The Black Death

Further reading for The Black Death

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer

The Black Death is shorthand for a series of plagues which struck Eurasia several times during the medieval period beginning in the 14th century and periodically returning until falling into obscurity in the early 20th century.

Plague is often used to describe any sort of epidemic or pandemic disease these days but it’s actually a pretty specific term used to describe a particular class of bacterial disease that results in some seriously fucked up results. Septicemic Plague, for instance, is characterized by the sudden onset of fever, delirium, and THE PAINFUL AND MESSY BREAKDOWN OF YOUR BODY FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

In its worst time during the 15th century, the plague raged through Europe and reduced the population by a full third. The onset is rapid, the suffering is short but intense and you die horrifically. Ih time, the people of Europe came to put together protocols to reduce contact but the plague still fucked shit up in Europe, causing sweeping changes in the way society lives until modern medicine came along and all but eliminated it. One thousand cases still happen today.

Episodes: 456-460