua di Natale in sabato, calende di Gennaio in sabato. Del mese di Gennaio (p. 113) fu bel tempo, e fecesi bella sementa. Entrò Febbraio con bel tempo. Nel detto anno fu Carnesciale a dì 15. di Febbraio; Pasqua di Suresso fu a'dì 3. d'Aprile. Le biade, cioe il grano in erba era, e fu molto bello, e ricordoti fu bella sementa di biade minute. Fu mortalità l'anno quasi per tutto il mondo, fu nelle parti die quà in Firenze; la ricolta fu innanzi piccola, che grande di biada, e di vino, e d'olio fu assai. | Note that in 1390, according to the birth of Christ, Christmas was on Saturday and the calends of January were also on Saturday. In the month of January, the weather was fine and good seed was sown. February began with fine weather. This year, Carnival fell on February 15; Easter was on April 3. The crops, especially the growing wheat, were very good and a good crop of small grains was sown. Pestilence prevailed throughout the year almost all over the world, including Florence. The harvest was small rather than large, but there was plenty of wine and oil. | Naddo de Montecatini: Memorie istoriche 1784, p. 113 | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1421-00-00-Sweden 001 | 1421 JL | Great rainfall in south-central Sweden is succeeded by bad harvests, pestilence and drought in 1421 and 1422. | Eodem anno tanta fuit pluvie inundacio, quod in multis locis computruerunt segetes stantes in stipula; veneruntque simul pestilencia et sterilitas. Ipsa quoque pestilencia iam duraverat per annum integrum et necedum cessavit; que in multis terrarum finibus ita grassata fuerat, quod domus relinquerentur absque habitatore. | In the same year (1421), such great amounts of rain fell that the corn in many places rotted away uncut; and at the same time came pestilence and drought. This plague epidemic had now lasted a whole year and had not yet ceased; in many countries it had ravaged so violently that houses were left uninhabited. | Claes Gejrot: Vadstenadiariet. Latinsk text med översättning och kommentar. Stockholm 1996, p. 174 | Translation by Carina Damm |
| 1425-07-08-Würzburg | 8 July 1425 JL | Great plague in Würzburg, sometimes more than 40 deaths per day, which led to unharvested fields. | Von ainem grossen sterben [...] Da man zalte nach der geburt Christi 1425 jare, ist ain erschrockenlicher grausamer sterbe in disen landen vnd sunderlich hie zu Wirtzburg gewest; von sant Kilians tag an bis vf Ostern des andern jors hat diese sucht an ain ander geweret. Die herbst zeit vber sturben hie zu Wirtzburg gewonlich ain tag virtzigk menschen, etwan darüber. Es sind auch vor grossem schrecken vnd mangel halben der leute vil obs, getraid vnd weins desselbigen jors vf dem velde vneingeheimst stehen bliben. |
About a great dying [...] In the year 1425 after the birth of Christ, a terrifying and cruel plague struck these lands, especially here in Würzburg. From Saint Kilian's Day until Easter of the following year, this illness continued uninterrupted. During the autumn, it was common for around forty people to die each day in Würzburg, sometimes even more. Due to great fear and the lack of people, much of that year's fruits, grain, and wine remained unharvested in the fields. |
Template:Chronik oder Historie von den Bischöfen von Würzburg 1992-2004, Vol. 3 (1999), p. 150. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5 |
| 1438-00-00-Constance 001 | 1438 JL | Great mortality in Constance and in Basel. In Basel the people tried to appease God with a procession to Einsiedeln and Todtmoos. In the same year was the autumn really warm and mice made great damage to the fields. The Council of Constance passed several laws to curb bad social behaviour. | Des jaurs, als man zalt von der geburt Christi 1438 jar, do was ain sölicher sterbet das selb jar ainher, das man rechnot, das mer dan viertusent menschen zu Costentz gestorben warent. Es kam dazu, das man zu Crützlingen fünf oder sechs menschen in ain grub lait, desglichen och ze sant Stefan und das man an den enden und im spital gruben machet, in die vil lüt gelait wurdent. Und gieng die sterbet durch die land und alsbald der tod uffgehört, do wyst niemant umb kain tod, dan jederman num umb den sin. In dem vorgemelten jaur umb pfingsten vieng man an ze Costentz zu sterben und starb nach der uffart Ulrich Stainstrauß, darnach in acht tagen sin wyb, darnach erstach sich selb Peter Stainstrauß des selben bruder, in Diebolt Gumposts hus obnan mit ainem schwertlin und messer vor laid. In dem vorgeschriben jaure starb man gar vast in allen landen und kam gen Basel vor pfingsten. Also was der sterbet ze Basel so groß, das dero von Basel wol uff tusent personen sich uffhubent und giengent mit zwölf priestern gen Ainsidlen zu unser lieben froen. Die priester viengent an zu Basel in der statt ze singend und sungend bis zu unser lieben froen. Do sungent sy ain mettin und ain löblich meß von unser lieben froen und bichtotent und giengent zu dem hailigen sacrament mit ernst und andacht und zugent do wider haim. Sy ruftent unser lieben froen an, das sy gott bäte, das er sinen zorn gegen inen abließe, also ungestümenlich täten sy mit sterben. Derglichen giengent och wol fünfhundert personen von Basel in das Todmos in den Swartzwald zu unser lieben froen, als die vordrigen gen Ainsideln. In menger gegni do sturbent di lüt uß über das halb tail oder mer und an mengen enden zu ainlitzigen, zwain oder dryen höfen ganz uß, das die öd stundent one inwoner und was ain recht landsterbend und pestilenz. Und was der herbst als warm als der Ogst. In dem jar (p. 207) ward och der best win am Ottenberg, der in allen landen war und gab man ain fuder umb nün und umb acht pfund pf. Des jars wuchsent gar vil veldmüs und tätent großen schaden an dem korn und samen uff dem veld. In demselben jar saßtent die rät ze Costentz und verbutent den blatz und das spilen an 5 pfund ₰ und verbutent das lang häß und das kain man kainer froen in dem münster reden solt an 1 pfund ₰ ; och das kain man dehain kindbettern gesenhen solt und das och niemant sweren solt und vil solicher sachen. Item sy satzent och, als vormals ain ratsknecht in der rautstuben was, der uß und inließ, dann ethin enkainer mer sölt darinne sin und söltent die ratsherren ye ainer ain wochen in- und ußlon. Und das was ain gut gesatz. |
In the year 1438 after the birth of Christ, there was such a mortality that year that it was estimated more than four thousand people died in Constance. It came to the point that in Kreuzlingen, five or six people were buried in a single grave, the same at St. Stephen’s, and that graves were dug at the town’s outskirts and in the hospital where many people were laid to rest. The mortality spread through the lands, and once it stopped, no one noticed any more deaths—everyone was just focused on their own.
In the mentioned year around Whitsun, people began to die in Constance. After the Ascension of Ulrich Stainstrauß, his wife died eight days later, and then his brother Peter Stainstrauß killed himself in Diebolt Gumpost’s house with a small sword and knife out of grief. That same year, there was heavy mortality across all lands, and it reached Basel before Whitsun. The death toll was so high in Basel that around a thousand people from the city set out with twelve priests to Einsiedeln to Our Lady. The priests began singing in the city of Basel and sang all the way to Our Lady. There they sang Matins and a solemn Mass for Our Lady, confessed, and approached the Holy Sacrament with seriousness and devotion before returning home. They called upon Our Lady to ask God to ease His wrath, as the deaths were overwhelming. Similarly, about five hundred people from Basel went to Todtmoos in the Black Forest to the shrine of Our Lady, just like those who went to Einsiedeln. In many regions, more than half of the population or more died, and in some areas, entire farms with one or two families were completely wiped out, leaving them deserted without any inhabitants. It was truly a widespread death and pestilence. The autumn was as warm as August. In that year, the best wine came from Ottenberg, considered the finest wine in all lands, and a barrel sold for nine or eight pounds. In that year, many field mice grew and caused significant damage to crops and seeds in the fields. That same year, the council in Constance issued a ban on games and gatherings with a fine of five pounds, forbidding long coats and prohibiting men from speaking to women in the cathedral with a fine of one pound. They have also forbidden men to be present at births and no one is allowed to swear, among many other things. Moreover, they decided that as before, only one town servant was to be in the council chamber to let people in and out, and no one else was allowed inside. The councilors had to take turns each week handling the in- and outgoing matters, which was a good policy. |
Gebhard Dacher: Konstanzer Chronik 1891, pp. 206-207. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5 |
| 1453-08-00-Flanders | 1453 JL | A pestilence breaks out in the region, as a consequence of a dearth caused by war. | Messis tempore non invenit quod colligeret; hinc annona solito carior et, quae communiter sequi solet, pestilentia populum gravare coepit. | At harvest time, not enough people came at the fields. Then prices have been higher than usual, and a pestilence broke out, as it is common in such conditions. | Chronique d'Adrien de But, p. 347 | Translation by Thomas Labbé |
| 1456-00-00-Florence | 1456 JL | In Florence was a shortage due to the weather and a flooding. The city had to provide food for the population especially for the poor. | Eodem anno per inundationem aquarum, in agris impedientem sationem agrorum et aliam intemperiem supervenientem tempore spicationis in agris satis, defectus magnus modicitatis in segetibus repertus est Florentie, et [in] territorio eius. Creatis autem officialibus habundantie, provisum est competenter de frumentis de diversis locis extra territorium adductis. Sed et pauperibus provisum est, quorum a diu in preteritum nunquam tantus inventus est numerus; quod contigit, quia mercatores et artifices parum negotiantur vel artificia exercent, tum propter guerras impedientes discursum per mare et per terram, tum timore nove impositionis prestantiarum, ne nimis onerentur, tum eciam peste civitatem invadente, etsi lente, tamen in futurum magis de grassatione eius dubitatur. Decretum igitur [p. 98] fuit, ut per quatuor menses precedentes recollectionem frumenti, quingenti floreni mensatim expenderentur a communitate eleemosynaliter erogati pro frumento pauperibus in pane concedendo. Quod optimum fuit tum ut peccata sua civitas, eis plena, eleemosynis redimat, tum ut caritatem ad fratres suos et membra reipublice ostendat, nec non ad prudenter auferendos tumultus et clamores famelice plebis. Quid enim non audeat rabies famis, cum aliquando et matres filios proprios occidere et comedere coegerit, sacra historia ac eciam infidelium hoc referente? | In the same year, due to flooding that hindered the sowing of fields and other adverse weather conditions during the grain ripening season, there was a significant shortage in the harvest in Florence and its surrounding territory. Officials were appointed to manage the scarcity, and grain was competently procured from various places outside the territory. Provisions were also made for the poor, whose numbers had not been this high for a long time. This situation arose because merchants and craftsmen were engaging in little trade or work, partly due to wars disrupting travel by sea and land, partly out of fear of new tax burdens, and partly because of a plague slowly affecting the city, which was feared to worsen in the future. It was decreed that, for the four months preceding the next grain harvest, 500 florins would be spent monthly by the community to provide grain to the poor in the form of bread. This was seen as beneficial both to help the city atone for its sins, which were abundant, through acts of charity, and to demonstrate care for fellow citizens, as well as to prudently prevent uprisings and outcries from the starving populace. For what would the rage of hunger not dare to do, when history—even sacred texts—reports that, in such times, mothers have been forced to kill and eat their own children? | Antoninus of Florence: Chronicon sive summa historialis 1913, pp. 97-98. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5 |
| 1467-08-00-Poland | August 1467 JL | Although the harvest promised to be rich in the land of Prussia, there was hardly anyone who could bring it in when the harvest was supposed to start in August. A great plague had infested the land so that all places were to large parts or completely deserted. | Das erste jar do nu der libe fride nach vilen und langen jaren wider ins lant Preussen kommen was, lis got gar ein fruchtbar kornreich jar werden, desgleichen lange zceit keins war gewesen, das es jederman davor hielt, diser milde und reiche herbest wurde fast allen kommer der vorgangenen durfftigkeit zcum mehrer teil auffheben und wegknemen. [...] Da man nu augusten adir erndten solt, sihe, da kompt eine erschreckliche mortliche pestilentz, die sich ins gantze lant die qwyr und die lenge, ausbreittet und durchwütet schlosse, stette, flecke, dorffer, ecker und awen, dermassen das hernachmals der viele, etliche zcum grossen teyll, etliche gantz und gar ausgestorben, verfallen vorwustet und vorwildert sein, bis auff den heuttigen tag, wie das im gantzen lande augenschenlich zcu besehen ist; also da das volck an allen enden mit grossen hauffen hingefallen was, bleib das libe getreide, daran got sein lust het sehen mugen, hin und her im felde stehen, und was niemant, der erndtet, und einfuret. | The first year, when after many and long years peace had come back to the land of Prussia, God let it become a fruitful corn year, such as had not been for a long time, so that everytbody thought, this mild and rich harvest was going to take away almost all the grief of the previous drought. [...] Now, when the harvest should start in August, there comes a terrible mortal pestilence, which spreads throughout the whole country, spreading and ransacking castles, towns, villages, fields and floodplains, so that afterwards many of them were - some to a great extent, some completely - extinct, forfeited and overgrown up tp the present day, as can be seen in the whole country. Thus, since the people at all ends fell to build great heaps, the good grain, in which God would have seen his pleasure, remained standing back and forth in the field, and there was no one to harvest and bring it in. | Pole, in: ###, p. 192. | Translation by Christian Oertel |
| 1507-00-00-Erfurt | 1507 JL | A year of good harvests is also characterized by epidemic mortality. | Anno 1507 Regiert ein pestilentzisch sterben an vielen orten, vdn war gleich wol ein solches wolfeiles iahr, das der acker mehr kostet zu ehren vnd bawen, den man gelds aus verkauffung der fruchte losen kunt. | In the year 1507, a pestilential death reigned in many places, and yet it was such a year of bountiful harvests that the cost of cultivating and planting the fields exceeded the money that could be gained from selling the crops. | Wellendorf Chronik 2015, p. 150. | Translation by Martin Bauch |
