The following excerpt comes from Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio, who lived in Italy during the plague years. In the introduction to the Decameron, Boccacio discusses the onset of the Plague on the city of Florence, as well as the many different reactions to the spread of the disease. #Blackdeath #Pandemic #History #Florence
The Black Death is the name given to the plague that struck Europe in 1347 and lasted until 1352. The Plague reached Europe via trade routes, both land and sea, to the east, where the disease had been ravaging China since the early 1300s. Normally ascribed to bubonic plague (named after the buboes , or swellings that developed on the body), the Plague also took the pneumonic form and could be spread from person to person via coughing and sneezing, as well as the septicemic form when it entered the blood.
The Black Death was widespread, affecting people across Europe. People of all ages and social classes were killed by the disease, which wiped out as much as 40% of Europe’s total population. The Plague also devastated the Middle East and Asia, killing the populations of entire villages and towns. Even though the Black Death was the worst instance of plague, the disease would return to Europe, usually once every generation or so, for centuries.
