Black Death

Black Death,   outbreak of bubonic plague that struck Europe and the Mediterranean area from 1347 through 1351. It was the first of a cycle of European plague epidemics that continued until the early 18th century. A cycle of ancient plagues had preceded these plagues between the 6th and 8th centuries AD; another cycle of modern followed them, but less deadly, plagues that began in the late 19th century and continue in the 20th century. The term "Black Death" was not used to refer to the plagues of 1347 through 1351 until much later; contemporaries usually called it the Pestilence, or the Great Mortality.
Plague is a bacterial infection that can take more than one form. Victims of bubonic plague usually suffer from high fevers and swellings under the armpits or in the groin. Unless treated with modern antibiotics, usually 60 percent of the infected will die, often within the first five days . . .   The disease is carried by a variety of rodents—rats, marmots, and prairie dogs, among others. It can pass into a human population when fleas carrying infected rodent blood attach themselves to a human host.
II ORIGINS OF THE BLACK DEATH  
Scientists and historians are still unsure about the origins of plague. Medieval European writers believed that it began in China, which they considered a land of almost magical happenings. Chroniclers wrote that it began with earthquakes, fire falling from the sky, and plagues of vermin. Like medieval travel literature, these accounts are based on most myths about life in areas outside Europe. Infected rodents probably migrated from the Middle East into southern Russia, Plague was then spread west along trade routes . . .   Venetian and Genoese sailors are known to have brought the plague to Europe.     Plague moved quickly along the major trade routes.
Parts of Europe were initially spared the epidemic. Milan was almost unique among the major Italian towns. The lord of the city closed the gates to travelers coming from plague areas,... [continues]

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