News Reporters

1346: Plague broke out in the army besieging Caffa, a trading port on the Black Sea.

October 1347: Trading ships from the Black Sea brought plague to Messina, in Sicily.

1348: It spread through Italy, France and Spain, and reached England in the summer.

1349–1351: It reached Germany, Scandinavia and, finally, Russia.

Worst years: Europe's worst years were 1347 to 1351.

Plague: The Black Death was plague, caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis.

Bubonic plague: The most common form: fever and painful swellings (buboes) in the neck, armpits or groin.

Pneumonic plague: It attacked the lungs, spread by coughing, and was the deadliest form.

Septicaemic plague: An infection of the blood that was almost always fatal.

Its name: People at the time called it "the great mortality"; the name "Black Death" came later.

Deaths: About one third to one half of Europe's people died.

Empty places: Some villages were left empty, and crops stood unharvested in the fields.

Daily life: Shops, workshops and markets closed.

Work: With so few workers left, survivors could ask for higher wages.

Blame: Jewish communities were falsely blamed for the plague and attacked in many towns.

Fleas and rats: Fleas living on black rats carried the bacterium.

Ships and trade: Rats and fleas travelled in ships' cargo and grain sacks along trade routes.

From rats to people: When infected rats died, their fleas bit people instead.

Coughing: In the lung form, sick people passed it on by coughing.

Towns first: Crowded ports and towns were hit first and hardest.

Bad air: Poisonous air (miasma) from rotting matter and swamps caused the sickness.

The planets: In 1348, doctors in Paris blamed Saturn, Jupiter and Mars lining up in 1345.

God's punishment: The plague was a punishment from God for people's sins.

Poisoners: Outsiders were secretly poisoning wells. This was false and led to violence.