For Symptoms, a total of 51 epidemic events are known so far. It is a disease.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1258-00-00-Bilbeis | 1258 JL | Plague in Syria and Egypt. | In this year (i.e. 1258), plague struck across Syria, the regions of Egypt, and the like […] A fever and cough occurred in Bilbeis such that not one person was spared from it, yet there was none of that in Cairo. Then after a day or two, something similar happened in Cairo. I was stationed in Giza at that time. I rode to Cairo and found that this condition was spreading across the people of Cairo, except a few. | None | ||
| 1346-00-00-Florence | 1346 JL | The mortality in those years was worse and greater than the deaths and disaster that god broughtt with the Flood, described in the Holy Scripture. For the author a conjunction in the year 1346 was not the reason for the plague, but instead the will of god.The passage describes the horrific symptoms and the route of spread through the world, via Africa, Italy, Germany, England and northern and eastern countries. Many people fled to areas, where they hoped to be spared. In addition, Matteo Villani observed that the people were more cruel to each other and didn't help their infected family members. This behavior first came from the barbaric nations, but was also widespread among Christians. With the time the people recognized that people who helped others were more likely spared by the plague. He thinks that the transmissions occur through sight and touch. The doctors were clueless about the reasons and nobody found a remedy. In Florence, the plague lasted from April 1348 to September 1348 and 3 out of 5 people regardless of sex and age died. Only the class had a influence, poor people were more affected. The mortality was everywhere similar in number and kind, like the reports suggested. | Della inaudita mortalità. Truovasi nella Santa Scrittura, che avendo il peccato corotto ogni via della umana carne, Iddio mandò il diluvio sopra la terra: e riservando per la sua misericordia l'umana carne inn-otto anime, di Noè, e di tre suoi figliuoli e delle loro mogli nell'arca, tutta l'altra generazione nel diluvio sommerse. Dappoi per li tempi, multipricando la gente, sono stati alquanti diluvii particulari, mortalità, coruzioni e pistolenze, (p. 6) fame e molti altri mali, che Idio ha permessi venire sopra li uomini per li loro peccati. […] Ma per quello che trovare si possa per le scritture, dal generale diluvio in qua, non fu universale giudicio di mortalità che tanto comprendesse l'universo, come quella che ne' nostri dì avenne. Nella quale mortalità, considerando la moltitudine che allora vivea, in comperazione di coloro (p. 7) ch'erano in vita al tempo del generale diluvio, assai più ne morirono in questa che in quello, secondo la estimazione di molti discreti. Nella quale mortalità avendo renduta l'anima a dDio l'autore della cronica nominata la Cronica di Giovanni Villani cittadino di Firenze […] (p. 8) Quanto durava il tempo della moria in catuno paese. Avendo per cominciamento nel nostro prencipio a racontare lo isterminio della generazione umana, e convenendone divisare il tempo e modo, la qualità, e quantità di quella, stipidisce la mente apressandosi a scriver la sentenzia, che lla divina giustizia co molta misericordia mandò sopra li uomini, degni per la curuzzione del peccato di finale giudicio. Ma pensando l’utolità salutevole che di questa memoria puote adivenire alle nazioni che dopo noi seguiranno, con più sicurtà del nostro animo così cominciamo. Videsi nelli anni di Cristo, dalla sua salutevole incarnazione MCCCXLVI, la congiunzione di tre superiori pianeti nel segno dell’Aquario, della quale congiunzione si disse per li astrolaghi che Saturno fu signore: onde pronosticarono al mondo grandi e gravi novitadi; ma simile congiunzione per li tempi passati molte altre volte stata e mostrata, la infruenza per altri particulari accidenti no parve cagione di questa, ma più tosto (p. 9) divino giudicio secondo la disposizione della assoluto volontà di Dio. Cominciossi nelle Parti d’Oriente, nel detto anno [1346], in verso il Cattai e l'India superiore, e nelle altre province circustanti a quelle marine dell’Occeano, una pestilenzia tra li uomini d’ogni condizione di catuna età e sesso, che cominciavano a sputare sangue, e morivano chi di sùbito, chi in due o in tre dì, e alquanti sostenevano più al morire. E Aveniva, che-cchi era a servire questi malati, appiccandosi quella malatia, o infetti, di quella medesima coruzione incontanente malavano, e morivano per somigliante modo; e a’ più ingrossava l’anguinaia, e a molti sotto le ditella delle braccia a destra e a sinistra, e altri in altre parti del corpo, che quasi generalmente alcuna enfiatura singulare nel corpo infetto si dimostrava. Questa pestilenzia si venne di tempo in tempo e di gente in gente aprendendo: comprese infra 'l termine d'uno anno la terza parte del mondo che si chiama Asia. E nell'ultimo di questo tempo (p. 10) s'agiunse alle nazioni del mare Maggiore, e alle ripdel mare Tirreno, nella Soria e Turchia, e in verso l'Egitto e lla riviera del mare Rosso, e dalla parte settantrionale la Rossia e lla Greccia, l'Erminia e l'altre conseguenti province. E in quello tempo galee d'Italiani si partirono del mare Maggiore, e della Soria e di Romania per fuggire la morte, e recare le loro mercantie inn-Italia: e' non poterono cansare che gran parte di loro no morisse in mare di quello infermità. E arivati in Cicilia conversaro co' paesani, e lasciarvi di loro malati, onde incontanente si comincià quella pistolenza ne’ Ciciliani. E venendo le dette galee a Pisa, e poi a Genova, per la conversazione di quelli uomini cominciò la mortalità ne’ detti luoghi, ma non generale. Poi conseguendo il tempo ordinato da dDio a’ paesi, la Cicilia tutta fu involta in questa mortale pistilenzia; E Il’ Africa nelle marine, e nelle sue province di verso levante e le rive del nostro mare Tirreno. E venendo di tempo in tempo verso il ponente, comprese la Sardigna, la Corsica, e l’altre isole di questo mare; e dall’altra parte, ch’è detta Europia, per simigliante modo agiunse alle parti vicine verso il ponente, volgendosi verso il mezzo giorno (p. 11) con più aspro asalimento che sotto le parti settantrionali. E nell’anni di Cristo MCCCXLVIII ebbe infetta tutta Italia, salva che lla città di Melano, e certi circustanti a l'alpi, che dividono la Italia dall'Alamagna, ove gravò poco. E in questo medesimo anno cominciò a passare le montagne, e stendersi in Provenza, in Savoia, nel Dalfinato, e in Borgogna, per la marina di Marsilia e d'Aguamorta, per la Catalogna, nell'isola di Maiolica, e in Ispagna e in Granata. E nel MCCCXLVIIII ebbe compreso fino nel ponente le rive del mare Occeano, d’Europia e d'Africa e d'Irlanda, e l'isola d’Inghilterra e di Scozia, e l'altre isole di ponente, e tutto infra terra con quasi iguale mortalità, salvo in Brabante ove poco offese. E nell MCCCL premette li Alamanni, li Ungheri, Donnismarche, Gotti, e Vandali, e li altri popoli e nazioni settantrionali. E la successione di questa pistolenzia durava nel paese ove s'aprendea cinque mesi continovi, overo cinque lunari: e questo avemmo per sperienza certa di molti paesi. Avenne, perché parea che questa impestifera infezione s’appiccasse per la veduta e per lo toccamento, che come l’uomo o lla femina e' fanciulli si conoscevano malati di quella enfiatura, molti n’abandonavano, e inumerabile quantità ne morirono che sarebbono campati se fossono stati aiutati (p. 12) delle cose bisognevoli. Tra lli infedeli cominciò questa innumanità crudele, che lle madri e' padri abandonavano i figiuoli, e i figliuoli i padri e lle madri, e l'uno fratello l'altro e li altri congiunti, cosa crudele e maravigliosa, e molto strana dalla umana natura, ditestata tra' fedeli cristiani, ne' quali seguendo le nazioni barbere, questa crudeltà si trovò. Essendo cominciata nella nostra città di Firenze, fu biasimata da’ discreti la sperienza veduta di molti, i quali si providono, e rinchiusono i luoghi solitari e di sana aria, forniti d’ogni buona cosa da vivere, ove non era sospetto di gente infetta; in diverse contrade il divino giudicio (a ccui non si può serrare le porti) li abatté come li altri che no s'erano proveduti. E molti altri, i quali si dispuosono alla morte per servire i loro parenti e amici malati, camparono avendo male, e assai non l’ebbono continovando quello servigio; per la qual cosa ciascuno si ravide, e cominciarono sanza sospetto ad aiutare e a servire l'uno l'altro; onde molti guarirono, ed erano più sicuri a servire li altri. (p. 13) Di detta matera. Di questa pestifera infermità i medici in catuna parte del mondo, per filosofia naturale, o per fisica, o per arte di strologia non ebbono argomento né vera cura. Alquanti per guadagnare andarono visitando e dando loro argomenti, li quali per la loro morte mostrarono l’arte essere fitta e non vera: e assai per coscienza lasciarono a ristituire i danari che di ciò avieno presi indebitamente. Nella nostra città cominciò generale all’entrare del mese d’aprile li anni Domini MCCCXLVIII, e durò fino al cominciamento del mese di settembre del detto anno. E morì tra nella città, contado e distretto di Firenze, d’ogni sesso e di catuna età, de’ cinque i tre e più, compensando il minuto popolo e i mezzani e’ maggiori, perché alquanto fu più menovato perché cominciò prima, ed ebbe meno (p. 14) aiuto e più disagi e difetti. E nel generale per tutto il mondo mancò la generazione umana per simiglante numero e modo, secondo le novelle ch'avemmo di molti paesi strani e di molte province del mondo. Ben furono province nel levante dove vie più ne moriro. |
Of the outrageous mortality It is found in Holy Scripture that when sin had corrupted every human way of life, God sent the Flood upon the earth: and by his mercy saved eight souls, namely Noah, his three sons and their wives in the ark, while all the rest of mankind perished in the flood. Since then, in the course of time, as men multiplied, there have been some local floods, mortalities, corruptions and diseases, famines, and many other evils which God has permitted to come upon men because of their sins. [...] But from all that can be found in the Scriptures, there has been no universal judgement of mortality since the general deluge, which has affected the whole world so much as that which has taken place in our day. In this mortality, considering the multitude of people then living, as compared with those who lived at the time of the general deluge, far more people died in this than in that, according to the estimation of many experts. In this mortality, the author of the chronicle called "La Cronica" Giovanni Villani, citizen of Florence, gave his soul back to God. [...] How long the plague lasted in each country As we must begin our narrative by describing the destruction of the human generation, and by setting forth the time, type, quality, and quantity of this pestilence, a horror seizes the mind as it prepares to write the judgement which divine justice brought with much mercy upon men who, through the corruption of sin, had deserved final judgement. But when we think of the salutary benefits that can come from this report for the nations that will come after us, we begin with greater confidence. In the years of Christ, from his salvific incarnation in 1346, the conjunction of three upper planets was seen in the sign of Aquarius. The astrologers said that Saturn was the ruler of this conjunction and prophesied great and grave news to the world; but similar conjunctions had occurred many times in the past, and the influences of other particular events did not seem to be the cause of it, but rather divine judgement according to the absolute will of God. In that year 1346, in the eastern regions, towards Cathay and Upper India and in the neighbouring provinces on the coasts of the ocean, a plague began among the people of all classes, ages and sexes. The diseased began to spit blood and died either immediately, within two or three days and some only after prolonged suffering. It happened that those who cared for the sick were themselves infected, fell ill immediately and died in a similar way. In many, the groin swelled up, in others lymph nodes under the arms and in other parts of the body, and there was almost always a unique swelling on the infected body. This plague spread from time to time and from people to people: Within a year it covered a third of the world called Asia. At the end of this period it reached the peoples of the Black Sea and the coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Syria and Turkey, Egypt and the coast of the Red Sea, the northern part of Russia, Greece, Armenia and other neighbouring provinces. At this time, Italian galleys left the Black Sea, Syria and Romania to escape death and bring their goods to Italy, but many of them died at sea from the disease. When they arrived in Sicily, they infected the locals, causing an immediate outbreak of the plague among the Sicilians. When the aforementioned galleys reached Pisa and then Genoa, mortality began in these places due to contact with these people, but not on a generalised scale. Then, when the time appointed by God for the countries came, the deadly plague seized the whole of Sicily; the coasts of Africa and the eastern provinces and the coasts of our Tyrrhenian Sea. It spread from time to time further westwards, and seized Sardinia, Corsica, and the other islands of that sea; and on the other side, which is called Europe, it reached the western parts in like manner, turning southwards, and attacking more violently than in the north. In the years of Christ 1348, it had infected the whole of Italy, with the exception of the city of Milan and some areas near the Alps that separate Italy from Germany, where it raged very little. In the same year, it began to cross the mountains and spread to Provence, Savoy, Dauphiné and Burgundy, along the coasts of Marseille and Aigues-Mortes, Catalonia, the island of Mallorca, Spain and Granada. In 1349, it finally reached the coasts of the Atlantic in Europe and Africa, as well as Ireland, the islands of England and Scotland and other western islands, and also spread inland with almost the same mortality rate, with the exception of Brabant, which was only slightly affected. In 1350 it reached Germany, Hungary, Denmark, the Goths, Vandals and other northern peoples and nations. The duration of this pestilence in the countries affected was five consecutive months or five lunar months, and this we have learnt as certain knowledge from many countries. It came about because it appeared that this pestilential infection was transmitted by sight and touch, that as the man or woman or children recognised the disease of the swelling, many left it and countless people died who could have been saved if they had been given the necessary remedies. Among the unbelievers this cruel inhumanity began, that mothers and fathers left their children, children left their parents, brothers and sisters left each other - a cruel, strange and very unhuman act, which was widespread even among Christians, following the barbaric nations. When it began in our city of Florence, it was condemned by the wise people, that many people took the precaution of moving to remote places with healthy air, equipped with all the necessities of life, in places where no infected people were suspected. They were struck by the divine judgment, to which no doors can be closed, like others who had not prepared themselves. Many others who had chosen to die in the service of their sick relatives and friends survived despite the illness, and many who continued this service did not fall ill. This led to everyone regaining courage and beginning to help and serve one another without fear, resulting in many recovering and being more confident to help others. About this subject The doctors in all parts of the world had no remedy or true cure for this pestilential disease either by natural philosophy, medicine, or astrology. Some, for gain, visited the sick and gave them advice, but their deaths showed their art to be deceitful and untruthful: many others, for conscience sake, returned the wrongfully obtained money. In our town, the general plague began at the beginning of April 1348 and lasted until the beginning of September of the same year. In the city, neighbourhood and district of Florence, more than three out of five people of each sex and age died, with the poor being more affected than the middle and richer part of the population, as they started earlier and had less help and greater inconveniences and shortcomings. On the whole, the human population in the world was similarly lacking in number and kind, according to the reports we have received from many foreign countries and provinces of the world. However, there were provinces in the East where even more people died. |
Template:Matteo Villani 1995, Vol. 1, pp. 5-14. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 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 |
| 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-Florence | 1348 JL | In this long plague treatise-like passage, the author describes the Black Death in Florence with its symptoms, death toll and consequences. He describes how to behave in order to avoid the disease and be better prepared, although it is not possible to avoid it with certainty. He also advises people to flee infected areas early and to listen to the doctors' instructions. | Negli anni di Cristo 1348 fu nella città di Firenze una grande mortalità di persone umane le quali morivano di male pestilenziale; e molti gran fatti se n’ode dire dalle persone antiche e assai se ne truova iscritti; e fra gli altri ne (p. 230) scrive assai chopiosamente messer / (c. 65v) Giovanni Bochacci inn u·llibro che fecie di ciento novelle, ed è nel prencipio del libro. Di prima chominciò lavgiente a morire di cierto enfiato che venia chon gran doglia e chon repente febre o nell’anguinaia o sotto le ditella o nella ghola, da piè dell’orechie; e viveano quatro o sei dì. Di poi grebbe, e morivano in due dì o meno; e inn utimo e’ si venne tanto a spargiere questo veleno, che si dimostrava in cierte bolle pichole ch’apariano nelle charni per qualunche luogho della persona: e queste erano più pericholose che l’enfiato e di meno rimedio. E di poi, più nel chuore della moria, aparivano a’ più pe·lle charni cierti rossori e lividori, e sputavano sanque od e’ gittavano pel naso o di sotto: e questo era pessimo sengnio e sanza rimedio. E, brieve, e’ chaschavano, e grandi e piccioli, da un dì a un altro: inn una ora si vedea ridere e mottegiare il brighante e nell’ora medesima il vedevi morire! E venne la chosa a tanto, che molti ne morivano pe·lla via e su pe·lle panche, chome abandonati, sanza aiuto o chonforto di persona: solo erano posti quivi perché fussono da’ vicini sotterrati per fuggire il puzo. E tale vi s’andava, che ssi vedea solo in chasa e abandonato, per avere qualche sochorso. Molti per farneticho andavano impazando pe·lla terra; molti se ne gittavano ne’ pozi, a tterra delle finestre e inn Arno; e tale s’uccideva per gran farneticho o per gran pena o dolore. Molti si morivano che non erano veduti e ’nfradiciavano su pe·lle letta; molti n’erano sotterrati che anchora erano vivi. Non si trovava chi gli servisse né chi gli sotterrasse; e più, che se ttu avessi voluto un testimone a un testamento, tu non llo potevi avere, o se pure ne trovavi niuno, e’ voleva sei o otto fiorini. Aresti veduto iª crocie ire per un chorpo, averne dietro tre o quatro prima giungniesse alla chiesa: assai n’erano posti la notte alle reggi di fuori della chiesa e nella via n’erano gittati assai. Molte chose maravigliose si vidono: assai, per vicitare uno infermo, per ghovernallo o ttocharlo, o llui o suoi panni, di fatto chaschare morti. E fra ll’altre chose, dicie messere Giovanni Bochacci che vide due porci grufolare e stracciare cierti pannicielli d’un povero uomo morto, rimasi nella via: di fatto i detti porci chascharono morti su que’ cienci istracciati da lloro. O vedi di quanto pericholo e di quanto rischio questo male pestilenziale è: non si può troppo guardare. Ora, chome voi avete in parte veduto e potuto chonprendere, la moria fu innistimabile, e diciesi, e chosì fu di cierto, che nella nostra città morirono i due terzi delle persone; ché era istimato / (c. 66r) che in Firenze avesse in quel tenpo CXX mila anime, che nne morirono, cioè de’ chorpi, ottantamila. Pensate se fu frachasso! Non è da prenderne gran maraviglia perché questo fusse, ché molte chagioni ci furono da inciendere il malore; e fu maggiore maraviglia, chi chonsiderasse bene ogni chosa, di que’ che chanparono che di que’ che morirono. E lle chagioni furono in parte queste, cioè: in Firenze non si chonoscieva, diciamo pe·lla chomunità, questo male, perché a gran tenpo non era apparito; era Firenze molto ripiena di giente e di più quantità ch’ella fusse mai; l’anno dinanzi era suto in Firenze gran fame, e credo non era nel centinaio venti che avessono pane o biada alchuna, e quelli chotanti n’avevono pocho: (p. 231) vivettesi d’erbe e di barbe d’erbe e di chattive, non lle chonoscieresti oggi, e beevano acqua, e tutto il chontado era pieno di persone che andavano pasciendo l’erbe chome le bestie. Chonsidera chome i loro chorpi erano disposti! Apresso, chom’è detto, e’ non aveano arghomento né riparo niuno; e fu la chosa sì grande e ssì aspra, che ll’uno non poteva atare l’altro di nulla, e per queste chagioni e’ si morirono sanza rimedio. Oggi è avvenuto, per esenpro di questa e di molte altre che spesso sono di poi istate, che ci s’è preso assai ripari, non però che gran danno non faccia; ma pure credo che assai ne chanpano per virtù de’ rimedi, ché dichono e medici che lle reghole ch’essi danno per rimedio di questo veleno è uno armarsi alla difesa. Non è però che uno che sia molto bene armato non possa essere morto, ché gli fia dato d’una lancia o d’una ghiera o d’una bonbarda o prieta che ll’ucciderà; chosì potrà avenire al buon uomo, che fia provveduto contro alla pestilenza, e gli giungnierà una nebbia o un puzo di chorruzione o un fiato d’altro malato che fia più forte di lui e ucciderallo pure. Ma che è? Egli è assai chiaro che a una zuffa mortale à gran vantaggio chi è bene armato, e meno ne muoiono che de’ disarmati; e però vo’ dire che’ rimedi sono buoni. Vuolsi avere chonsiglio chon valenti medici e pigliare per iscritto loro chonsiglio o loro riciette, e quelle osservare diligientemente e non se ne fare punto beffe. Da mme voglio abbi questo chotanto chonsiglio. Tu udirai dinanzi che lla mortalità sia nella città di Firenze un anno o due, perché prima offende la Romangnia o lla Lonbardia che lla città nostra, e quasi per uso l’anno vengniente ell’è in Firenze; o almeno il verno dinanzi tu nne sentirai qualche isprazo o nel contado o nelle pendici della terra, il perché chiaro si prosu/me (c. 66v) la mortalità dovere essere in Firenze. E sappi che di febraio ella comincia a ffarsi sentire dentro, e chosì va crescendo tutto lulglio; e da mezo luglio in llà ed ella s’apicha alle persone da bene e a quelli che sono vivuti regholati, e chomincia a morire meno giente, ma de’ migliori. E quest’è perché il veleno è tanto isparto e tanto t’à chonbattuto, che t’à rotte l’armi e passato dentro; e per la dura della battaglia e’ ti viene a strachare e a pocho a pocho a chorronperti, e ’nfine e’ t’abbatte. E però piglia questo riparo. Chomincia il verno dinanzi a ghovernare te e la tua famiglia tutta per questa via. Prima, fa di quardarti dall’umido quantunche ttu puoi e non patire punto il freddo. Apresso, usa il fuocho ongni mattina prima escha fuori e piglia qualche chosa sechondo lo stomacho che ài: o un pocho di pane e un mezo bichiere di buon vino o di malvagia, o una pillola apropiata a cciò, o un pocho d’utriacha quando fusse piove o umidori, de’ quindici dì due o tre mattine a llato, sul dì, e prima ti levi e dormi un pocho poi; e non mangiare nulla da ivi a ore cinque. Se tti venisse beuto o volessi bere un mezo bichiere di malvagia sarebbe buono, ma non altri vini grossi; o sse avessi lo stomacho debole o frigido, piglia degli otto dì una volta a tai tenpacci una barba di gengiovo (p. 232) in chonservo e bei un mezo bichiere di malvagia, e sta di poi cinque ore che ttu non mangi altro. O ttu piglia un gherofano o un pocho di ciennamo o uno ghughiaio di tregiea o quatro derrate di zafferano o due o tre noci chotte e due o tre fichi sanza pane o qualche chosetta, sechondo che sse’ chonsigliato. E quello vedessi ti faciesse noia lascialo istare; e se llo stomacho istà meglio digiuno, non gli dare impaccio. Non uscire fuori troppo avaccio: quand’è nebbia e piova istatti al fuocho. Desina all’ora chonpitente, mangia buone chose e non troppo; levati chon buono apitito, quarti dalle frutte e da’ funghi, non ne mangiare, o pocho e di rado. Esercita la persona, ma non chon faticha, che ttu non sudi e non n’abbi ’ansare o a sciorinarti de’ panni; quarti dal chiavare e dalle femine, non ti impacciare chon niuna in quell’anno. Non mangiare e non bere se non n’ài voglia; e quando avessi in sullo stomacho, lascialo prima digiestire e di poi ista un’ora prima mangi o bei. quarti dalla ciena, pocho mangia e buone cose; non mangiare porcho in niuno modo; usa, se ài buono istomacho, l’acieto e ll’agresto, ma non tanto ti desse noia a smaltire. Fa di stare sobrio del chorpo e che ttu escha il dì due volte il meno: se fussi istiticho e duro del chorpo, fatti uno arghomento degli otto dì o de’ quindici dì. / (c. 67r) Non ti raviluppare troppo nel dormire, levati al levare del sole. E ’n questa forma passa il verno. E tenendo questo o migliore istile, tu verrai a purghare lo stomacho overo il chorpo tutto, per modo che lla churrezione dell’aria non troverrà materia d’apicharsi. Alla primavera o veramente di marzo tu sentirai dove è buono fuggire. Aspetta che de’ tuoi cittadini si muovano: non volere essere de’ primi, ma, partitone quatro o sei piglia partito e va dove ne vanno i più e in sì fatta città che pel tuo danaio tu truovi ciò che bisongnia alla santà del corpo. Non essere isciocho, o per masserizia o per niuna chagione, di rinchiuderti in chastella o in ville o in lluoghi che non vi sia e medici buoni e medicine che nne interviene che l’amicho si muore e spende nella fine due tanti che gli altri ed essene fatto beffe, sanza il dolore e i·rripitio dell’animo che mai te ne puoi dare pacie. Non sono tempi da masserizia, ma da trarre il danaio d’ongni luogho che ttu puoi; e spendi larghamente nelle chose che bisongnia, sanza niuna masserizia che ssia però che non si guadangniano se non per ispenderli per chanpare o vuoi per vivere e per onore, o nelle brighe o in simili casi. E però ti chonforto del fuggire presto e quest’è il più sichuro ischanpo ci sia. Fa d’avere de’ denari: e non giuchare, ché potresti rimanere sulle secche, e a que’ tenpi se ne truovano molto pochi che te ne prestassono per molti rispetti. Sì che sia savio: provediti tanto dinanzi rauni treciento fiorini il meno, e non ne tocchare mai niuno se non abbisogni e non dire che ttu gli abbia, ché ti sarebbono chiesti. E togli chasa agiata pe·lla tua famiglia, e non punto istretta, ma chamere d’avanzo. E nella istate usa chose fresche: buoni vini e picholi, de’ polli e de’ chavretti e de’ ventri o peducci di chastrone choll’acieto o llattugha, o de’ ghanberi, se nne puoi avere. Istatti il dì di meriggio al frescho: non dormire se puoi farlo, o ttu dormi chosì a sedere. Usa d’un lattovaro che fanno fare i medici di ribarbero, danne a’ fanciulli ché uccide i (p. 233) vermini. Mangia alchuna volta la mattina un’oncia di chassia, chosì ne’ bucciuoli, e danne a’ fanciulli: fa d’averne in chasa e frescha e del zuchero e dell’acquarosa e del giulebbo. Se ài sete il dì bei di quello rinfreschati i polsi, le tenpie e al naso choll’acieto ben forte. None istare dove sia molta giente e spezialmente in luogho rinchiuso chome in loggie o in chiese o in simili luoghi. Chon chi venisse dell’aria chorrotta o che avesse infermi in chasa o fusse morto di sua giente, non istare / (c. 67v) cho·llui se none il meno che ttu puoi, non dimostrando ischifarlo per modo s’aveggha, acciò non isdengniasse o non pigliasse ischonforto. Fuggi quanto puoi maninchonia o pensiero: usa dove si faccia chose da diletto e dove tu possa pigliare ispasso chon piacere e chon allegreza, e non pensare punto di chosa ti dia dolore o chattivo pensiero. Chome ti venisse, fuggilo, o in pensare ad altro o dove si ragioni di darsi piaciere o dove si faccia alchuna chosa che tti piaccia o ttu giuocha, quando tai chasi t’avenissono, e di pochi danari per volta: non passare di perdere uno fiorino; e se llo perdi, lascialo andare sanza pensarvi e non volere per quel dì rischuoterti, ché potresti, dove vuoi fuggire pensiero e dolore, andarlo cierchando. Se ài chavallo, vatti a ssollazo e per la terra e di fuori la mattina pe·llo frescho e lla sera. Istà chasto il più che ttu puoi. Fuggi ongni chosa putidra e ll’aria ivi apresso, non vi istare tieni in diletto e in piaciere la tua famiglia e fa cho·lloro insieme buona e sana vita, vivendo sanza pensiero di fare per allora masserizia, ché assai s’avanza a stare sano e fuggire la morte. Al presente non iscriverrò più avanti sopra la detta materia, perché nel vero i medici fidati e che chonoschono la tua natura sarebbono quelli che meglio t’amaestrerrebbono di tale provedimento; e però, chom’è detto, il chonsiglio si vuole avere da lloro, nonistante che lle sopra iscritte chose sieno utili e buone a oservalle ne’ detti tenpi. |
In the year of Christ 1348 there was a great mortality in the city of Florence among the people who died of a pestilential disease. Many stories about it are told by old people, and many are written down; and among others, Giovanni Boccaccio tells about it in detail in a book of a hundred novellas, and it is at the beginning of the book. At first people began to die of a swelling, accompanied with great pain and sudden fever, either in the groin, under the armpits, or in the neck, below the ears; they lived four or six days. Afterwards the disease grew worse, and they died in two days or less; finally this poison spread so far that it showed itself in certain small bumps which appeared on the skin anywhere on the body: and these were more dangerous than the swellings and more difficult to treat. Later, in the heart of the epidemic, certain redness and bruises appeared on the skin of many people, and they spat blood or bled from the nose or underneath: and this was a very bad sign and without cure. In short, they fell, big and small, from one day to the next: one hour you would see someone laughing and joking and the next hour you would see him die! It got to the point that many died in the streets and on the benches, like abandoned people, without help or consolation from anyone: they were only left there to be buried by the neighbours to avoid the smell. And it happened that people left, because they were alone and abandoned at home, to get some kind of help. Many wandered madly through the country because of delirium; many threw themselves into wells, from windows and into the Arno; and some killed themselves because of great delirium or great pain or suffering. Many died without being seen, rotting in their beds; many were buried even though they were still alive. There was no one to serve them or bury them; and what is more, if you needed a witness for a will, you could not get one, or he asked for six or eight florins. Crosses were seen brought for a body, and three or four followed it before it reached the church: many were deposited at night on the lattices outside the church, and many were thrown away in the street. Many marvellous things were seen: many who visited, nursed or touched a sick person, either him or his clothes, fell down dead. Among others, Giovanni Boccaccio relates that he saw two swine rooting and tearing certain rags of a dead poor man who had remained in the street: and immediately the said swine fell down dead on the rags they had torn. Oh, see how dangerous and risky this pestilential disease is: one cannot protect oneself enough. Now, as you have partly seen and understood, the mortality was immeasurable, and it is said, and so it certainly was, that in our city two-thirds of the people died; for it was estimated that there were 120,000 souls in Florence at that time, of whom 80,000 died. Think what an uproar that was! It is not very surprising that this happened, for there were many causes which increased the evil; and it is more surprising, when all is well considered, how many survived than how many died. The reasons were partly these: in Florence this disease, let us say for the community, was not known, as it had not appeared for a long time; Florence was very populous, more so than ever; the year before there was great famine in Florence, and I believe there were not a hundred people that had bread or corn, and those that had had little: they lived on herbs and roots and bad things that would not be recognised to-day, and they drank water, and all the surrounding country was full of people eating herbs like beasts. Think about what state their bodies were in! In addition, as I said, they had no remedies or defences; and the evil was so great and so violent that they could not help each other in anything, and for these reasons they died without remedy. Now it is so, in consequence of these and many others that have often taken place afterwards, that many precautions have been taken, not that it no longer does much harm; but still I believe that many survive by the power of the remedies, for the doctors say that the rules they give to ward off this poison are a kind of defence. This does not mean that one who is very well armed cannot die, for he may be struck by a spear thrust or a bullet or a stone that kills him; so it may happen to the good man who has taken precautions against the plague that a mist or a stench of putrefaction or a breath of another sick person stronger than himself may strike him and still kill him. But what is that? It is clear that in a mortal fight he who is well armed has a great advantage, and dies less than the unarmed; therefore I would say that the remedies are good. One should seek advice from good doctors and get their advice or prescriptions in writing and follow them conscientiously and not make fun of them. I would like you to take this advice to heart. You will hear that mortality lasts a year or two in the city of Florence, because it first strikes Romagna or Lombardy before it reaches our city, and almost always the following year it is in Florence; or at least in the winter before you will hear a whiff of it, either in the surrounding countryside or in the suburbs, so it is clear that mortality will come to Florence. And know that it begins to make itself felt in February, and so it grows into July; and from the middle of July it affects the wealthy people and those who have lived well, and fewer people die, but of the best. This is because the poison has spread so widely and has affected you so badly that it has broken through the armour and got inside; and because of the hardness of the battle it will tire you out and gradually wear you down, and finally it will strike you down. Therefore, take these precautions. In winter, begin to protect yourselves and your whole family in this way. First, beware of dampness as much as possible and do not endure cold. Then use fire every morning before you go out, and take something according to your stomach: a little bread and half a glass of good wine or malmsey, or a suitable pill, or a little theriac, if it is raining or damp, two or three mornings of fifteen days, during the day and before you get up, and then sleep a little; and eat nothing till five hours later. If you are thirsty or wish to drink half a glass of malmsey, that would be good, but no other strong wines; or if you have a weak or cold stomach, once in eight days at such times take a pickled ginger root and drink half a glass of malmsey, and then eat nothing else for five hours. Or take a clove leaf or a little cinnamon or a spoonful of trigonella or four grains of saffron or two or three boiled nuts and two or three figs without bread or anything else, as you are advised. And if you realise that it is not good for you, leave it alone; and if it is better for the stomach to remain sober, do not strain it. Don't go out too early: stay by the fire in fog and rain. Eat at the proper time, eat good things and not too much; get up with a good appetite, avoid fruit and mushrooms, do not eat them, or eat only a little and rarely. Exercise, but not strenuously, so that you do not sweat and do not feel the need to dry your clothes; avoid sexual intercourse and women, do not mix with them this year. Do not eat or drink if you do not feel like it; and if you have something in your stomach, let it digest first and then wait an hour before eating or drinking. Eat little and good things in the evening; do not eat pork in any way; if you have a good stomach, use vinegar and verjuice, but not so much that it gives you difficulty in digesting. Keep your body light, and see that you get out twice a day: If you are constipated and hard in body, take a treatment of eight or fifteen days. (c. 67r) Don't get too entangled in sleep, get up at sunrise. In this way spend the winter. And if you keep up this or a better style, you will so cleanse your stomach or your whole body that the bad air will find no clue. In spring, or really in March, you will realise where you should flee to. Wait till your fellow-citizens move: do not be the first, but after four or six have gone, go where most go, and to such a town where you will find for your money all that is necessary for the health of the body. Do not be foolish, either for miserliness or for any other reason, to shut yourself up in castles or villages or places where there are no good doctors and medicines, for it happens that the friend dies and ends up spending twice as much as the others and is laughed at, without the pain and trembling of the soul that never leaves you in peace. These are not times for miserliness, but to get money from wherever you can; and spend generously on what is necessary, without miserliness, for it is only earned to spend on survival or on life and honour, or on difficulties or similar cases. Therefore, I encourage you to escape early, and that is the safest escape there is. Make sure you have money: Don't gamble, because you could lose it all, and at these times there are very few who would lend it to you for many reasons. So be wise: Take care in advance to collect at least three hundred florins, and do not touch them unless it is necessary, and do not say that you have them, for they would be demanded of you. And take a spacious house for your family, not too cramped, but with extra rooms. And in summer use fresh things: good wine and small, chickens and goatlings, and the bellies or feet of mutton with vinegar or lettuce, or crabs if you can get them. Keep cool at midday: do not sleep if you can avoid it, or sleep sitting up. Use a lotion that doctors make with rhubarb, give it to children as it kills worms. Eat an ounce of cassia sometimes in the morning, in the buds, and give it to the children: keep it fresh in the house together with sugar and rose-water and syrup. If you are thirsty during the day, cool your wrists, temples and nose with strong vinegar. Do not stay in places with many people, especially in closed rooms such as loggias or churches or similar places. Do not stay with someone who comes from a contaminated area or has sick people in the house or whose relatives have died, as little as possible without showing it, so as not to offend or discourage them. Flee as much as you can from melancholy or sorrow: Stay in places where you can find joy and entertainment, and don't think about things that cause you pain or bad thoughts. When they come, flee from them by thinking of something else or by staying in places where there is pleasure or where people do things you like or where you can play, but only with little money: do not lose more than a florin; and if you lose it, let it go without thinking about it and do not try to recover that day, because where you want to flee sorrow and pain, you go in search of it. If you have a horse, go out in the morning and evening for pleasure. Be as chaste as possible. Flee from everything foul and the air in the neighbourhood, do not stay there. Keep your family in joy and contentment and lead a good and healthy life together, without thinking of miserliness, for it is enough to stay healthy and avoid death. I will not write further on this subject for now, because in truth, trustworthy doctors who know your nature are the ones who can give you the best advice; therefore, as I said, advice should be sought from them, although the things mentioned above are useful and good to observe in the times mentioned. |
Giovanni di Pagolo Morelli: Ricordi 2019, pp. 229-233 | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1348-00-00-Italy 003 | 1348 JL | Earthquake at 25. January and arrival of the Black Death in Italy and its spread and symptoms | Deus omnipotens, qui non vult mortem peccatoris, sed ut convertatur et vivat, primo minatur, secundo vero percuit ad correctionem humani generis, non interitum. Volens affligere humanum genus plagis maximis, inauditis, primo in extremis partibus mundi, in orientis plaga cepit suum iudicium horrendum. Cum vero jam percussiset Tartaros, Turcos (p. 121) et genus infidelium universum in MCCCXLVIII, die XXV Januarii, hora XXIII, fuit maximus terremotus per horam mediam ad terrorem Christianorum. Post quem pestis inaudita transivit mare, scilicet in partes Venetiarum, Lombardie, Marchie, Tuscie, Alemanie, Francie et per fere mundum universum. Hanc, quidem infecti, venientes de partibus orientis, detulerunt. Hi solo visu, vel tactu, vel flatu omnes occidebant. Erat hec infectio incurabilis, non poterat evitari. Uxor fugiebat amplexum cari viri, pater filii, frater fratris: et gentes subito multotiens expirabant. Sic ovis infecta inficit totum gregem. Sic unius domus descendentes unum semper moriendo ceteri sequebantur usque ad canes. Corpora etiam nobilium manebant insepulta. Multi pretio a vilibus sepeliebantur sine presbyteris et candelis. Veneti vero, ubi centum milia perierunt, navibus redemptis magno pretio corpora ad insulas portabant. Civitas erat quasi desolata. Unus solus incognitus venit Paduam, qui civitatem infecit in tantum, quod forsan in toto comitatu tertia pars defecit. Civitates, cupientes evitare talem pestem, omnibus extraneis prohibebant ingressum. Sic mercatores de civitate ad civitatem non poterant ambulare. Hac clade fuerunt destitute civitates et castra. Non audiebantur voces, nisi heu, dolores et planctus. Tunc cessavit vox sponsi et sponse, sonus cythare, cantus juvenum et letitia. Pestes vero imminentes tempore Pharaonis, David, Esechie, Gregorii Pape respective possunt nunc pro nihilo reputari. Henc enim pestis circuit totum orbem. Deus enim tempore Noe tantas animas vix consumpsit, cui possibile est humanum genus etiam de lapidibus restaurare. Hujus pestis erant pessime alii infecti, ut supra; quidam evomendo sanguinem expirabant subito, ali morbo cancri, vel vermis. In signum vero mortis, quasi omnibus nascebantur glandule incurabiles, circa genitalia, vel sub brachiis, vel aliis partibus, venenosis febribus sociate. Hi prima, vel secunda die expirabant; post tertiam, licet raro esset, aliqua spes salutis, aliqui somno capti, nunquam excitati, transibant. Contra hoc medici palam profitebantur se nescire remedium, quorum hac peste potissima pars defecit. | Guillelmus de Cortusiis, pp. 120–121 | Translation needed | |
| 1348-00-00-Southern-Italy | 1348 JL | Appearance of the Black Death all across Southern Italy, with precise description of Symptoms | Eo namque tempore, anno videlicet domini MCCCXLVIII, in toto regno Siciliae, et generaliter per totum mundum, pestifera mortalitas perduravit et morbus talis, quod subito apparebat glandula in inguine hominis et infra duos aut tres dies ad tardius hominem occidebat. Sicque in terra ipsa tanta invaluit ipsa mortalitas, quod quasi modicus superfuit populus in eadem; et sic generaliter contigit in singulis civitatibus et casalibus regni hujus et mundi. | At that time, namely in the year of our Lord 1348, a pestilential mortality persisted throughout the entire kingdom of Sicily and generally throughout the whole world, and such a disease that a gland would suddenly appear in a man's groin and within two or three days at most, it would kill the person. And so, in that land, the mortality became so strong that almost only a small portion of the population remained; and this generally happened in every city and village of this kingdom and the world. | Dominico de Gravina 1903, p. 49 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1348-01-15-Pisa | 15 January 1348 JL | Description of the symptoms, the social consequences and the mortality of the plague in Pisa. | E inssomma la ditta pistolentia e morìa incomincciò sì forte in dela cità a cresciere e a sparggiere, che lla sera si coricava la persona e lla maitina si trovava morta: chie moria d'anguinaia, chi di uno inffiato che apparia al ditello, e ad alchuno aparia a la coscia uno inffiato si chiamava tinccone, e chie isputava sangue ed altri sossi mali. E, favellando favellando, moriano le gient alquanto. E la maggior parte che morto ch'era la persona sì l'ischopriano esciali sopra la carne a modo di cotórsuli larghi, neri come uno fiorino, e chiamavansi faoni, ed erano a veder morti della laide cose del mondo. de' mille l'uno a chie aparia nessuno di questi inffiati o a chi aparia di quelli faoni non ne canpava nullo, né medico non trovava chi vvi volessa andare a churarlo che subito era 'chuzato morto e ssì per paura di sé. E venne tanto a Pisa che li fondachi e lle bottehge delli spetiali. Alchuni citadini fuggiano della cità e andavano per lo contado, e ppoi ritornavano però ch'ella sparse per lo contado al simile modo, non valea niente lo fuggire. E altro non si facea a Pisa, se non di sotterar morti, e non era dì nessuno che 'n Pisa non ssi sotterrasseno tra grandi e picciuli quando dugiento e quando treciento e quando quatrociento e quando cinqueciento per dì. Ed ebbe in Pisa più case di quindici o piò in famigla che non ne rimase nullo, che tutti morìrono. E durò questa pistolentia dal mezzo gennaio sine al settenbre, che poi ch'ella fu restata si trovònno morti piò di settantta per cientonaio di tutte le persone che erano in Pisa, e chie dicie delli diece ne morì li nove. E cosiì fue per lo contado di Pisa e per tutta cristianità e per le terre de saracini, e in terre murate e non murate, benchè maggior pistolentia fusse in un luogo più che 'n uno alto. | And in short, the pistolentia and death began to grow and spread so strongly in the city, that in the evening, people went to bed and found themselves dead: some died of eel, some of an injury that appeared on the finger, and some had an injury that appeared on the thigh, which was called "tinccone", and some were spitting blood and other ills. And, speaking by speaking, they died a little. And most of those who were dead, whose persons were dead, were exhaled from their flesh in the form of large cotórsuli, as black as a florin, and they were called faoni, and they were to be seen dead from the foul things of the world. Of the thousand of them, none of those who had been inhaled or those who had been inhaled were able to find any, nor any doctor who wanted to go and heal them, so that they were immediately killed, and so for fear of themselves. And he came so much to Pisa that the fondachi and the shops of the spetiali. Some of the citizens fled the city and went to the countryside, and then returned, but since they spread out through the countryside in the same way, it was worth nothing to flee. And nothing else was done in Pisa, except to bury the dead, and there was no one in Pisa who did not bury themselves among the great and small, when two hundred and when three hundred and when four hundred and when five hundred per day. And he had in Pisa more houses of fifteen or more in the family that none remained, that all died. And this pistolentia lasted from the middle of January to the end of October, so that when it was over, more than seventy people per hundred of all the people who were in Pisa were found dead, and those who said they were ten died of the nine. And so it was for the county of Pisa and for the whole of Christendom and for the lands of the Saracens, and in walled and unwalled lands, although there was more gunfire in one place than in another. | Template:Cronica di Pisa 2005, p. 146. | Translation by DeepL |
| 1348-03-00-Firenze | March 1348 JL | Arrival of the Black Death in Florence: a most detailed description of all its impacts and consequences | Negli anni del Signore MCCXLVIII fu nella città di Firenze e nel contado grandissima pistilenzia, e fu di tale furore e di tanta tempesta, che nella casa dove s'appigliava chiunque servìa niuno malato, tutti quelli che lo' serviano, moriano di quel medesimo male, e quasi niuno passava lo quarto giorno, e non valeva nè medico, nè medicina, o che non fossero ancora conosciute quelle malattie, o che li medici non avessero sopra quelle mai studiato, non parea che rimedio vi fosse. Fu di tanta paura che niuno non sapea che si fare; quando s'appigliava in alcuna casa, spesso avvenia che non vi rimanea persona che non morisse. E non bastava solo gli uomini e le femmine, ma ancora gli animali sensitivi, cani e gatte, polli, buoi, asini e pecore moriano di quella malattia e con quel segno, e quasi niuno, a cui venà lo segno, o pochi, veniano a guarigione. Lo segno era questo, che, o tra la coscia e'l corpo al modo (nodo?) d'anguinaia, o sotto lo ditello apparia un grossetto, e la febbre a un tratto, e quando sputava, sputava sangue mescolato colla saliva, e quegli che sputava sangue niuno campava. Fu questa cosa di tanto spavento, che veggendo appiccarla in una casa, ove cominciava, come detto è, non vi rimanea niuno; le genti spaventate abbondanavano la casa, e fuggivano in un' altra; e chi nella città, e chi si fuggia in villa. Medici non si trovavano, perocchè moriano come gli altri; quelli che si trovavano, voleano smisurato prezzo in mano innanzi che intrassero nella casa, ed entratovi, tocavono il polso col viso volo adrieto, e' da lungi volevono vedere l'urina con cose odorifere al naso. Lo figluolo abbandonava il padre, lo marito la moglie, la moglie il marito, l'uno fratello l'altro, l'una sirocchia l'altra. Tutta la città non avea a fare altro che a portare morti a sepellire; mollti ne morirono, che non ebbono all lor fine nè confessione ed altri sacramenti; e moltissimi morirono che non fu chi li vedesse, e molti ne morirono di fame, imperocchè come uno si ponea in sul letto malato, quelli di casa sbigottiti gli diceano: “Io vo per lo medico” e serravano pianamente l'uscio da via, e non vi tornavano più. Costui abbandonato dalle persone e poi da cibo, ed accompagnato dalla febbre si venia meno. Molti erano, che sollicitavano li loro che non li abbandonassero, quando venia alla sera; e' diceano all'ammalato: “Acciocchè la notte tu non abbi per ogni cosa a destare chi ti serve, e dura fatica lo dì e la notte, totti tu stesso de' confetti e del vino o acqua, eccola qui in sullo soglio della lettiera (p. 231) sopra 'l capo tuo, e po' torre della roba”. E quando s'addormentava l'ammalato, se n'andava via, e non tornava. Se per sua ventura si trovava la notte confortato di questo cibo la mattina vivo e forte da farsi a finestra, stava mezz'ora innanzichè persona vi valicasse, se non era la via molto maestra, e quando pure alcun passava, ed egli avesse un poco di voce che gli fosse udito, chiamando, quando gli era risposto, non era soccorso. Imperocchè niuno, o pochi voleano intrare in casa, dove alcuno fosse malato, ma ancora non voelano ricettare di quelli, che sani uscissero della casa del malato, e diceano: "Egli è affatappiato, non gli parlate" dicendo: "E' l'ha perocchè in casa sua è il Gavocciolo; e chiamavano quelle inflato gavocciolo. Moltissimi morieno senza esser veduti, che stavano in sullo letto tanto che puzzavano. E la vicinanza, se v'era, sentito lo puzzo, mettevono per borsa, e lo mandavano a seppellire. Le case rimaneano aperte, e non er ardito persona di tocare nulla, che parea che le cose rimanessero avvelenate, che chi le usava gli s'appicava il male.Fecesi a ogni chiesa, o alle più, fosse infon all'acqua, larghe e cupe, secondo lo popolo era grande; e quivi chi non era molto ricco, la notte morto, quegli, a cui toccava, se lo metteva sopra la spalla, o gittavalo in questa fossa, o pagava gran prezzo a chi lo facesse. La mattina se ne trovavano assai nella fossa, toglievasi della terra, e gettavasi laggiuso loro addosso; e poi veniano gli altri sopr'essi, e poi la terra addosso a suolo, a suolo, con poca terra, come si ministrasse lasagne a fornire formaggio. Li' beccamorti, che facevano gli servigi, erono prezzolati di sì gran prezzo, che molti n'arrichirono, e molti ne morirono, chi ricco e chi con poco guadagno, ma gran prezzo avieno. Le serviziali, o o serviziali, che servieno li malati volieno da uno in tre fiorini per dì e le spese di cose fiorite. Le cose che mangiavano i malati, confetti e zucchero, smisuratamente valevano. Fu vendeuta di tre in otto fiorini la libbra di zucchero e al simile gli altri confetti. Li pollastri ed alti pollami a meraviglia carissimi, e l'uovo di prezzo di denari 12 in 24 l'uno; e beato chi ne trovava tre il dì con cercare tutta la città. La cera era miracolo; la libbra sarebba montata più di un fiorino, senonchè vi si puose freno alle grande burbanze, che sempre feciono gli Fiorentini, perocchè si diede ordine non si potesse portare più due doppieri. Le chiese non avieno più che una bara, com' è d'uso, non bastava. Li speziali e bechamorti avien prese bare, coltri e guanciali con grandissimo prezzo. Lo vestire di stamigna che si usava nei morti, che soleva costare una donna, gonella guarnacca e mantello e veli, fiorini tre, montò in pregio di fiorini trenta, e sarebbe ito in fiorini cento, se non che si levò di vestire della stamigna, e chi era ricco vestiva di panno, e chi non ricco in lenzoletto lo cucìa. Costava le panche, che si pongono i morti, uno sfolgoro, e ancora non bastava tutte le panche ch'erano il centesimo. Lo sonare delle campane non si potevano li preti contentare; di che si fece ordine tra per lo sbigottimento del sonare delle campane e per lo vender le panche e raffrenare le spese, che a niuno corpo si sonasse, nè si ponesse panche, nè si bandisse, perocchè l'udivano gli ammalati, sbigottivano li sani, nonchè i malati. Li preti e i frati andavano ai ricchi e in tanta moltitudine, ed erano sì pagati di tanto prezzo che tutti arrichieno. E però si fece ordine che non si potesse avere più che d'una regola e la chiesa del popolo, e per la regola sei frati e non più. Tutte le frutta nocive vietarono a entrare nella città, come susine acerbe, mandorle in erba, fave fresche, fichi ed ogni frutta [p. 232] non utile e non sana. Molte processioni ed orlique e la tavola di S. Maria Impruneta vennero andando per la città, gridando: "Misericordià", e facendo orazioni, e poi in sulla ringhiera dei Priori fermate. Vi si rendereno paci di gran questioni e di ferite e di morte d'uomini. Fu questa cosa di tanto sbigottimento e di tanta paura' che le genti si ragunavano in brigata a mangiare per pigliare qualche conforto; e dava l'uno la sera cena a dieci compagni, e l'altra sera davono ordine di mangiare con uno di quelli, e quando credevono cenare con quello, ed egli era senza cena, che quegli era malato, o quando era fatta la cena per dieci, vi se ne trovava meno due o tre. Chi si fuggìa in villa, chi nelle castella per mutare aria; ove non eralo portavono, se v'era lo crescevano. Niuna Arte si lavorava in Firenze: tutte le botteghe serrate, tutte le taverne chiuse, salvo speziali e chiese. Per la Terra andavi, che non trovavi persona; e molti buoni e ricchi uomini erano portati dalla casa a chiesa nella bara con quattro beccamortì et uno chiericuzzo che portava la croce, e poi volieno uno fiorino uno. Di questa mortalità arricchirono speziali, medici, pollaiuoli, beccamorti, trecche di malva, ortiche, marcorelle et altre erbe da impiastri per macerare malori. E fu più quelle che feciono queste trecche d'erbe, fu gran denaro. Lanaiuoli, e ritagliatori che si trovarono panni li vendeano ciò che chiedeono. Ristata la mortalità chi si trovò panni fatti d'ogni ragione n'aricchiì, o chi si trovò da poterne fare; ma molti se ne trovarono intignati' e guasti e perduti a' telai; e stame e lana in quantità perdute per la città e contado. Questa pistolenza cominciò di marzo, come detto è, e finì di settembre 1348. E le genti cominciavono a tornare e rivedersi le case e le masserizie. E fu tante le case pien di tutti li beni, che non avevono signore, ch'era un stupore, poi si cominciarono a vedere gli eredi dei beni. E tale che non aveva nulla si trovò ricco, che non pareva che fusse suo, ed a lui medesimo pareva gli si disdicesse. E cominciornon a sfogiare nei vestimenti e ne' cavagli e le donne e gli uomini | In the year of our lord 1348 there occurred in the city and contado of Florence a great pestilence, and such was its fury and violence that in whatever household it took hold, whosoever took care of the sick, all the carers died of the same illness, and almost nobody survived beyond the fourth day, neither doctors nor medicine proving of any avail, and there appeared to be no remedy, either because those illnesses were not yet recognised, or because doctors had never previously had cause to study them properly. Such was the fear that nobody knew what to do: when it caught hold in a household, it often happened that not a single person escaped death. And it wasn't just men and women: even sentient animals such as dogs and cats, hens, oxen, donkeys and sheep, died from that same disease and with those symptoms, and almost none who displayed those symptoms, or very few indeed, effected a recovery. Those symptoms were as follows: either between the thigh and the body, in the groin region, or under the armpit, there appeared a lump, and a sudden fever, and when the victim spat, he spat blood mixed with saliva, and none of those who spat blood survived. Such was the terror this caused that seeing it take hold in a household, as soon as it started, nobody remained: everybody abandoned the dwelling in fear, and fled to another; some fled into the city and others into the countryside. No doctors were to be found, because they were dying like everybody else; those who could be found wanted exorbitant fees cash-in-hand before entering the house, and having entered, they took the patient's pulse with their heads turned away, and assayed the urine samples from afar, with aromatic herbs held to their noses. Sons abandoned fathers, husbands wives, wives husbands, one brother the other, one sister the other. The city was reduced to bearing the dead to burial; many died who at their passing had neither confession nor last sacraments, and many died unseen, and many died of hunger, for when somebody took ill to his bed, the other occupants in panic told him: 'I'm going for the doctor'; and quietly locked the door from the outside and didn't come back. The victim, abandoned by both people and nourishment, yet kept constant company by fever, wasted away. Many were those who begged their families not to abandon them; when evening came, the relatives said to the patient: 'So that you don't have to wake up the people looking after you at night, asking for things, because this is going on day and night, you yourself can reach for cakes and wine or water, here they are on the shelf above your bed, you can get the stuff when you want'. And when the patient fell asleep, they went away and did not return. If, through good fortune the victim had been strengthened by that food, the next morning alive and still strong enough to get to the window, he would have to wait half an hour before anybody came past, if this was not a busy thoroughfare, and even when the odd person passed by, and the patient had enough voice to be heard a little, if he shouted, sometimes he would be answered and sometimes not, and even if he were to be answered, there was no help to be had. For not only none or very few wished to enter a house where there were any sick people, but they didn't even want to have contact with those who issued healthy from a sick person's house, saying: 'He's jinxed, don't speak to him', saying: 'He's got it because there's the "gavocciolo" [bubo] in his house'; and 'gavocciolo' was the name they gave to these swellings. Many died without being seen, remaining on their beds till they stank. And the neighbours, if any were left, having smelled the stench, did a whip round and sent him for burial. Houses remained open, nobody dared to touch anything, for it seemed that things remained poisoned, and whoever had anything to do with them caught the disease.
At every church, or at most of them, pits were dug, down to the water-table, as wide and deep as the parish was populous; and therein, whosoever was not very rich, having died during the night, would be shouldered by those whose duty it was, and would either be thrown into this pit, or they would pay big money for somebody else to do it for them. The next morning there would be very many in the pit. Earth would be taken and thrown down on them; and then others would come on top of them, and then earth on top again, in layers, with very little earth, like garnishing lasagne with cheese. The gravediggers who carried out these functions were so handsomely paid that many became rich and many died, some already rich and others having earned little, despite the high fees. The female and male sick-bay attendants demanded from one to three florins a day, plus sumptuous expenses. The foodstuffs suitable for the sick, cakes and sugar, reached outrageous prices. A pound of sugar was sold at between three and eight florins, and the same went for other confectionery. Chickens and other poultry were unbelievably expensive, and eggs were between 12 and 24 denari each: you were lucky to find three in a day, even searching through the whole city. Wax was unbelievable: a pound of wax rose to more than a florin, nevertheless an age-old arrogance of the Florentines was curbed, in that an order was given not to parade more than two large candles. The churches only had one bier apiece, as was the custom, and this was insufficient. Pharmacists and grave-diggers had obtained biers, hangings and laying-out pillows at great price. The shroud-cloth apparel which used to cost, for a woman, in terms of petticoat, outer garment, cloak and veils, three florins, rose in price to thirty florins, and would have risen to one hundred florins, except that they stopped using shroud-cloth, and whoever was rich was dressed with plain cloth, and those who weren't rich were sewn up in a sheet. The benches placed for the dead cost a ludicrous amount, and there weren't enough of them even if there had been a hundred times more. The priests couldn't get enough of ringing the bells: so an order was passed, what with the panic caused by the bells ringing and the sale of benches and the curbing of spending, that nobody should be allowed the death-knell, nor should benches be placed, nor should there be a public announcement by the crier, because the sick could hear them, and the healthy took fright as well as the sick. The priests and friars thronged to the rich, and were paid such great sums that they all enriched themselves. And so an ordinance was passed that only one rule (of religious houses) and the local church could be had, and from that rule a maximum of six friars. All harmful fruit, such as unripe plums, unripe almonds, fresh beans, figs and all other inessential unhealthy fruit, was forbidden from entering the city. Many processions and relics and the painting of Santa Maria Impruneta were paraded around the city, to cries of 'Mercy', and with prayers, coming to a halt at the rostrum of the Priori. There peace was made settling great disputes and questions of woundings and killings. Such was the panic this plague provoked that people met for meals as a brigata to cheer themselves up; one person would offer a dinner to ten friends, and the next evening it would be the turn of one of the others to offer the dinner, and sometimes they thought they were going to dine with him, and he had no dinner ready, because he was ill, and sometimes the dinner had been prepared for ten and two or three less turned up. Some fled to the country, and some to provincial towns, to get a change of air; where there was no plague they brought it, and where it already existed they added to it. No industry was busy in Florence; all the workshops were locked up, all the inns were closed, only chemists and churches were open. Wherever you went, you could find almost nobody; many rich good men were borne from their house to church in their coffin with just four undertakers and a lowly cleric carrying the cross, and even then they demanded a florin apiece. Those who especially profited from the plague were the chemists, the doctors, the poulterers, the undertakers, and the women who sold mallow, nettles, mercury plant and other poultice herbs for drawing abscesses. And those who made the most were these herb sellers. Woollen merchants and retailers when they came across cloth could sell it for whatever price they asked. Once the plague had finished, anybody who could get hold of whatsoever kind of cloth, or found the raw materials to make it, became rich; but many ended up moth-eaten, spoilt and useless for the looms, and thread and raw wool lost in the city and the contado. This plague began in March as has been said, and finished in September 1348. And people began to return to their homes and belongings. And such was the number of houses full of goods that had no owner, that it was amazing. Then the heirs to this wealth began to turn up. And someone who had previously had nothing suddenly found himself rich, and couldn't believe it was all his, and even felt himself it wasn't quite right. And both men and women began to show off with clothes and horses. |
Marchionne di Coppo Stefani 1903, pp. 230-232 | None |
| 1348-03-12-Avignon | 12 March 1348 JL | The Black Death arrives in Europe, with a detailed description of symptoms and precise numbers for Avignon, but also Venice, Marseille, Italy, Provence, Hungary, France, Germany and Scotland are mentioned | Anno Domini MCCCXLVII. pestilencia et mors universalis humani generis tanta invaluit, qualis umquam audita vel scripta reperitur. Nam primo in partibus ultramarinis inter paganos incepit, et tam gravis, ut dicebatur, quod ad ducenta milia ville, civitates absque hominibus remanerent; demum serpentino modo gradiebatur ex ista parte maris. Nam Veneciis, in tota Ytalia et Provincia, (p. 76), maxime in civitatibus iuxta mare sitis homines sine numero moriebantur; et Avinione, ubi tunc erat curia Romana, primis diebus proximis tribus post dominicam medie quadragesime mille et quadringenti computati homines sepulti fuerunt. Imo dicebatur, quod in civitate Marsyliensi ex hac pestilencia tot homines moriebantur, quod locus quasi inhabitabilis remansit. Postea transivit ad Alpes, ad Ungariam, per totam Alamaniam, per Franciam, in qua vix tercia pars hominum viva remansit, item per Scociam. Et semper in una provincia per unum annum vel circa duravit, transiens ultra; et sic paucis regnis exceptis quasi omnia mundi regna quassavit. Et ceciderunt homines ex ulceribus seu glandinibus exortis sub assellis vel iuxta genitalia - et pro maiori parte iuvenes moriebantur - vel per excrecionem materie sanguinee, et hic dolor in sex vel octo diebus homines suffocavit. Hec loca apud medicos emunctoria nuncupantur, quia superfluitas vel sudor subtilis hiis locis faciliter emittitur per naturam. Duravit autem hec pestilencia per quinque vel sex annos vel circa. | In the year of our Lord 1347, a universal pestilence and mortality of mankind surged with such intensity as has ever been heard or recorded. For it first began in distant lands among the pagans, and was so severe, it was said, that up to two hundred thousand villages and cities were left without inhabitants. Eventually, it advanced in a serpentine manner from that side of the sea. Indeed, in Venice, throughout Italy and Provence, especially in cities near the sea, people were dying in countless numbers; and in Avignon, where the Roman court was then located, within the first three days after mid-Lent Sunday, fourteen hundred people were buried. Moreover, it was said that in the city of Marseilles, so many people died from this pestilence that the place remained almost uninhabitable. Afterwards, it crossed the Alps, reached Hungary, passed through all of Germany, through France, where scarcely a third of the people remained alive, as well as through Scotland. And it always lasted in one province for about a year or so, before moving on; and thus, except for a few kingdoms, it shook almost all the kingdoms of the world. And people fell victim to ulcers or swellings that appeared under their armpits or near their genitals - and mostly young people were dying - or through the excretion of bloody matter, and this pain suffocated people within six or eight days. These areas are called snuffers or scissors (?) by physicians because excess or subtle sweat is easily emitted from these places by nature. However, this pestilence lasted for about five or six years. | Heinrich Taube von Selbach 1922, pp. 75-76. | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1348-04-00-Egypt | April 1348 JL | The Black Death in Egypt and other countries in 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349): People were taken by surprise by the epidemic (wabāʾ) whose death toll was high. The odors of death met them. People died quickly of the disease after buboes had appeared at their earlobes (marrāq). | al-Nuwayrī - Kitāb al-Ilmām 1968-1976, vol. 4 (1970), pp. 126-127; 143. | Translation needed | ||
| 1348-04-00-Middle East | April 1348 JL | From April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented plague hit the Middle East, and lasted about a year, and one third of Greater Syria’s and Egypt’s population died. | The Black Death in the Middle East: In the year 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented wave of plague hit the Middle East. It was the sixth plague which affected the Middle East in the Islamic period. It was called the Kinship Plague (Ṭāʿūn al-Ansāb) since the decease of a person was often followed by the death of some of his or her relatives. People developed pustules, spat yellow blood and died within 50 hours. When people started spitting blood they would bid farewell to their friends, close their shops, their burial would be prepared, and they would die in their homes. The daily death toll reached a maximum of ca. 500 in Aleppo, more than 1,000 in Damascus, and ca. 20,000 in Egypt. Mostly women, youths, poor people, and riffraff died. The plague wave lasted about a year, and ca. one third of Greater Syria’s (Shām) and Egypt’s population died. | Ibn Ḥabīb - Tadhkirat al-nabīh 1976-1986, vol. 3 (1986), pp. 110-112 | Translation by Undine Ott | |
| 1348-06-01-Almeria | 1 June 1348 JL | The Black Death reaches Almeria and other parts of Spain like Valencia and Majorca, but also Northern Africa with cities like Tlemcen and Tunisia. Mortality varies by month and also social topography is provided. | Diese Pest, die jetzt entstanden ist, und nach der gefragt wurde, scheint mir aus der ersten Art der erwähnten Ursachen entstanden zu sein. Es spricht dafür, dass sie sich in den meisten, wenn nicht in allen Ländern, zu allen Jahreszeiten jahrelang hin durch ausbreitete, ohne daß die Regeln des Regens, des Wehens der Winde in den verschiedenen Jahreszeiten sich viel ändern, weder nach eigener Beobachtung noch nach dem, was uns aus anderen Ländern erzählt wird. Die Jahreszeiten wechseln, ohne dass ihr Wechsel die Krankheit anscheinend beeinflusst, sondern sie bleibt sich immer gleich. Sie brach in Almeriah Anfang Rabi I. Jahr 749 aus (1. Juni 1348), wütete einen Teil des Frühlings, den ganzen Sommer bis in die Herbstmonate und einen Teil des Winters bis jetzt, wo mein Buch geschrieben wird, Mitte Di-lkifdah, das heisst die ersten Tage des Februar. Bis jetzt ist sie nicht weg, aber die Erscheinungen der Gnade Gottes sind zu spüren, möge er uns recht bald seine Gnade ganz zuwenden! Die ganze Zeit hindurch blieb die Art der Krankheit die gleiche; es kam aber vor, daß die Symptome sich den Jahreszeiten anpaßten. Sie fing leicht an, und es waren zuerst nur wenige Leute, die befallen wurden; dann nahm sie allmählich und (p. 41) leicht zu bis Ende Ğumādā 2., das heißt Ende September, und dann nahm sie heftig zu und erhielt sich ungefähr mit gleicher Heftigkeit bis jetzt. Es war äußerst gnädig von Gott, daß sie in Almeriah so leicht angefangen hat, denn wenn sie plötzlich die Leute überfallen hätte, wie das in anderen Stätten des Islam der Fall war, wären die Einwohner infolge des Schreckens hilflos zu grunde gegangen. Sie hat angefangen in einer Ecke der Stadt, die unter dem Namen Hūām bekannt ist, die Nordostecke am Ğabala, die Wohnstätte der Armen und Bedürftigen. Die ersten Fälle waren von Leuten mit dem Namen Beni Danna bekannt, und von ihnen aus verbreitete sich die Krankheit allmählich unter den Nachbarn langsam zunehmend, und auf die Umgebung übergreifend, bis sie die äußeren Grenzen der Stadt und dann das Stadtinnere erreichte. Die Höchstzahl an Todesfällen an einem Tage während der ganzen Zeit war 70, eine Zahl, die verhältnismäßig gering ist verglichen mit dem, was uns über andere Städte des Islam und der Christen berichtet wurde. Glaubwürdige Berichterstatter erzählten uns, daß an einem Tage in Tunis 1202 Todesfälle vorkamen, in Tilimsan über 700, unlägst in Valencia am Unsoratag 1500, auf der Insel Mallorca am 24. Mai 1252, wo die Überlebenden auf etwa ein Viertel der Gesamtzahl der Einwohner geschätzt wurden. Das gleiche wurde uns über alle größeren und kleineren Städte berichtet. | This plague which has now arisen, and which has been enquired after, seems to me to have arisen from the first kind of causes mentioned. It appears that in most, if not in all countries, it spread through all seasons for years, without much change in the rules of the rain, the blowing of the winds in the different seasons, either from our own observation or from what we are told from other countries. The seasons change without their change apparently affecting the disease, but it always remains the same. It broke out in Almeriah at the beginning of Rabi I year 749 (1 June 1348), raged part of the spring, the whole summer until the autumn months and part of the winter until now, when my book is being written, in the middle of Di-lkifdah, that is, the first days of February. So far it has not gone, but the manifestations of God's grace can be felt, may he turn his grace to us completely very soon! All this time the nature of the illness remained the same, but it happened that the symptoms changed with the seasons. It began lightly, and at first only a few people were afflicted; then it gradually and (p. 41) slightly increased until the end of Ğumādā 2, that is, the end of September, and then it increased violently and continued with about the same severity until now. It was most merciful of God that it started so easily in Almeriah, for if it had suddenly attacked the people, as it did in other places of Islam, the inhabitants would have perished helplessly as a result of the terror. It started in a corner of the city known as Hūām, the north-east corner of Ğabala, the home of the poor and needy. The first cases were known from people called Beni Danna, and from them the disease gradually spread among the neighbours, slowly increasing and spreading to the surrounding area until it reached the outer limits of the city and then the city centre. The maximum number of deaths in one day during the entire period was 70, a number that is relatively low compared to what we have been told about other Islamic and Christian cities. Credible reporters told us that there were 1202 deaths in one day in Tunis, over 700 in Tlemcen, 1500 in Valencia on the day of the Unsorat, and 1252 on the island of Mallorca on 24 May, where the survivors were estimated at about a quarter of the total number of inhabitants. The same was reported for all larger and smaller towns. | Dinanah 1927, pp. 40-41 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1348-06-02-Trento | 2 June 1348 JL | Outbreak of the Black Death in Trento; detailed description of symptoms of plague and chances of survival. | Item eodem millesimo et indictione die 2 junii incepit quaedam mortalitas in Tridentino, quae fuit quintuplex, primo fuit febris (p. 51) continue, secundo glandularum, quae veniebant in inguinibus, vel sub brachiis, tertio carbunculorum, quarto sputi sanguinis quod appellatur antras, quinto mali dormiae, sexto quod appellatur malum S. Christophori, et per certo mortui sunt in Tridento de sex personis quinque, et non fuit aliqua familia in Tridento, quae non minueretur et multae familiae in totum interierunt, et de multis parentelis nulla persona remansit, itaque multae domus, et quasi omnes erant sine habitationibus, adhuc multae personae insaniebant, et quasi nullus qui infirmibatur, vivebat ultra 3 vel 4 aut quintam diem, sed si evadebat ultra xx. dies, liberabatur, sed major pars moriebatur tertia vel secunda vel prima die, vel subito, quia multae personae tradebantur mortuae ipsis euntibus per viam, tamquam fuissent pira matura. De sputo sanguinis nullum vidi vel audivi evadere, et qui liberabantur ab aliis infirmitatibus, quasi de pro maiori parte defectuosi remanebant, vel non poterant liberari vix post longum tempus. | In the same year and indiction, on June 2, a certain plague began in Trento, which was fivefold. First, there was continuous fever (p. 51), second, swelling of the glands, which appeared in the groin or under the arms, third, carbuncles, fourth, spitting of blood called anthrax, fifth, severe insomnia, sixth, what is called St. Christopher's disease. Certainly, out of six people, five died in Trento, and there was no family in Trento that was not diminished, and many families were entirely wiped out, and among many relatives, no person remained. Consequently, many houses, almost all, were without inhabitants, and many people went mad. Almost no one who fell ill survived beyond the third, fourth, or fifth day, but if they survived beyond twenty days, they were freed. However, the majority died on the third, second, or first day, or suddenly, because many people were found dead while walking on the road, as if they were ripe pears. Of those who spit blood, I saw or heard of none who survived, and those who were cured of other ailments remained almost entirely impaired or could barely recover after a long time. | Giovanni da Parma 1837, pp. 50-51 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1349-00-00-Strasbourg 003 | 1349 JL | Great dying in Strasbourg was simultaneously with the flagellants procession. Also about the burial traditions during and after the plague | Der grosse sterbotte. Do men zalte noch gotz gebürte 1349 jor, do was der groeste sterbotte zu Strosburg und durch die welt, also dovor bi der Juden brande ist geseit. Und alle die wile die vorgeschriben grosse geischelfart werte, die wile starp men ouch, und do die abegingent, do minrete sich ouch das sterben. das sterben was so gros, das zu iedem kirspel zu Strosburg alle tage worent 8 liche oder zehen, und das men die spittelgrube die bi der kirchen stunt, muste in einen witen garten machen. die lüte die do sturbent, die sturbent an bülen die sich erhubent under den armen oder an den beynen, und die do sterben soltent, die sturbent am dirten tage oder am vierden. und in weles hus das sterben kam, do horte es nüt uf mit eime. In den selben ziten wart zu Strosburg gebotten, das men keinen doten me sollte in die kirche zu begrebede tragen, noch sollte sü nüt über naht in den hüsern lossen, wan zestunt so sü gestürbent so solte men sü anstette begraben. wan vormols was gewonheit, das men die doten erlichen zu kirchen trug und lies sü in der kirchen untz men selmesse gesang: was der dote guter lüte so trugent in die guten, was er ein gebure so trugent in sine genossen. und do der sterbot ergie, do erloubete men die alte gewonheit wider. do worent die lüte in die nuwe gewonheit kumen, und wenne men einen doten sollte su grabe tragen, so woltes nieman gerne tun von ime selber, und beschametent sich gute lüte, das ir ungenossen sü soltent tragen oder das sü knehten soltent lonen. derumb gebot men es widerumbe. nu was ouch eine gewonheit: [p. 770] wenne man einen doten zu kirchen drug, so stürmete men mit den glocken gegen yme. das selbe det men ouch, so men den doten us der kirchen zu grabe trug. von disem sterbotte sturbent uf 16 tusent menschen zu Strosburg, und starp men doch nüt also vaste zu Strasburg also anderswo. |
The great dying In the year 1349, there was the great dying in Strasbourg and across the world, as mentioned earlier in relation to the burning of the Jews. During the time of the great flagellant processions, people were dying continuously, and when the processions ended, the dying began to decrease. The plague was so severe that in every parish in Strasbourg, there were eight to ten funerals each day. The hospital burial pit next to the church became so full that a large garden had to be used for burials. Those who died suffered from swellings under their arms or on their legs, and those who were destined to die usually did so on the third or fourth day. In any house where the plague struck, it did not stop with just one death. During these times, it was decreed in Strasbourg that the dead should no longer be brought into the church for burial, nor should the dead be kept in houses overnight. Instead, as soon as someone died, they were to be buried immediately. Previously, it had been customary to carry the dead to the church with great honor, leaving them there until a requiem mass could be sung. If the deceased was from a noble family, they were carried by their peers; if they were a commoner, their neighbors would carry them. When the plague erupted, these old customs were reinstated. However, people had grown accustomed to the new way of doing things, and when it was time to carry a body to the grave, no one wanted to do it themselves. Good people felt ashamed to ask their neighbors to carry the dead or to pay servants to do it, so the old customs were reintroduced. There was also a tradition: when someone died and was carried to the church, the bells would be rung in mourning. The same was done when the body was taken from the church to the grave. Because of this plague, about 16,000 people died in Strasbourg. However, the dying in Strasbourg was not as high as in other places. |
Jacobus Twinger von Könishofen: Chronik 1870-71, pp. 769-770. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5 |
| 1349-04-12-Frankfurt | 12 April 1349 JL | Outbreak of the Black Death in Frankfurt until early 1350. | Post pascha 1349 tanta pestis fuit Francofordiae quanta numquam audita est antea et innumerabiles homines etiam cicrumquaque absumpti sunt et diem extremum clauserunt. Duravitque pestis illa inguinaria a festo paschae ad hiemem initio anni jubilaei. | After Easter in 1349, there was such a great plague in Frankfurt as had never been heard of before, and countless people perished everywhere, closing their final day. That inguinal plague lasted from Easter to the beginning of the jubilee year in winter. | Collectanea Petri Herp 1884, p. 59. | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1349-07-00-Strasbourg | July 1349 JL | Outbreak of the Black Death in Strasbourg with 16.000 vicitms, a detailed description of symptoms and course of the disease. The dating of the epidemic is parallel to the presence of flagellants in the city | Do man zalt 1349 jor, do die vorgeschribenen geischeler gen Strosburg koment, do kam ouch ein gemeinre schelme und ein sterben under die lute dar, daz nieman von ime selben gedohte noch von horsagenden, daz so großes sterbe ie do gewere. Und alle die wile daz die geischeler weretent, die wile starb man ouch, und do die abgegingent, do minret sich daz sterben ouch. Daz sterbe was so gros daz gemeinlich alle tage in iegelichem kirspel liche worent 7 oder 8 oder 9 oder 10 oder noch danne me, one die man zuo kloestern begruob und one die man in den spital druog: der waz als unzellich vil, daz man die spitelgruobe di bi der kirchen stuent, mueste in einen witen garten setzen, wann die alte gruobe zuo enge und zuo klein waz. Die lute die do sturbent, die sturbent alle an bülen und an druesen die sich erhubent under den armen und obenan an den beinen, und wen die bülen ankoment, die do sterben soltent, de sturben an dem vierden tage oder an dem virten oder an dem andern. Eteliche sturben ouch dez ersten tages. Es erbet ouch eins von dem anderen: dovon, in welhes hüs daz sterben kam, do hort es selten uf mit eime. [...] (p. 121) Man will ouch, daz von dem sterben zuo Strosburg stürbe 16 dusent lütes, doch starb minr lutes do noch margzahle, alse man sprach, wande in andern steten. Ouch wurdent ettelich lute erneret die die bulen hettent, den sü usgingen und ir genosent. | In the year 1349, when the mentioned flagellants came to Strasbourg, there also came a common epidemic and a pestilence among the people, so great that no one ever remembered or heard of such a great mortality. And all the while that the flagellants were present, people also died, and when they departed, the mortality decreased. The mortality was so great that generally every day in every parish there were 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 or even more deaths, except for those who were buried in monasteries and those who were taken to hospitals: their number was so incredibly high that the pits dug next to the churches had to be moved to a wide garden, because the old pit was too narrow and too small. Those who died did so from swellings and boils that appeared under their arms and the upper part of their legs, and when the boils appeared, those who were supposed to die did so on the fourth day or the third or the second. Some even died on the first day. It also spread from one to another: where the mortality entered a house, it rarely ceased with just one person. [...] (p. 121) It is said that 16,000 people died in Strasbourg, but fewer people died there than elsewhere, as it was said. Also, some people were fed who had the boils, but they diasappeared and they recovered. | Fritsche Closener 1870, pp. 120-121. | 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 |
| 1352-00-00-Novgorod | 15 August 1352 JL | Black Death in Novgorod and other lands<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a>. | Того же лѣта [6860] бысть моръ силенъ в Новѣградѣ, прилучися приити на ны, по человѣколюбию божию, праведному суду его; вниде смерть в люди тяжка и напрасна, от госпожина дни почалося нольнѣ и до велика дни, множество бещислено людии добрых помре тогда. Сице же бысть знамение тоя смерти: хракнеть кровью человѣкъ и до треи день бывъ да умрет. Не токмо же въ едином Новѣградѣ бысть сиа смерть, мню, яко по лицю всея земъля походи ; и ему же богъ повелѣ, тъ умре, а его же снабди, сего кажа наказует, да прочее дни о господѣ цѣломудрено и безъгрѣшно поживемъ. | The same year [6860] there was a great plague in Novgorod; it came on us by God's loving kindness, and in His righteous judgment, death came upon people, painful and sudden, it began from Lady Day till Easter; a countless number of good people died then. These were the symptoms of that death: a man would spit blood and after three days he was dead. But this death did not visit Novgorod alone; I believe it passed over the face of all the land; and whom ever God commanded, that man died, and whomever he saved, him he admonished and punished, that the rest of our days we may live in the Lord virtuously and sinlessly. | Новгородская первая летопись младшего изводa (Комиссионный список), in: Полное Cобрание Pусских Летописей, т. III, Mocвa: Языки Pyccкoй Kyльтypы, 2000, p. 363 | None |
| 1352-00-00-Novgorod 001 | 15 August 1352 JL | Black Death in Novgorod and other lands. | Того же лѣта [6860] <a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> бысть моръ силенъ в Новѣградѣ, прилучися приити на ны, по человѣколюбию божию, праведному суду его; вниде смерть в люди тяжка и напрасна, от госпожина дни почалося нольнѣ и до велика дни, множество бещислено людии добрых помре тогда. Сице же бысть знамение тоя смерти: хракнеть кровью человѣкъ и до треи день бывъ да умрет. Не токмо же въ едином Новѣградѣ бысть сиа смерть, мню, яко по лицю всея земъля походи ; и ему же богъ повелѣ, тъ умре, а его же снабди, сего кажа наказует, да прочее дни о господѣ цѣломудрено и безъгрѣшно поживемъ<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> | The same year [6860] there was a great plague in Novgorod; it came on us by God's loving kindness, and in His righteous judgment, death came upon people, painful and sudden, it began from Lady Day till Easter; a countless number of good people died then. These were the symptoms of that death: a man would spit blood and after three days he was dead. But this death did not visit Novgorod alone; I believe it passed over the face of all the land; and whom ever God commanded, that man died, and whomever he saved, him he admonished and punished, that the rest of our days we may live in the Lord virtuously and sinlessly<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a> | Author, title, place year, p. XXX | None |
| 1356-08-00-Frankfurt | August 1356 JL | Outbreak of plague in Frankfurt with a precise description of symptoms. | Item anno domini McccLVI circa mensem augustum et sequentibus magna in opido Frankenfordensi pestilencia duravit, ac in lectis modico tempore quandoque vix tribus diebus vel circa decumbentes decesserunt. Glauces circa crura vel brachia sua aut tumorem et dolorem circa capita sua vel alibi in corporibus habentes moriebantur. | In the year of our Lord 1356, around the month of August and the following months, a great pestilence persisted in the town of Frankfurt. Those afflicted would often lie in bed for a short time, sometimes barely three days or around that, before succumbing. They would die with bluish discoloration around their legs or arms, or with swelling and pain in their heads or elsewhere on their bodies. | Annales Francofurtani 1884, p. 3. | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1357-00-00-Magdeburg | 1357 JL | Plague strikes Magdeburg, symptoms of bubonic plague are described and Jews were persecuted, expelled and killed as they were blamed for the epidemic outbreak | Dar na [1350] aver seven jare / wart hir echt ein stervent sware (...) In dem jare wart hir grot stervent in der stadt, und was de suke der lude vor wesen hadde over seven jare, also dat den luden drose worden under den armen edder an dem halse edder boven an den beinen. Dit stervent lede men den joden to, dat ed van orer gift were. Dar umme vordref men de joden, und orer wart vele vordelget | But after that 1350 there was a very heavy mortality here for seven years. ... In that year [1357] there was a great dying in the city. And it was the same thing that had affected the people seven years earlier. People got swellings under their arms, on their necks or on the upper part of their legs. The Jews were blamed for the deaths, saying it was caused by their poison. That is why the Jews were expelled, and many of them were also killed. | Magdeburger Schöppenchronik 1869, pp. 3, 223 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1360-05-00-Flandern | May 1360 JL | The plague reappeared in Flanders and one third died of it, especially the common people. In the diocese of Liège more than the half of the people died. It raged especially in these countries, which were spared previously. The passages talks about the symptoms and that in Poland the jews were persecuted and killed, because they were accused of being the reason for the plague. | Come mortalità dell'anguinaia ricominciò in diverse parti del mondo Nonn-è da llasciare in oblazione la moria mirabile dell'anguinaia in questo anno ricominciata, simile a quella che prencipio ebbe nel MCCCXLVIII insino nel MCCCL, come narrammo nel cominciamento del primo libro di questo nostro trattato. Questa pistilenzia ricominciò del mese di maggio in Fiandra, che di largo il terzo de' cittadini e oltra morirono, offendendo più il minuto popolo e povera gente che a' mezzani, maggiori e forestieri, che pochi ne perirono, e duròvi insino all'uscita d'ottobre del detto anno, e così seguitò per l'altra Fiandra. In Brabante toccò poco, e così in Piccardia, ma nel vescovado di Legge fé spaventevole dammaggio, però che lla metà di viventi periro. Dipoi si venne stendendo nella bassa Allamagna toccando non generalmente ogni terra, ma quasi quelle dove prima non avea gravate, e valicò nel Frioli e nella Schiavonia; e ffu di quella medesima infertà d'enfiatura d'anguinaia e sotto il ditello come la prima generale, e ssì era passato dal tempo di quella e suo cominciamento a cquello di questa per ispazio di XIIII anni, e anni X della fine di quella a cquesta, essendo alcuna volta tra questo tempo ritocca ora in uno ora in altro luogo, man non grande come questo anno, certificando li uomini correnti nel male che lla mano di Dio nonn-è stanca né limitata da costellazioni nè dda fisiche ragioni. Adivenne nel Frioli e in (p. 449) Ungheria che lla moria cominciata inn-enfiatura tornò in uscimento di sangue, e poi si convertì in febre, e molti febricosi farnetici, ballando e cantando morivano. E in questi tempi occorse cosa assai degna di nota, che in Pollonia, nelle parti confinanti colle terre dello 'mperio, essendo in esse grandissima quantità di Giudei, li paesani cominciarono a mormorare, dicendo che questa pistolenzia loro venia per li Giudei; onde li Giudei temendo a rre loro mandarono de' loro anziani a cchiederli misercordia, e ffecioli gran doni di muneta, e d'una corona di smisurata valuta; lo re conservare li volea, ma lli popoli furiosi no ssi poterono quietare, ma correndo straboccatamente tra' Giudei, e quasi a ultima consumazione, con ferro e ffuoco oltre a XM Giudei spensono, e alla camera del loro re tutti li loro beni furono incorporati. |
How the inguinal plague resurged in different parts of the world It should not go unmentioned that the remarkable death of the plague of the groin reappeared this year, similar to the one that began in 1348 and lasted until 1350, as we reported in the first book of this treatise. This plague began in Flanders in May, where more than a third of the citizens died, and it particularly affected the common people and the poor, while the middle class, the wealthy and foreigners suffered few losses. It lasted there until the end of October of the same year and continued throughout Flanders. In Brabant, few were affected, as in Picardy, but it caused devastating damage in the diocese of Liège, where half the population died. It then spread to Lower Germany, not touching every country but mainly those that had previously been spared, and reached Friuli and Schiavonia. It was the same disease with swellings in the groin and under the arm as the first great plague, and fourteen years had passed from the beginning of the first to this, and ten years from the end of the first to this, during which time the plague sometimes reappeared in one place or another, but never so strongly as this year. This confirmed to men that the hand of God is neither tired nor limited by constellations or physical causes. In Friuli and Hungary the plague began with swellings, then turned into haemorrhages, and finally into fever, and many of those suffering from fever died in delusions, dancing and singing. During these times, a remarkable thing happened in Poland, in the border areas of the empire, where there were large numbers of Jews. The natives began to murmur, saying that this plague was coming through the Jews; so the Jews, in their fear, sent some of their elders to the king to beg for mercy, and they made him great gifts of money and a crown of immeasurable value. The king wanted to protect them, but the enraged people could not be pacified and charged against the Jews, killing more than ten thousand Jews with iron and fire and incorporating all their possessions into the royal chamber. |
Matteo Villani 1995, Vol. 2 pp. 448-449. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1361-00-00-Avignon | 1361 JL | An epidemic in Avignon - with symptoms differing from plague - kills many, seemingly instantaneous, among them clerics and cardinals. | Eo tempore maxime viguet lues horribilis Avinione, ita quod defecerunt minstri palacii pape, et ceciderunt homines mortui ex improviso tam in lectis, in mensis quam in viis et ubilibet; et mortui sunt plures clerici, et octo cardinales obierunt. | At that time, a dreadful plague was rampant in Avignon, to the extent that the attendants of the Pope's palace disappeared, and people fell dead suddenly both in their beds, at their tables, and in the streets and everywhere; and many clerics died, and eight cardinals passed away. | Chronicon Moguntinum 1885, p. 10. | Translation by Martin Bauch; None; |
| 1361-00-00-Trento | 1361 JL | Outbreak of the Pestis secunda in Trento. | Item millesimo CCCLXI. fuit pestis et mortalitas in universo mundo non minor prima peste, sed ejusdem naturae non quo ad quantitatem personarum, quae illo tempore non erant tot, quot in prima peste, sed sic subito et eodem modo quo primo moriebantur. | Likewise, in the year 1361, there was a plague and mortality in the entire world, not lesser than the first plague, but of the same nature, not in terms of the number of people, who were not as numerous as during the first plague, but just as sudden and in the same manner as they died during the first plague. | Giovanni da Parma 1837, p. 52 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1363-07-00-Pisa | July 1363 JL | Pestis secunda in Pisa, which is explained through astrometeorology and description of the symptoms of the plague. | Innel ditto anno milletrecentosessantatré Pisa ebe due grandissimi affanni, cioè guerra e mortalità di gente, grandi e picciuli, maschi e femmine. La morìa fue grande, e 'ncomincciò (p. 187) la morìa del mese di luglio e durò sine a novembre, e moritte molti padri di famigla, tra i quali molti grandi mercanti cittadini e altri assai. E moriano di male di bolle e di soditelli e di anguinaie e di tinchoni e di faoni, e non ffu casa in Pisa né in del suo contado che nnon ritrovasse e quale trovò inel tutto che non vvi rimase persona. E duroè la ditta morìa mesi sei. E li fiorentini ardendo in quello tenpo lo contado, ma ellino non sentiano in quello anno di morìa, ma poi tocchò a lloro. Questa morìa fue sotto la pianeta di Saturno, la qual pianeta pena a ffare lo suo corso anni trenta, e ppoi che ella inchomincciò non restò mai, che ella non cerchasse lo mondo per ogni cità e castella e contado di tenpo in tenpo. E ciercoè Pisa in quindici, 15, anni due volte, senssa l'autro di queste due moriè. Fue la prima del milletrecientosessantatré, 1363, che àe anni quindici, 15, l'una dall'una morìa all'autra, e di questa segonda ne moritta in Pisa più della metà delle persone. | In the said year one thousand three hundred and sixty-three, Pisa suffered two very great afflictions, that is, war and mortality of people, great and small, male and female. The death rate was great, and it began (p. 187) in the month of July and lasted until November, and many fathers of families died, among whom were many great merchant citizens and many others. And they died of blisters and sodomy and anguinaie and tinchoni and faoni, and there was no house in Pisa nor in its countryside that was not found, and which found in all that there was no person left. And the company died for six months. And the Florentines burned the countryside at that time, but they did not hear in that year of his death, but then it was their turn. This death took place under the planet of Saturn, which took thirty years to make its course, and after its fall there never remained that it did not search the world for every city, castle and countryside from time to time. And ciercoè Pisa in fifteen, fifteen, years twice, without the other of these two deaths. Fue la prima del , 1363, che àe anni quindici, 15, l'altra morìa all'altra, e di questa segonda ne moritta in Pisa più della metà delle persone. Template:TN | Template:Cronica di Pisa 2005, p. 187 | Translation by DeepL |
| 1367-04-00-Mainz | April 1367 JL | Description of the symptoms and consequences of the plague in Mainz and a great preceding flood | In mense Aprili [1367] eiusdem anni facta est morbida pestis in Maguncia hominibus quasi generaliter, quia cum frigore incepit tussis et obstipacio incongrua pectoris, eicientes … et multi homines inde moriebantur; eorum autem qui sani manserant aliqui sunt animo delirantes reperti. Quia proximo precedenti tempore fuit tanta inundacio aquarum sicut in viginti annis precedentibus nullus recordatur. | In April of the same year, the plague attacked almost everyone in Mainz. It began with coughing and unnatural spasms of the chest when it was cold; they had sputum..., and many people died from it. And of those who survived in good health, some people were found to be mentally disturbed. Shortly before, there had been a flood as great as no one could remember from the previous twenty years. | Chronicon Moguntinum 1885, p. 18 | None |
| 1371-00-00-Germany | 1371 JL | Outbreak of plague in Fritzlar, Westphalia and Strasbourg. | Eo tempore in Hassia opido Fritzlar et in Westvalia erat magna pestilencia epidimiarum, in Argentina pestilentia dissenteriarum. | In that time raged the skin plague in the Hessian city Fritzlar and in Westphalia and the plague of entrails in Strasbourg. | Chronicon Moguntinum 1885, p. 28. | Translation by Moritz Uebelhack; None; |
| 1371-00-00-Trento | 1371 JL | Outbreak of plague in Trento with description of symptoms | Item millesimo CCCLXXI fuit alia pestis de loco in locum, et non simul et semel, in universo et non minor mortalitas aliis duabus et ita subito, et duravit pestis seu mortalitas in Tridento sex mensibus. Item regnavit isto tempore infirmitas carbunculi et glandulae, et quibus veniat ad latus dextrum nunquam vidi vel audivi evadere, ad latus vero sinistram evadebant aliqui, licet pauci, et haec omnia supradicta vidi ego Joannes de Parma Canonicus supradictus, et sic scripsi manu propria ad memoriam praedictorum hominum futurorum de praedictis.. | Likewise, in the year 1371, there was another plague that spread from place to place, and not all at once, throughout the entire world, and its mortality was no less than the previous two and just as sudden. The plague or mortality in Trento lasted six months. During this time, the illness of carbuncles and glandular swellings also prevailed, and for those in whom it appeared on the right side, I never saw or heard of anyone surviving. However, on the left side, some did survive, though few. I, Giovanni da Parma, the aforementioned canon, saw all these things and wrote them with my own hand to preserve the memory of these events for future generations. | Giovanni da Parma 1837, p. 52 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1373-00-00-Trento | 1373 JL | Outbreak of plague in Trento, children are affected over average, with description of symptoms | Item MCCCLXXIII fuit pestis et mortalitas similis pariter de loco in locum, ideo duravit per biennium ut usque ad finem MCCCLXXIIII, et fuit per hunc modum, quia moriebantur juvenes et senes, mares et foeminae, sed infantes seu pueri plus moriebantur, quia de infantibus et pueris pro certo non remansit de decem unus in Tridento, et sic alibi, quod auditum, itaque non inveniebatur pueri, qui servirent, de adultis dico, quod quando incipiebant infirmari pro majori parte perdebant memoriam, et transacta una die vel secunda recuperabant (p. 53) sensum, et aliqui convalescebant, postea subito moriebantur, neque poterant ordinare facta sua: aliqui vero nunquam convalescebant, et isti moriebantur cum magna discretione et devotione, loquela petendo indulgentiam et licentiam a circumstantibus, et dicta pestis fuit triplex: primo glandulae sub brachiis, vel in inguinibus; secundo carbunculi, tertio dormiae, et qui morituri erant non transibant quintum diem, sed quandoque prima, dico et sic successive usque ut supra. | Likewise, in 1373, there was a plague and mortality that similarly spread from place to place, lasting for two years until the end of 1374. It affected young and old, male and female, but infants and children died the most. For certain, out of ten infants and children in Trento, not one survived, and this was also heard of elsewhere. Consequently, there were no children to serve. Regarding adults, when they began to fall ill, most lost their memory, and after one or two days, they would recover their senses, and some would improve, only to suddenly die thereafter, unable to settle their affairs. Some never recovered and died with great discernment and devotion, speaking and asking for indulgence and permission from those around them. This plague was threefold: first, swellings under the arms or in the groin; second, carbuncles; and third, insomnia. Those who were to die did not survive beyond the fifth day, sometimes dying on the first, and so on successively, as stated above. | Giovanni da Parma 1837, p. 52 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1383-00-00-Florence 002 | 1383 JL | The plague raged in Florence. It began slightly in 1382, was then almost imperceptible, raged violently from March 1383 to September and was weak again until March 1384. During the worst months, many people fled the city. | Rubrica 955a - Come fu una grande mortalità nella città di Firenze. Nel detto anno [1383] cominciò a Firenze una pestilenza primiera, e primiera di ciò per rispetto ch'era cominciata infino nell'anno dinanzi in alcuna casa, al Canto a Monteloro ed a S. Piero Maggiore, forse in quattro case, ed avie casa dove in uno mese n'erano morti 10 e lasciatore due, e poi restata; ma per la città quasi niente si sentì se non in sul marzo e aprile; allora cominciò a rucellare, e bastò infino al settembre molto fiera, pure al modo dell'altre mortalità, di quello segno del grosso sotto il braccio e sopra la coscia all'anguinaia. Molti buoni uomini morti, ma più fu ne'giovani e fanciulli che negli uomini e femmine di compiuta età. Ultimamente ristette, come detto è, di settembre, non sì che alcuno, e questo era a rado, infino al marzo vegnente' dello altro anno non ne sentisse, ma radi e pochi. Pure com'è d'usanza di tenerne lo conto che muoiono, in quello anno ne morirono circa (p. 427) di … (lacuna). E così posata la maggior parte di novembre si tornarono alla città: alquanti stettero infino passata la primavera, e poi tornarono. |
Rubrica 955a - How a great plague raged in the city of Florence In the year in question (1383), a severe plague began in Florence. The first signs had already been seen the previous year in some houses on the Canto a Monteloro and near S. Piero Maggiore, perhaps in four houses, whereby there were ten deaths in one house in one month and only two survived. After that, the epidemic subsided and was hardly noticed in the city until March and April. Then it began to rage violently and lasted until September, with typical symptoms such as large bumps under the arm and on the groin. Many good men died, but it was young people and children who were most affected, rather than adults. The epidemic finally subsided in September, but there were still isolated cases until March of the following year. The deaths were counted, and in that year about ... (gap). Most returned to the city in November; some stayed away until after spring and then returned. |
Marchionne di Coppo Stefani 1903, pp. 426-427. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1383-07-00-Pisa | July 1383 JL | Severe plague and high mortality in Pisa and as a consequence processions, description of the symptoms. | Del mese di luglo incominciò la mortalità in della cità di Pisa, e d'ogosto e di settenbre e d'ottobre ne moriano in della cità per dì moute persone, grandi e picciuli, maschi e femine, ed era molto charcata. Di che a dì V e a dì XIJ d'ottobre si fecie per la cità di Pisa giennerale preccissione, cioè tutta la chericìa ciaschuna capella portando per la cità l'areliquie sante. E anco a dì XV e a dì XV e a dì 19 la domenica, e ogni volta la mattina tornava la ditta procissione a Duomo, cioè la chieza Maggiore di Pisa, e pi si diciea la Messa solenne all'altare Maggiore, e teneasi la mattina li fondachi serrati. E moriano la giente di pistolense chie in due dì, che in tre di, chie in quato chie in cinque dì, cioè di anguinaia, chi di ditelle, chi di male bolle, chie di faoni, chie di sputar sangue. | Template:TN | Template:Cronica di Pisa 2005, p. 322 | None |
| 1387-00-00-Europe | 1387 JL | Great plague all over the world | 883. In deme sulven jare was en grot plage menliken over de werlt, also dat de lude sere hosteden, unde dar starf vele wolkes van. | 883. In the same year (1387) was a great human plague over the world, so that the people coughed severely, and many people died from it. | Detmar's Croneke van Lubeke 1884/99, Vol. 2, p. 18. | Translation by Moritz Uebelhack |
| 1388-07-00-Lombardy | July 1388 JL | Great mortality throughout Lombardy, particularly in Milan, Pavia, Verona, Cremona, Parma, Ferrara and also in Venice. Many people fled like the Count of Vertù. | Capitolo XXIV. - Di grande mortalità suta in Lombardia e a Vinegia. Molto grande mortalità fu in quest'anno in tutta Lombardia cominciando del mese di luglio, e moriano di febbri pestilenziose e da posteme velenose e fu molto grande in Milano e in Pavia e in Verona e in Cremona e in Parma e in Ferrara, e quasi in tutte le città lombarde. E 'l Conte di Vertù, per la grande paura ch'avea di morire, andava ora in una terra, ora in un'altra fuggendo la mortalità; e si celatamente andava tramutando luogo che spesse volte avvenia che dov'elli si fosse non si potea sapere; e per la molta gente che vi morirono, molte terre rimasero mezze abbandonate e diserte. Ancora venne la detta mortalità in Vinegia e molti nobili cittadini consumò in quella e molto diminuì di gente quella città; e per questo molti cittadini veniziani si fuggiron quindi e andaron in luoghi istrani, e la maggior parte camparo della detta mortalità; e poi quando tornarono a Vinegia fu grande allegrezza e da tutti i cittadini fu fatta loro e parve loro esser molto ristorati nella città; nondimeno rimase la città con molto minore numero di gente. |
Chapter XXIV - Of the great mortality in Lombardy and Venice. This year, from July onwards, there was a very high mortality rate throughout Lombardy. People died of pestilential fevers and poisonous abscesses, and mortality was particularly high in Milan, Pavia, Verona, Cremona, Parma and Ferrara and almost all Lombard towns. The Count of Vertù fled for fear of dying, constantly changing his whereabouts to avoid mortality. His whereabouts were often so secret that nobody knew where he was. Due to the many deaths, many towns were left half-deserted. Mortality also spread to Venice, claiming the lives of many respected citizens and significantly reducing the city's population; as a result, many Venetian citizens fled to other countries, where most survived the epidemic. When they returned to Venice, there was great joy and they were warmly welcomed by all the citizens. Nevertheless, the city was left with far fewer people. |
Anonymus: Cronica volgare 1915, p. 72 | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1389-00-00-Pleskov | 1389 JL | Great plague in Pleskov in spring. | И тои веснѣ [6897] бысть моръ великъ во Пьсковѣ, а знамение железою<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a>. И тъи веснѣ ѣздилъ владыка Иванъ въ Пьсковь, и молитвою его преста моръ въ Пьсковѣ; и прииха владыка Иванъ в Новъгород, а вси около его здравѣ. | And in that spring 1389 there was a great plague in Pskov, the symptoms being the cerebral oedema/swelling/blisters<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a>. Vladyka Ivan went in the same spring to Pleskov, and through his prayers the plague ceased in Pskov, and Vladyka Ivan returned to Novgorod, and all those with him, in good health. | Новгородская первая летопись младшего изводa (Комиссионный список), in: Полное Cобрание Pусских Летописей, т. III, Mocвa: Языки Pyccкoй Kyльтypы, 2000, p. 383. | None |
| 1389-00-00-Pleskov 001 | 1389 JL | Great plague in Pleskov in spring. | И тои веснѣ [6897] бысть моръ великъ во Пьсковѣ, а знамение железою<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> | And in that spring 1389 there was a great plague in Pskov, the symptoms being the cerebral oedema/swelling/blisters<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a>. Vladyka Ivan went in the same spring to Pleskov, and through his prayers the plague ceased in Pskov, and Vladyka Ivan returned to Novgorod, and all those with him, in good health. | И тъи веснѣ ѣздилъ владыка Иванъ въ Пьсковь, и молитвою его преста моръ въ Пьсковѣ; и прииха владыка Иванъ в Новъгород, а вси около его здравѣ. Новгородская первая летопись младшего изводa (Комиссионный список), in: Полное Cобрание Pусских Летописей, т. III, Mocвa: Языки Pyccкoй Kyльтypы, 2000, p. 383. | None |
| 1390-07-00-Florence | July 1390 JL | The plague raged in Florence causing many deaths. To predict the plague with the help of the moon was impossible. Many citizens fled from the city to safer places. | Capitolo XXXVI. — D'una mortalità che fu a Firenze e nel contado in questo anno. Infino del mese di Luglio cominciò in Firenze nell'anno 1390 infermità di pondi, e' medici diceano ch'era ramo di pestilenza. Questo male era lungo, però che più d'un mese durava, e poi la maggior parte di quelli che l'aveano, morivano; e questo male era sozzo e spiacevole, però che per lo gittare del sangue che facea quello che l'avea, appuzzava tutta la casa dove alcuno n'era. Era questo male, a colui che l'avea, con gran doglie di corpo, d'onde seguiva grandi e dolorosi rammarichii; e molti uomeni e donne e fanciulli uccise, e durò insino passato mezzo settembre. E ancora in questo tempo cominciaro alcuni ad avere certe aposteme pestilenziose, e questi morivano in pochi di; e duraro queste aposteme infino del mese di novembre, e molta gente uccise in questo tempo. Poi del detto mese di novembre mancò e quasi ristette. In questo tempo alcuna volta morivano molta gente, alcuna volta quando la luna era tonda, alcuna quando ell'era iscema, e cosi alcuna volta quando ella cresceva; e cosi non si potea per niuno avvisare quando questa infruenza fosse minore o maggiore. E fu la detta mortalità in questo tempo nel contado di Firenze in simile modo, e molta gente uccise. Di che molti cittadini fuggirò fuori della città e del contado in molti luoghi, e li più vi stettono infino di novembre 1391, per certificarsi di quello che la mortalità che facesse e come finisse. |
Chapter XXXVI - About a mortality that occurred in Florence and its surroundings in that year. By the month of July, in the year 1390, a disease began in Florence which the doctors said was a branch of the plague. This disease lasted a long time, about a month, and then the majority of those who had it died. This disease was dirty and unpleasant because the person who had it contaminated the whole house where someone was staying by spitting blood. The one who was sick suffered from severe body aches, which caused great and painful discomfort. Many men, women and children died and it lasted until mid-September. At this time, some also began to get certain pestilential abscesses, and these died in a few days. These abscesses lasted until the month of November, and many people died during this time. Then in the said month of November, the mortality decreased or almost stopped. During this time, sometimes many people died, sometimes when the moon was full, sometimes when it was waning, and sometimes when it was waxing. It was therefore impossible to predict when this epidemic would be weaker or stronger. The aforementioned mortality occurred in the same way around Florence during this period and killed many people. Many citizens fled from the city and the surrounding area to various places, and most stayed until November 1391 to see how the mortality rate was progressing and to find out when the epidemic would end. |
Anonymus: Cronica volgare 1915, p. 110. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1400-00-00-Florence 001 | 1400 JL | The lady Chatelana had three daughters, all of whom died. Two died in the plague in 1400, one in Florence and one in Quinto. Her five sons survived. | Ànne avuti [Chatelana figliuola di Stefano di Vanni Chastellani] per insino a oggi otto o nove figliuoli, ed èssi ischoncia circha di tre volte: la prima volta si schonciò, credo, dal dì la menò a due anni o circha, innuna fanciulla femina; e di poi ne fecie due femine a bene. La prima ebbe nome Bartolomea; e nacque chostei con uno infiato nel chapo, chosì dal lato, era a modo ch’una vescicha, cioè a ttochare: fessi medichare al maestro Franciescho Dal Ponte: e’ la forò in più luoghi, e gittò sangue e puza. E ‘nfine ella non poté reggiere e morissi in pochi dì: riposesi in Santa Crocie. E di poi naque un’altra fanciulla ebbe nome Antonia, e nacque chol medesimo infiato; e questa non si medicò, ma ttenesi chaldo il chapo chon una berretta foderata d’andesia, e ‘nfine e’ gli asolvè lo ’nfiato e guarì bene. Visse chostei sette anni o circha, e di poi si morì di male pestilenziale † nel 1400, di luglio, nel palagio Ispini:riposesi il chorpo suo in Santa Trinita, nella / (c. 48v) sepoltura della famiglia degli Ispini, cioè nell’utima chapella si truova a man mancha ‘andare all’altare maggiore. E questo si fecie per nicistà, chonsiderato ch’egli era la mortalità grande e non si trovava apena chi volesse trarre i chorpi di chasa; e oltre a questo, nonn era in Firenze di noi se non monna Filippa, che chonvenia s’inbochasse nelle chose di bisongnio pe·lle mani d’altri. La terza fanciulla ebbe nel prencipio di quella mortalità, ed ebbe nome Filippa: questa vivette pochi mesi, e inn utimo morì nella detta mortalità prima che ll’Antonia, a Quinto dove era a balia, e ivi nella Chiesa di Quinto fu sepellita. Non abiamo a ffare di più femine memoria: ànne de’ maschi cinque, grazia di Dio vivi. […] |
To this day she [Chatelana, Stefano di Vanni Chastellani's daughters] has had eight or nine children, and an accident has happened about three times: the first time, I think, was two years after she gave birth to them, with a little girl; then she gave birth to two more daughters in good health. The first was called Bartolomea; she was born with a swelling on her head, on one side that looked and felt like a blister. She had it treated by Master Francesco Dal Ponte: he pricked her in several places and blood and pus came out. In the end, she could not stand it and died within a few days: she was buried in Santa Croce. Then another girl was born, called Antonia, who was also born with the same swelling; this was not treated, but her head was kept warm with a lined cap, and in the end the swelling disappeared and she recovered. She lived for about seven years and then died of the plague in 1400, in July, in Palazzo Spini: her body was buried in Santa Trinita, in the Spini family tomb, in the last chapel on the left side of the main altar. This was done out of necessity, as mortality was high and there was hardly anyone who wanted to take the bodies out of the house; besides, of us in Florence there was only Monna Filippa, who had to take care of the necessary things with the help of others. The third girl was born at the beginning of this mortality and was called Filippa: she lived only a few months and finally died before Antonia during the same plague, in Quinto, where she was with the nurse, and there in the church of Quinto she was buried. We don't need to remember the daughters any further: they have five sons who are alive thanks to God's grace. | Giovanni di Pagolo Morelli: Ricordi 2019, p. 204 | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1400-04-00-Florence | April 1400 JL | A terrible plague came to Florence and many people died; in June there were more than 200 corpses a day. The citizens fled to the countryside and Bologna and Arezzo after the feast of Johan Baptist (24 June), but many people died there too. In other cities such as Rome, Naples, Pisa or Lucca, the mortality rate was just as high. In Florence, they had to reorganise because so many people had left. | Capitolo IV. — Come grande mortalità fu in Firenze e altrove questo anno. In questo anno fu in Firenze grande mortalità e cominciò del mese d'aprile, come che prima s'era veduti segnali pestilenziosi assai; però che quelli che morivano, tutti aveano aposteme velenose e pestilenziose, e grande paura n'aveano i cittadini. Poi seguitò di maggiore malizia, però che ne moriano per di cento, tutti d'aposteme; e poi di giugno seguitò maggiore però che erano per di nella città dugento corpi e' più; e poi di luglio molto maggiore, e durò insino a settembre troppo grande nella città; e ancora nel contado di Firenze fu maggiore che nella città, però che in molti popoli morirono la metà delle persone che v'erano e in alquanti molti più che la metà; e molti cittadini ch'erano fuggiti in contado morirono; e fu questo grande numero; e molte castella rimasono mezzo vòte e molte famiglie disfece. E come fu fatta la festa di santo Giovanni, grande numero di buoni cittadini si fuggirono fuori della città e andaronne colle loro famiglie nel contado di Firenze in più ville e castella; e ancora n'andarono assai a Bologna, e molti ve ne moriro nondimeno; e chi andò ad Arezzo e anche assai ve ne morí; e cosí dove n'andarono ne morí in ogni luogo che fu in tutte le terre di Toscana. Era ancora la detta mortalità nel detto tempo grandissima a Roma, che fu tal di che volle settecento o ottocento corpi morti; ma la maggior parte romei ; e ancora fu la detta mortalità in molte terre d'Italia in questo tempo, dove grande e dove minore, però che allora n'era dove a Pisa, a Lucca, a Perugia e a Napoli e in tutto il paese; e ancora era in Lombardia dove grande e dove grandissima in molte città la detta mortalità. Li Fiorentini, veggendo la città vòta di buoni e ricchi cittadini, diliberarono di soldare insino in secento provigianati a guardia de la città e infino in settecento e cinquanta lance di soldati tra per di fuori e per dentro, e cosí feciono ; e aveano allora al soldo mille trecento soldati di fanti. E cosi perché li cittadini s'erano partiti, fu ordinata la città e 'l contado e distretto loro. |
Chapter IV - On the great mortality in Florence and elsewhere this year. This year there (1400)was a great mortality in Florence, which began in the month of April, although numerous plague-like signs were already visible beforehand. For the deceased all had poisonous and pestilential boils, and the citizens were greatly afraid of them. Then a greater malice followed, for a hundred people died every day, all from boils. And then in June it increased so that there were two hundred or more corpses a day in the city. And then in July it was even worse and continued on a very large scale in the city until September. It was also worse in the countryside around Florence than in the city, because in many villages half the population died and in some even more than half; many citizens who had fled to the countryside also died. It was a large number, and many places were left half empty, and many families were destroyed. After the feast of St John had been celebrated, many good citizens fled the city and went with their families to various villages and castles on the countryside surrounding Florence. Many also went to Bologna, and many died there anyway; some went to Arezzo, and many died there too. Wherever they went, people died everywhere in all areas of Tuscany. At that time, mortality was also very high in Rome, and there were days when there were seven hundred or eight hundred deaths, but most of them were Romans. Mortality was also high in many other Italian cities at this time, sometimes more, sometimes less, for example in Pisa, Lucca, Perugia and Naples, as well as throughout the country. In Lombardy, too, mortality was high to very high in many cities. The Florentines, seeing that the city was emptied of good and rich citizens, decided to pay up to six hundred guards for the defence of the city and up to seven hundred and fifty lances of soldiers both inside and outside, and so they did.They had a thousand and three hundred foot soldiers in their pay at the time. So the city and its environs and district were organised because the citizens had left. |
Anonymus: Cronica volgare 1915, p. 250. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5; Translation by DeepL; |
| 1403-03-00-Strasbourg | March 1403 JL | In Strasbourg was a sickness affecting the hips and the ulcers, which raged in many monasteries. | Aber ein siechtage von dem flosse. Do men zalte 1403, in der vasten, do was aber ein siechtage von dem hueften und von dem flosse also gros also der dovor geschriben stet, das in menigem closter die müniche also floessig worent, das sü one singen und one messe worent, und uf meniger grossen stift kume zwene oder drige singen möhtent und die andern floessig worent uns siech. und [p. 773] bleip wenig ieman über in der stat und in dem lande, in keme dirre siechtage ane. und zu ostern was er aller groessest. |
But there was a sickness of the ulcers. In the year 1403, during Lent, there was a sickness affecting the hips and the ulcers, as severe as the one previously described. In many monasteries, the monks were so ill of ulcers that there was no singing and mess, and in some smaller chapters, only two or three were able to sing while the others were sick. In the town and the country, very few people were left untouched by this sickness. At Easter, it was at its worst. |
Jacobus Twinger von Königshofen: Chronik 1870-71, pp. 772-773. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5 |
| 1404-04-00-Flanders | April 1404 JL | An epidemic with influenza-like symptoms breaks out in Flanders. While the weather is rather cold, people start to cough and to have headaches. Only very few die. During autumn the cattle get sick with the same symptoms. | Eodem anno mense aprili, circa initium mensis, ventus venit ab aquilone, cuncta virentia, pullulationes herbarum, arborum, omnesque virgulti fores urendo depasceret et velut solis ardor foenum aestivo sub tempore marcescere faceret, unde et eo anno cerasa, poma, pyra et huiusmodi fructus pauci et in magna caristia habiti sunt. Insuper et ex hujusmodi vento praecordia hominum et jumentorum tacta et algido rigore congelata, velut quodam fumo sulphureo usta constringebantur, ut omne fere hominum genus, cujuscunque sexus, aetatis seu conditionis fuerit, mox instante eodem mense aprili et sequentibus mayo et julio intollerabilem passiones tussis, cum raucitate pectoris et maximo capitis dolore irremediabiliter pateretur, hujusmodi intoxicativa materia praeconcepta, paucis exinde morientibus, etiam sequenti autumpno ipsa bruta animalia, praecipue vaccae, foetosae et hujusmodi, ut putatur, passionis materia raucefactis praecordis atque constrictis, ut nec cibum, nec potum capere possent, sed miserabiliter mugientes quamplurimae diversis in locis morientur. | Chronique de Jean Brandon, p. 90 | Translation needed | |
| 1406-00-00-Pleskov | 1406 JL | Plague in Pleskov in winter | Тогда [6914]<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> бяше моръ во Пьсковѣ над людьми железою. <a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> | There 1406/1407 was then a plague with swelling/blister/cerebral oedema<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a> in Pskov. | Новгородская первая летопись младшего изводa (Комиссионный список), in: Полное Cобрание Pусских Летописей, т. III, Mocвa: Языки Pyccкoй Kyльтypы, 2000, p. 399. | None |
| 1406-00-00-Pleskov 001 | 1406 JL | Plague in Pleskov in winter | Тогда [6914]<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> бяше моръ во Пьсковѣ над людьми железою. <a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> | There 1406/1407 was then a plague with swelling/blister/cerebral oedema<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a> in Pskov. | Новгородская первая летопись младшего изводa (Комиссионный список), in: Полное Cобрание Pусских Летописей, т. III, Mocвa: Языки Pyccкoй Kyльтypы, 2000, p. 399. | None |
| 1414-02-02-Strasbourg | 2 February 1414 JL | In Strasbourg was an illness, that affected the head, culcers and hips, made people insane and killed many. | Aber ein siechtage von dem flosse. Do men zalte 1414 jor, do kam umb die liehtmesse ein gemeinre siechtage in alle lant von dem flosse und huften, genant der ganser oder der bürzel. und wurdent vil lüte in disem siechtagen bewart und verrihtet zum tode, doch koment sü vil bi alle uf. und die es in dem houbete sterkliche anekam, der wurdent etliche unsinnig und sturbent stympkliche [stündlich]. und bleip wenig ieman über, hie und in andern landen, in keme dirre siechtage ane. und wurdent die brotbecken und ire knehte underwilent also siech, das sü nüt erbeiten noch bachen möhtent, daz men dicke kein brot veil vant. und werte dirre sieche wol 1/2 jor. |
But there was a sickness of the ulcers. In the year 1414, around Candlemas, a common illness spread through all the lands, affecting the culcers and hips, called the 'ganser' or 'bürzel' disease. Many people were struck down by this illness and prepared for death, although many also recovered. Those who were severely affected in the head became insane and died every hour. Very few people, here and in other lands, were left untouched by this illness. The bakers and their workers also became so sick at times that they could not work or bake, and often no bread could be found. This illness lasted for about half a year. |
Jacobus Twinger von Königshofen: Chronik 1870-71, p. 773. | Translation by ChatGPT-3.5 |
| 1423-00-00-Korela land and Novgorod | 1423 JL | Plague in the Korel land and Novgorod (probably another wave of the Black Death = smallpox) | [6932] И моръ бысть в Корѣльскои землѣ. Того же лѣта моръ бысть в Новѣгородѣ железою и хракъ кровию<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> | [6932] There was a plague in the Korel Land. The same year there was aplague with swelling/blister/cerebral oedema<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> and with spitting of blood in Novgorod<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a> | None | |
| 1427-09-15-Paris | 15 September 1427 JL | A disease (named: dando) breaks out in Paris in September and October. Many people get it. First, they get strong kidneyache and shoulderache, then they chill. After that they loose appetite and cannot sleep for 8 to 15 days, and they continually cough. | Item, en ce temps, environ quinze jour devant la saint Rémi (1 Oct), chut un mauvais air corrompu, dont une très mauvaise maladie advint qu'on appelait dando, et n'était nul ni nulle qui aucunement ne s'en sentît dedans le temps qu'elle dura. Et la manière comment elle prenait: elle commençait ès reins et ès épaules, et n'était nul quand elle prenait qui ne cuidât avoir la gravelle, tant faisoit cruelle douleur, et après ce à tous venaient les assées ou forts frissons, et était-on bien huit ou dix ou quinze jours qu'on ne pouvait ni boire, ni manger, ni dormir, les uns plus, les autres moins, après ce venait une toux si très mauvaise à chacun que quand on était au sermon, on ne pouvait entendre ce que le sermonneur disait, pour la grande noise des tousseurs | In this time, somewhat 15 days before Rémi's Day, a corrupted air felt upon the city and brought a bad disease called dando. Almost everybody get it. The symptoms were as follows. It began first with a kidneyache and shoulderache, so strong that everybody thought to have been affected by the gravelle. The pain was cruel, and then victims chilled strongly. It was impossible for them to eat, to drink and to sleep for about 8, or 10 and sometimes 15 days, depending on persons. After that stage, a strong cough developed, so loud that it even covered the priest voice at the sermon during the mass. | Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris 1990, pp. 239-240 | Translation by Thomas Labbé |
| 1435-09-08-Constance | August 1435 JL | Around September was in the region of Constance and Überlingen a long-lasting great plague but only with few deaths. | Anno 1435 umb nativitatis Marie [8.9.] drig oder vier wochen vor und nach, do gieng gar ain großer siechtag umb ze Costentz und ze Überlingen und och an deren stetten, an dem unzaglich vil lüt lagent, und wist doch nieman, was siechtagen es was. (p. 187) Wol was er ainem trukenen ritten gelich und starben gar wenig lüt daran, wol warent die lüt in großer krankhait 4 wochen und 6 und 8. | In 1435, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary [8 September], three or four weeks before and after, a great plague raged around Constance and Überlingen and other towns. Countless people died and yet nobody knows what kind of plague it was. It was like a dry fever and only a few people died from it, however, people suffered greatly for 4 or 6 or 8 weeks. | Anonymus: Konstanzer Chronik 1891, pp. 186-187. | Translation by Moritz Uebelhack |
| 1437-02-02-Constance | 2 February 1437 JL | A disease in Constance with a short period of illness. | Des jars, als man zalt von der geburt Christi 1437 jar, umb die liechtmeß und darnach bis zu ußgeender osterwochen [21 May] was ain loff ainer krankhait ze Costentz ufferstanden, das vil lüt sturbent, gaistlich und weltlich, und lagent nur by dry oder vier tagen, und etlich gar bernd in ainem tag und clagtent sich umb die brust und (p. 194) in der rechten syten. Etlich maintent, es wärent inwendig geswär, etlich maintent, es wärent würm, und fieng menglich an do knobloch ze essend und hört bald uff. | In the year 1437, around Candlemas (2 February) and afterwards until the end of Easter (21 May), a disease broke out in Constance that many people died, both clergy and laity. They were only ill for three or four days, some even died after just one day. They complained of pain in the chest and on the right side. Many meant it was an internal abscess, many others meant it were worms. Many then started eating garlic, but soon stopped. | Gebhard Dacher: Konstanzer Chronik 1891, pp. 193-194. | Translation by Moritz Uebelhack |
| 1439-07-00-Thuringia | July 1439 JL | A plague in Thuringia and the Harz region, but also Constance causing mortality and description of symptoms | Anno 1439 war ein groß sterben vber alle welt, vnd fieng sich an in Duringen vnd am Hartz, vmb die Ernte, vnd wehret biß auf der heiligen drey Konige tage <6. Januar>, wen die pestilentzische gift ergrief, der lag drey tage vnd nacht nacheinander vnd schlief. Vnd wen er dan aufwachet, so begundte er als balt mit dem Tode zu ringen, biß die Seel ausgieng. Das nennet man das grosse sterben davon schir in allen historien findet. Stumpf schreibet das allein zu Costnitz in x monden bey 4000 menschen gestorben sindt. | In the year 1439, there was a great mortality across the world, which began in Thuringia and the Harz region around harvest time, and lasted until the Feast of the Epiphany. Those who were affected by the poisonous plague would lie unconscious for three consecutive days and nights. When they woke up, they would immediately begin struggling with death until their soul departed. This event is known as the Great Death, which is extensively documented in historical records. Stumpf writes that in just ten months, around 4,000 people died solely in Constance. | Wellendorf Chronik 2015, p. 134 | Translation by Martin Bauch |
| 1465-00-00-Bologna 001 | 1465 JL | People suffered from fever and chest pain in autumn, but warmer weather in November and December eased their symptoms | Nota che in questo anno morino alquanti homini de mala fama, zoè che prestavano a usura, et faceano honestamente li mal contracti, chè prestavano da 25 insino in 40 per cento, facendo depositarie de datii cum littere de cambio et altri mal contracti coperti. Molto febre, varoli, mal de coste fu in l’otonno; le somente bone; novenbre et desenbre bom tempo, che ‘l fece utile assai alla povera gente, et molto più alli dazieri delle porte. | Corpus chronicorum bononiensium 4, p. 341 | Translation needed | |
| 1471-00-00-France | 1471 JL | Mortality in Paris and all of France | En ladite année fut mortalité commune et universelle par la pluspart dudit royaume, de maladie de flux de ventre et autres maladies; à cause de quoy plusieurs gens de façon moururent en ladite ville de Paris et ailleurs | In this year, a universal mortality broke out in much parts of the kingdom, that affected people with bellyache and other symptoms of disease. Several important persons died in Paris and elsewhere. | Chronique scandaleuse de Jean de Roye 1838, p. 295 | Translation by Thomas Labbé |
Authority data:
Retrieved from "https://epimeddat.net/index.php?title=Symptoms&oldid=4219"
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.


