by John Kelly
privies, 69, 70
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 300
Procopius, 221
prostitutes, prostitution, 96, 212
Protestantism, 291
Provence, 244, 251
Provenzal, 255
Prussia, 47
public health, 18, 93, 289
Pulex irritans, 32, 35–36, 72, 202, 301
purges, 174
quarantines, 260, 289
Quinoni, Dayas, 138
rabies, 85n
Ragusa, 24–25, 95, 260, 289
rains, 83n, 103
rakers, 70–71
Ralph of Shrewsbury, 185, 193–95, 222
Ramsey Abbey, 55
Raoult, Didier, 300, 303
rats, 9, 14, 15, 65, 66, 67, 189, 211–12, 279, 298
Black Plague die-off of, 298–99, 300
Rattus rattus (black rats), 14, 280
arrival in Europe of, 67–68
as disease vector, 66–67
range and migration of, 67–68
relationship between Y. pestis and, 65–66
urban sanitation and, 68–69
Reconquista, 47
red plague. See smallpox
reeve, 202, 203
Reformation, 291
refugees, 76
Reign of Edward II, The, 184
Renaissance plague, 278
Rhazes, 165
Rhythm Against the Jews, 237
Richard the Raker, 211
Richard the Scot, 181
Rienzo, Cola di, xvi, 119–20, 121–25, 126, 144
Rienzo, Lorenzo di, 126
rinderpest, 61, 196
“Ring around the rosie” (nursery rhyme), 21
Robert de Hoven, 11
Robert de Sorbon, 178
Robert of Artois, 73
Robert of Avesbury, 214–15
Rochester, Bishop of, 223
rodents, 14, 18–19, 34, 66
European population of,
279–80
plague as disease of, 12–13
plague immunity in, 36–37
surge years population of, 37–38
wild, 19, 37
see also rats, marmot plague
Roger, Reginald, 60
Roman aqueducts, 69
Roman Catholic Church, 1, 200–201
anti-Semitism of, 237–38
disillusionment with, 290–91
heretical movements and, 291
post-plague decline of, 222–24
weakening by Black Death of, 222, 290–91
see also papacy
Roman Empire, 15, 31, 235
epidemics in, 43–44
hygiene in, 71–72
sanitation techniques of, 69
Romania, 82, 88
Rome, 16, 68, 119–26
Cola as tribune in, 124–25
gangsterism in, 121, 122
plague in, 126
population of, 44, 120
ruling class of, 121
tourism in, 122
Ronewyks, John, 202–6
Rouen, 181–82, 241
Russia, xiv, 24, 49, 50, 270, 276
Ryazan, 48–50
Rykener, John, 210–11
Saaser Visp Valley, 57–58
Sadar Bazaar, 71
Sade, Hugues de, 147
Sade, J. F. X. de, 147
Sade, Laura de, 123, 146–47
death of, 152–53
Sade, Marquis de, 123
St. Anthony’s fire, 62
St. Denis Abbey, 181, 292–93
St. Germain l’Auxerrois, 179–80
Samarkand, 8, 48, 236
sanitation, 14, 77, 281, 301–2
in cities, 64, 68–71, 68n
Santa Clara, Abraham, 262
Santa Croce del Corvo, 104
Santa Maria Novella monastery, 104
Saxons, 218
Scandinavia, xv, 273–75
Sciascia, Leonardo, 83
scientific method, 288–89
scientific observation, 166
Scotland, xv, 16, 226, 227
Scott, Susan, 295, 296, 299
secondary pneumonic plague, 21–22, 84, 274, 303
Seneca, 23
septicemic plague, 22–23, 269
serfdom, 285
Serpion, 97
Seveni, William, 111–12
sex, 172
Shaftesbury, 191–92
Shambles, 210, 216
Shemoneh Esrei, 238
shipbuilding, 288
Shi Tao-nan, 65–66
Shoubuggare, Walter, 194
Shoydon, Henry, 188
Shrewsbury, J. F. D., 186n
Siamese twins, 225
Siberia, 11, 42
Sicily, xiv, 23, 24, 93
mortality rate in, 88
panicked reaction in, 85–86
plague’s arrival in, 83–88
siege warfare, 9n
Siena, xiii, 26, 46, 80, 114–19, 277, 285, 299
mortality rate in, 99, 119
Palazzo pubblico in, 117–18
response to plague in, 97, 98, 117–18
Sigge, William, 221
Silk Road, 31, 33, 68, 236
Simond, Paul-Louis, 42, 296
Simonia (Genoese woman), 91
Simon of Corvino, 170
sirocco, 83
slaughterhouses, 17, 65
slave markets, 3
Slott, Phillip, 45n
Smail, Daniel Lord, 137
smallpox, xii, 43, 174, 280, 282
Smithfield cemetery, 214–15
social cohesion, 206–7
sodomites, 96
Solomon, Rabbi, 235
Solomon bar Simson, Rabbi, 241
Solomon ben Abraham, Rabbi, 244–45
“Song of the Last Jews,” 257
Sorbonne, 178
Sorceress of Ryazan, 49
Southampton, 186, 199, 201
Soviet Union, 34, 75–76
Spain, xiv, 16, 47, 235, 240, 244, 268
flu epidemic in, 280
plague pattern in, 269–70
pogroms in, 252
Spartans, 265
Spector, Felicity, xvii
Speyer, 26, 241, 255–56
Stefani, Marchione di Coppo, 109–10, 113
steppe. See Eurasian steppe
stevedoring, 286
Stow, John, 215
Strasbourg, 26, 176, 256, 261, 267, 273
Stratford, Ralph, 214
stress, 74, 75–76
Summoner’s Tale, The (Chaucer), 164–65
sumptuary laws, 287
sun spots, 37
surgeons, 68, 69, 167, 288
surge years, 37–38
Surrey, 199, 201, 204
Swaber, Peter, 256
sweating sickness, 280
Sweden, 27, 273, 275
Switzerland, 254
syphilis, 281, 300
Syria, 11
Tacitus, 83n, 234
Talas, 8
Talmud, 245
Tam, Jacob, 248
Tana, 5–6, 51
tarabagans, 33–34, 38, 51
Tarrighi, Domenico, 91
Tartars. See Mongols
Tasherkasoff, A. K., 33
taxes, 225
Tebets, 32
technological innovation, 287–88
Templars, 128–29, 130, 131, 141–42
Temple Mount, 234
textile industry, 131, 218, 286, 287
Thames River, 70, 211
Theobald of Cambridge, 243
Third Pandemic, 41, 42, 66, 278–79, 296, 298, 301
Black Death compared to, 111–12, 114
contagion rate of, 112
dissemination rate of, 297
mortality rates of, 113, 297, 302
rat die-off in, 298–99
Thompson, James Westfall, 217
Three Living and the Three Dead, The, 292
Thucydides, 83n<
br />
tidal waves, 13, 170
Tiepolo, Lorenzo, 92–93
torture, 129, 140, 254
Toulon, 138, 141, 249–50, 251
tourism, 122
Tournai, 25, 61, 182, 267
tournaments, 18, 223
Tower of London, 209
trade, xiv, xvi, 13, 15, 32–33, 39, 44, 56, 185
middle ages revival of, 47–48
in Plague of Justinian, 42, 68
role of Jews in medieval international, 235–36, 246
spread of black rats and, 67–68
trade routes
across Eurasian steppe, 33–34, 39
of Caffa, 4
England’s international, 189
plague ships on, 88–89
transi tomb, 291, 292
travel, xiv, 13
Treasure and the Law, The (Kipling), 246
Trebizond, 32–33
Trevisa, John, 203
Trier, 241–42
Trokelowe, John de, 60
Truchess, Heinrich, 255, 257
Tueleu, Yvo, 167
Tura, Nicoluccia di, 116–17
Turin, anti-Semitism in, 243–44
Tuscany, 46–47, 96
Twigg, Graham, 295, 296
typhus, 62, 280, 281
Ullford, Andrew, 197, 198
under-beadles, 70
universities, 289–90
Urakov, Nikolai, 34
urban life. See cities
urinalysis, 164, 168
usury. See moneylending
Uzbekistan, animal die-offs in, 196
Vasiliev, A. A., 5
venereal disease, 281
Venice, xiv, 2, 16, 48, 51, 97, 255
municipal health board in, 289
plague’s arrival in, 92–95
public morale in, 94
war with Genoa of, 89
Very Useful Inquiry into the Horrible Sickness, A, 170–71
Vienna, plague’s arrival in, 262
Vietnam War, 15, 76, 274–75, 299
Vikings, 218
Villani, Giovanni, 46, 101–5, 112, 130, 233, 276
Villani, Matteo, 232, 276–77, 284, 285
Vincent, Thomas, 213
vineyards, 45
Vitrola, Franses de, 137
Vitry-le-François, 250
Vivaldi, Ugolino and Vadino, 2, 79–80
Vizille, 252, 253, 259
Voltaire, xvi
wages, 288
Wakebridge, William de, 25
Wakebridge family, 226
Wales, 25, 227–28
Walmot, Agnyes, 60
Walsingham, Thomas, 184–85, 266
Waning of the Middle Ages, The (Huizinga), 291–92
ward system, 289
warfare, xvi, 15, 16, 77, 89, 288
civilians targeted in, 74–75
growing violence of, 74
medieval changes in, 72–75
waterbedrep, 55
watermills, 45–46, 218n
wattle and daub, 71
weavers, 286
well poisonings, 138–40, 139n, 152, 232–33, 248, 249, 251–52, 253–56
Westminster Abbey, 121, 216
Westminster Palace, 80, 212
Weston, Richard, 194
Weymouth, 187, 188
Wheelis, Mark, 9n
whorehouses, 146
William (Franciscan friar), 32, 51
William (murdered apprentice), 242–43
William of Alicerto, 168
William of Liverpool, 226
William of Rubruck, 30–31
William the Englishman, 165
William the One-Day Priest, 221
wills, 273, 290
Wiltshire, 198–99
Winchester, 199, 202, 204, 219
burials in, 200–201
Winchester, Bishop of. See Edendon, William
“Winchester geese,” 212
windmills, 45–46
wine, 173
women, 12
in medicine, 166–67
in post-plague economy, 286
Woodeaton manor, 195
wool combers, 286
World on Fire (Chua), 235–36
World War I, 217
World War II, 11, 36, 159, 187, 268, 270
Worms, 26, 241
Xenopsylla cheopis, 19–20, 35, 42, 202, 298, 299, 302
xerophthalmia, 62
Xerxes I, king of Persia, 82
Yam, xiv, 8, 13, 39
Yarmouth, 50, 219
Year of Annihilation. See Black Death
Yehiel ben Joseph, Rabbi, 245
yellow bile, 168–69
Yeovil, 194–95, 202
Yersin, Alexandre, 41, 42, 296
York, 224, 225, 226
York, Bishop of, 186
Yorkshire, 59, 61, 224
Y. pestis, 9n, 11, 12–13, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, 77, 300
age of, 35, 301
Big Optimum and evolution of, 44n
contagion and spread rates of,
112
first accurate description of, 42
genetic history of, 34–35
human version of, 300
hypervirulence of, 114
lethality of, 35–36
limitations of, 36
in marmot family, 34, 114, 274
relationship between R. rattus and, 65–66
rodent immunity to, 36–37
survival requirements for, 279–80
Ziegler, Philip, 89, 161, 189, 190, 224
Zouche, William, 225
Acknowledgments
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK WILLIAM H. MCNEILL, PROFESSOR emeritus of history at the University of Chicago, and Ann G. Carmichael, associate professor of history at the University of Indiana, for reading the manuscript and offering suggestions. For answering my questions about Marseille, the medieval period, and the Mongol Golden Horde, I would like to thank, respectively, historians Daniel Lord Smail at Fordham University, Robert Lerner at Northwestern University, and Uli Schamiloglu at the University of Wisconsin. For patiently answering my questions about the biology of plague, I owe a debt of gratitude to microbiologists Robert Brubaker at Michigan State University, Robert Perry at the University of Kentucky, Stanley Falkow at Stanford University, Arturo Casadevall at Albert Einstein Medical College, Christopher Wills at the University of California at Davis, and Ken Gage at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. For information about ecological change in the fourteenth century, M. G. L. Baillie at Queens College, Belfast, Ireland, has been an indispensable source, and for information about the medieval climate, Brian Fagan at the University of California at Santa Barbara was most helpful. I would also like to thank archivist and historian Guy Fringer for first igniting my interest in the Black Death.
This book could not have been written without the help of my research assistants: the incomparable Laurie Sarney, who can find any document or reference, no matter how obscure; my team of graduate students at Columbia University: Ed Reno, R. R. Rozos, and George Fiske, who helped shepherd me through the mysteries of medieval Latin; and Jennifer Jue-Steuck, who turned several cabinets full of ill-filed papers and books into a crisp accounting of more than 800 footnotes. I would also like to thank the staffs at Columbia University’s Butler Library and the New York Academy of Medicine for their help and assistance.
This book also could not have been written without the personal support of several individuals, among them Loren Fishman, whose help was vital during the difficult early months of composition, and my cousin Timothy Malloy and his wife, Maureen, and Elizabeth Weller, who provided critical assistance at several points in the project.
There are three people I would particularly like to thank: my agent, Ellen Levine, who believed in this project from the start; my editor at HarperCollins, Marjorie Braman, whose editorial judgment, unflagging support, good humor, and inexhaustible patience made this book possible; and my wife, Sheila Weller Kelly, who suffered through all the agonies of aut
horship with me and whose constant rereadings of the manuscript and shrewd editorial judgment and suggestions immensely improved the quality of the pages.
All errors and mistakes herein are mine alone.
—John Kelly, August 20, 2004
P.S.
Insights, Interviews & More . . .
About the author
Meet John Kelly
JOHN KELLY grew up in Boston, the only child of a salesman and an administrator for Filene’s department store. He passed much of his youth reading military history and drawing comic-book characters. This last obsession would, years later, give him a “deep understanding” of the antihero in the 2003 film
American Splendor.
He graduated from Boston University and earned a master’s degree from New York University. “Being a young father,” he says, “meant giving up grad school pre-Ph.D. That thesis on Andre Gide and the Communist Ethic never got finished.”
He pursued a career writing about science and medicine. His articles appeared in a series of medical and then mainstream magazines. Still, though, he carried a torch for his collegiate love, European history, to which he devoted his leisure hours.
He is the author of nine books, including
Three on the Edge: The Stories of Ordinary American Families in Search of a Medical Miracle (Bantam, 1999). Writing
Three on the Edge, he says, awakened him to “the greater satisfaction of narrative nonfiction.”
Publishers Weekly called the book “compelling, touching . . . rendered without sentiment by an expert storyteller.”
The Great Mortality marked his winning combination of profession and pastime—of writing about science and medicine and reading about history. His next book,
A Visitation of Providence, will tackle the Irish Potato Famine. He is drawn to catastrophe, which, as he puts it, “brings out the extremes of human nature: the greatest cruelty and inhumanity, as well as astonishing acts of selflessness, love, and courage; moments when the social fabric is in tatters, and others when, against all odds, it miraculously holds.” He adds, “Writing about such epochal events has spoiled me for other subjects.”
He has been an enthusiastic runner for thirty years. He relaxes, it comes as no surprise, by reading history; he lately enjoyed, and would recommend,
Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944–1945, by Max Hastings (Knopf, 2004).
He lives in New York City and in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with his wife, writer Sheila Weller. He has a son and daughter and two grandchildren.
About the book
John Kelly on Writing The Great Mortality
AN AUTHOR AND SUBJECT can’t spend three or four years together without developing a relationship. Sometimes the two become fast friends; other times, they become like a long-married couple who have come to know each other’s tricks and idiosyncrasies all too well. There are books that grow out of a deep love affair between author and subject, and others where the subject is so emotionally draining that, at the book’s completion, the author feels battered and depleted. I was in such a state the September morning I arrived at Columbia University’s Butler Library to begin research on what would become
