Society

For Society, a total of 6 epidemic events are known so far. It is a social response.

Table

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
1347-09-00-Catania	September 1347 JL	Outbreak of the Black Death in Catania with detailed description of symptoms and social disintegration. Prominent victim of the plague is Duke Giovanni d'Aragona, Regent of the Kingdom of Trinacria/Sicily at the time.	Quid dicemus de civitate Cataniae, quae oblivioni tradita est? Tanta fuit pestis praedicta exorta in ea, quod non solum pustulae illae, quae "anthraci" vulgari vocabulo nuncupabantur, sed etiam glandulae quaedam in diversis corporum membris nascebantur, nunc in pectine, aliae in tibiis, aliae in brachiis, aliae in gutture. Quae quidem a principio erant sicut avellanae, et crescebant cum magno frigoris rigore, et in tantum humanum corpus extendebant et affligebant, quod diutius in se potentiam non habens standi, se ad lectum perferrebat, febribus immensis incitatus, et amaritudine non modica contristatus. Quapropter glandulae illae ad modum nucis crescebant, deinde ad modum ovi gallinae vel anseris, et quorum dolores non modici, et humorum putrefactione urgebant dictum humanum corpus sanguinem expuere; quod sputum, a pulmonibus infecto perveniens ad guttur, totum corpus humanum putrefaciebat: quo putrefacto, humoribus deficientibus, spiritum exalabant. Quae quidem infirmitas triduo perdurabat; quarto vero die ad minus a rebus humanis praedicta humana corpora erant adepta. Catanienses vero perpendentes talem aegritudinem sic brevi finire tempore, sicuti dolor capitis eis superveniebat, et rigor frigoris, omnia peccata eorum primo et ante omnia sacerdotibus confitebantur, et deinde testamenta eorum conficiebantur. Tanta erat in praedicta civitate condemnsa mortalitas, quod iudices et notarii se ad testamenta facienda ire recusabant. Et si ad aliquem infirmum accederent, ab eo procul omnino stabant. Sacerdotes ullatenus ad domos infirmorum accedere timore proximi mortis trepidabant. Tanta erat immensa mortalitas in civitate praedicta, quod iudices et notarii in conficiendis testamentis, nec sacerdotes ad peccatorum confitenda peccamina poterant totaliter continuo vacare. Patriarcha vero praedictus, volens de animabus Cataniensium providere, cuilibet sacerdoti, licet minimo, totam, quam habebat ipse episcopalem et patriarchalem licentiam, de absolvendis peccatis tribuit atque dedit. Quapropter omnes, qui deficiebant, secundum veram opinionem ad locum Dei tutam infallibiliter erant recepti. Dux vero Joannes praedictus timens mortem supradictam, nolens civitatibus et locis appropinquare habitatis propter aeris infectionem, per loca nemorosa et inhabitata, circumquaque se hinc inde continue versabatur. Sed dum hinc inde nunc ad aquam salis, quae est in nemore Cataniensi, nunc ad quamdam turrim, quae vocatur "Lu Blancu" per sex milliaria a civitate Cataniae distantem, nunc ad quandam ecclesiam sancti Salvatoris de Blanchardu in nemore civitatis praedictae, se quasi latitando discurreret, pervenit ad quamdam ecclesiam, seu locum per dictum Ducem noviter constructum [p. 568] vocatum sanctu Andria, qui locus est in confiniis nemoris Mascalarum; in quo dum incolumis ac sanus existeret, ex quadam sibi superveniente infirmitate mortuus extitit. Corpus cuius fuit sepultum in maiori Catanensi Ecclesia, in eo videlicet tumulo, ubi corpus quondam Friderici Regis patris sui fuerat conditum et humatum. Et hoc anno Domini MCCCXLVIII, de mense Aprilis primae Indictionis. Quae quidem mortalitas duravit a mense Septembris dictae primae Indictionis usque ad mortem Ducis supradicti paulo ante vel post. Talis itaque gravis fuit mortalitas in nullo dispar sexu, in nulla aetate dissimilis, generaliter cunctos iugiter affecit, ut etiam quos non egit in mortem, turpi macie exinanitos afflictosque dimisit atque relaxavit. In qua mortalitate fuit dictus Patriarcha mortuus, et sepultus in maiori Catanensi Ecclesia, anima cuius in pace quiescat.	What shall we say of the city of Catania, which has been consigned to oblivion? Such was the plague that arose there that not only did those pustules called "anthraces" in the common tongue appear, but also certain swellings in various parts of the body—now on the chest, some on the shins, others on the arms, and others in the throat. These, at first, were like hazelnuts, and they grew with a great chill and afflicted the human body so severely that, unable to stand any longer, the person would collapse onto the bed, overcome by intense fevers and burdened with great bitterness. As a result, those swellings would grow to the size of a walnut, then to the size of a hen's egg or even a goose's egg, and the pain was unbearable. The rotting of bodily fluids caused the afflicted person to spit blood; this sputum, infected from the lungs and reaching the throat, would completely decay the entire body. Once the body had decayed and the fluids had been drained, the person would exhale their spirit. This disease would last three days; by the fourth day, at the latest, the person would succumb. The people of Catania, observing that such an illness would end so quickly, often experienced severe headaches and chills. In this state, they confessed all their sins, first and foremost, to priests, and then prepared their wills. The mortality in the aforementioned city was so severe that judges and notaries refused to go to prepare the wills. And if they did approach any of the sick, they kept a great distance. Priests, too, were afraid to approach the homes of the sick out of fear of their own impending deaths. The mortality in the city was so immense that judges and notaries could not keep up with preparing wills, nor could priests attend continuously to the confession of sins. The Patriarch, seeing the need to provide for the souls of the people of Catania, granted to each priest, even the humblest, the full authority of his episcopal and patriarchal license to absolve sins. Because of this, all who died were, according to true belief, received into the secure presence of God. Duke Giovanni [di Randazzo/d'Aragona, 1317-1348], fearing the aforementioned plague and not wanting to approach inhabited cities or places due to the infection of the air, moved about continuously through forested and uninhabited areas. Wandering from one place to another, he would sometimes go to the Salt Spring in the forest near Catania, sometimes to a tower called "Lu Blancu," six miles from the city of Catania, or to a church called S. Salvatoris de Blanchardu in the forest of the aforementioned city. While wandering in hiding, he eventually came to a church or location newly constructed by the Duke, called S. Andrea, which is situated on the borders of the Mascalarum forest. While living there in good health, he was overtaken by a sudden illness and died. His body was buried in the major church of Catania, in the very tomb where the body of Frederick, King and his father, had been buried and laid to rest. This happened in the year of our Lord 1348, in the month of April, during the first Indiction. This mortality lasted from September of the same first Indiction until shortly before or after the death of the aforementioned Duke. Such a grave mortality affected all, regardless of sex or age, and struck everyone continuously. Even those whom it did not bring to death were left emaciated and afflicted with a wretched gauntness, ultimately releasing them in a weakened state. During this mortality, the aforementioned Patriarch also died and was buried in the major church of Catania, and may his soul rest in peace.	Michele da Piazza 1791, pp. 567-568.	Translation by Martin Bauch
1348-00-00-Aquila7	1348 JL	Social and moral effects of the Black Death in Aquila: New marriages and people leaving monastic communities, becoming greedy and mad in the eyes of the chronicler.	Scorta la mortaute, li omini racelaro; / quili che non l’aveano la mollie se pilliaro / e lle femene vidove sì sse remaritaro: / iuvini, vecchie e citule a questo modo annaro. No tanto altre femene, vizoche e religiose, / multe jectaro lo abito e vidile fare spose, / e multi frati dell‘ ordine oscire per queste cose, / omo de cinquanta anni la citula piliose. Tamanta era la prescia dello rimaritare, / che tante per iorno erano, no se poria contare; / non aspectava domeneca multi per nocze fare; / non se facian conzienzia de cose ch’eran care. (...) La iente fo mancata e l’avarizia cresciuta; / danunca era femina ch’avesse dote manzuta; / da l’uomo che più potea da quello era petuta, / peio ci fo che questo, c’alcuna fo raputa. Demente erano uscite da quelle gra‘ paure / della corte malanze con le bianullie dure, / de sadisfare l’animo poco era chi se cure, / a crescere ad ariccare puneano studio pure.	When mortality came to an end, people felt relief / those who had no wife, looked for one / and the widows married again / young, old and children behaved the same way. And other women, even nuns / threw away their clothes and they became brides / and many friars left their order for the same reason / and men of fifty years married young girls. So large was this urge to marry again / so many marriages a day you couldn’t count it: / They didn’t wait for Sundays to marry / and they ignored how expensive everything had got. (...) People had become less, but greed increased; / every women had an extraordinary dowry, / and she married the man who could provide most, worst of all, some were even robbed (?). In a state of madness they had left the great fear / of the rapid disease with the hard buboes / to satisfy their souls if they had been cured / they turned their minds to enrich themselves only.	Buccio di Ranallo, pp. 248-250.	Translation by Martin Bauch
1348-00-00-Avignon01	1348 JL	Arivval of the Black Death in many cities and regions of Southern France and Italy and consequences like changing burial habits, collapsing social bonds and abandoned settlements.	Eodem anno (1348) in Avinione, Marsilia, Monte Pessulano, urbibus Provincie, immo per totam Provinciam, Vasconiam, Franciam per omnemque mediterranei maris oram usque in Ytaliam et per urbes Ytalie quam plurimas, puta Bononiam, Ravennam, Venetias, Januam, Pisas, Lucam, Romam, Neapolim, Messanam et urbes ceteras epydimia tam ingens, atrox et seva violenter incanduit, quod in nullo dispar sexu, in etate nulla dissimilis, masculos et feminas, senes et juvenes, plebem et nobiles, pauperes, divites et potentes, precipue tamen plebem et laycos generali fedaque tabe delevit. Interimque lues oborta populum conripuit et depopulata est, ut in plerisque locis ministri sepeliendorum funerum primum multitudine cadaverum gravarentur, post difficulter invenirentur, post non sufficerent, et tandem penitus non essent. Jam etiam magne domus et parve per totas urbes, immo et urbes quam plures vivis hominibus vacue remanserunt et mortuis plene. In urbibus et domibus et campis et locis aliis opes et possessiones copiosissime, sed nulli penitus possessores. Denique tam sevi tabescentium etiam sub tectis et in stratis suis cadaverum putores exalabant, quod non solum in urbibus ipsis vivendi, sed etiam ad ipsas terras et urbes appropinquandi per duo milia passuum non erat facultas hominibus, nis inficerentur, subito (p. 274) corriperentur, post triduum morerentur, et jam nec sepilrentur. Et, ut paucis expediam, tam ingens, tam pestifer ignis epydimalis conflagravit, ut non, quantum hominum in partibus illis absumpserit, sed quantum reliquerit, inquirendum videatur. Vir uxorem et uxor virum, mater filiam et illa matrem, pater filium et e converso, frater sororem et illa fratrum et sororem, et postremo quilibet quemlibet amicum tabescere incipientem contagionis timore reliquit.	In the same year (1348), in Avignon, Marseille, Montpellier, the cities of Provence, indeed throughout entire Provence, Gascony, France, along every coast of the Mediterranean Sea up to Italy, and through many cities of Italy, such as Bologna, Ravenna, Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Lucca, Rome, Naples, Messina, and countless other cities, an epidemic so immense, fierce, and cruelly violent broke out that it spared no one of any sex, age, neither male nor female, nor exempt from any age group, afflicting men and women, old and young, commoners and nobles, the poor, the rich, and the powerful, especially the common people and laypersons, with a general and foul contagion. Meanwhile, the plague that had arisen seized the people and laid waste to them, so that in many places those responsible for burying the dead were first overwhelmed by the multitude of corpses, then one struggled to find them, later there were insufficient of them, and finally they couldn't be found at all. Now, both large and small houses throughout the cities, indeed, even many cities, were left empty of living people and full of the dead. In the cities, houses, fields, and other places, riches and possessions were abundant, but there were no owners anywhere. Finally, such a severe contagion of those wasting away caused the stench of corpses to waft even under roofs and in their beds, such that not only was there no opportunity for people to live in the cities themselves, but even approaching the lands and cities within a distance of two miles was impossible for people, unless they got infected, suddenly seized (p. 274) and died after three days. They were no longer buried. And, to summarize briefly, such a great, such a deadly epidemic fire raged that it seems not only necessary to investigate how many people it consumed in those regions, but how many it left behind. A husband abandoned his wife, and a wife her husband; a mother her daughter, and she her mother; a father his son, and vice versa; a brother his sister, and she her brothers and sisters; and, finally, everyone abandoned anyone at the first sign of the disease's spreading out of fear of contagion.	Heinrich von Herford 1859, pp. 273-274.	Translation by Martin Bauch
1348-06-00-Trento	June 1348 JL	Social and Psychological Reactions to the Outbreak of the Black Death in Trento.	et ego nondum bene liberatus sum a malo glandulae, et stans summo mane propter absentiam aliorum clericorum ad fenestram sacristiae S. Vigilii vidi quandam mulierum euntem ad sepulchrum viri sui, et in fovea volutari; tamquam volutaretur pecus sine feretro, vel alio cantore; et dico quod propter accidentia secunda crevit tantus timor inter gentes, quod multi divites fugiebant cum familiis eorum per villas, et relinquebant domus proprias, et Christiani evitabant se invicem, tamquam lepus leonem, vel sanus leprosum, et dico tam de patre vel de matre contra filium, et e converso, vel de sorore contra fratrem, et e converso, vel de propinquo contra propinquum, quam de illis qui non noverant se: quia aliquos vidi nolentes accedere ad sepulturam filiorum propter timorem, et multi confitebatur in sanitatem, et die noctuque dimittebatur corpus Christi, et Oleum sanctum super altaribus, et quasi nullus sacerdis volebat sacramenta portare, nisi illi qui cupiditate lucri torquebantur, et fratres et sacerdotes in Tridento nisi unum evadere vidi, vel etiam de frequentantibus ad infirmos: omnia cimiteria plebium de Tridento, in tam modico tempore plena fuerunt, quod opportunum erat funera sepeliri extra sacrarium, et in fovea una multoties ponebantur quinque vel sex funera; et quandoque aperiebatur bis una fovea in die una.	I myself am not yet fully recovered from glandular illness, and standing early in the morning at the window of the sacristy of St. Vigilius due to the absence of other clerics, I saw a certain woman going to the grave of her husband and rolling in the pit; as if she were a beast rolling without a bier or any singer. And I say that because of subsequent events, such great fear grew among the people that many wealthy individuals fled with their families to villages, abandoning their own homes, and Christians avoided each other like a rabbit avoids a lion, or a healthy person avoids a leper. This applied to fathers and mothers against their children, and vice versa, or sisters against brothers, and vice versa, or relatives against relatives, as well as those who did not know each other. For I saw some unwilling to approach the burial of their own children out of fear, and many confessed in good health, and day and night the body of Christ and the holy oil were left on the altars, and almost no priest wanted to carry the sacraments, except those driven by the desire for profit. Among the friars and priests in Trento, I saw only one escape, even among those tending to the sick. All the cemeteries in the parishes of Trento were so quickly filled that it became necessary to bury the dead outside the consecrated ground, and in one grave, five or six bodies were often placed; and sometimes one grave was opened twice in a single day.	Giovanni da Parma 1837, p. 51	Translation by Martin Bauch
1348-06-00-Trento1	June 1348 JL	Mortality of specific groups of people during Black Death in Trento; changes in the economy in the aftermath.	In Sancto Vigilio interierunt Clerici praebendati 40, quorum fuere canonici 14, mansionariae ambo bis vacaverunt in sex mensibus. De mulieribus praegnantibus dico quod de illis quae fuerunt praegnantes tempore illius infirmitatis non evaserunt in Tridento sex quia omnes moriebantur. Et dicebatur quod dicta infirmitas circuivit totum mundum tam inter paganos, Turcas, Judaeos, quam inter Christianos, sed (p. 52) non fuit tantum uno tempore, quia in aliquibus locis fuit in Autumno, in aliquibus in hieme, in aliquibus in vere, et in aliquibus in aestate; et citius moriebantur juvenes quam senes, et magis domicellae, et quanto erat pulchrior domicella, tanto citius moriebatur, et magis mulieres quam viri, et semper quod audivi ubique incipiebat mortalitas secunda a domicellabus, et tantum a pulchrioribus, quod bene sic fuit in Tridento, quia vidi tres domicellas, quae pulchrae fuissent in Curia Regis, una die mori quando supradicta incepta fuerunt, et tunc temporis non inveniebantur laboratores, et segetes remanebant per campos, quia non inveniebantur collectores. Et millesimo CCCXLIX dabantur uni laboratori XIII vel XIIII vel XV soldi, et quasi non inveniebant pro illo pretio; dabantur uni mulieri VI vel VII vel VIII solidi tantum pro una die: vendebantur plaustrum vini parvi valoris XL vel XLV vel quinquaginta libris denar. parvorum. Boni vini vendebantur ad plaustrum, sed ego vidi vendi unum plaustrum alicujus boni vini minutim dico ad rationem centum librarum, et dico de vino Tridentino, plura non scribo, quia multa alia possent scribi. Duravit infirmitas secunda in Tridento, mensibus sex, et sic per totum mundum secundum quod audivi. Magis moriebantur medici, quam aliii, et vii meliores, prout vidi, et ab aliis partibus audivi, quia secundae infirmitati non inveniebantur medicina, vel remedium nisi a solo Deo, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	In Saint Vigilius, 40 prebendary clerics died, of whom 14 were canons, and both mansions were vacated twice within six months. Regarding pregnant women, I say that of those who were pregnant during that time of illness, not six survived in Trento, because all died. It was said that the aforementioned illness spread throughout the whole world, among pagans, Turks, Jews, as well as among Christians, but not all at the same time. In some places, it occurred in autumn, in others in winter, in some in spring, and in others in summer. Young people died more quickly than the elderly, and maidens more so, and the more beautiful the maiden, the quicker she died, and more women than men. I always heard that the second wave of mortality started with the maidens, especially the more beautiful ones, which was certainly the case in Trento. I saw three maidens who would have been beautiful at the royal court die in one day when the above-mentioned sickness began, and at that time, laborers were not to be found, and the crops remained in the fields because there were no gatherers. In 1349, a laborer was paid 13, 14, or 15 soldi, but they were almost impossible to find even for that price; a woman was paid 6, 7, or 8 soldi for one day. A cartload of low-quality wine was sold for 40, 45, or 50 pounds of small coins. Good wine was sold by the cartload, but I saw a cartload of good wine being sold bit by bit for the equivalent of 100 pounds, and I am referring to Trento wine. I write no more because much more could be written. The second wave of illness in Trento lasted six months, and so it was throughout the world as I heard. More doctors died than others, and the seven best, as I saw and heard from other parts, because there was no medicine or remedy for the second illness except from God alone, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.	Giovanni da Parma 1837, pp. 51-52.	Translation by Martin Bauch
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

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