by Desconhecido
Finally, a closer look can be taken at some aspects of the last plague in the province of Östergötland. From this province more than 80% of the parishes have preserved church books that provide relatively detailed information on the plague years of 1710–11. They represent both densely populated agricultural plains and more sparsely populated woodlands. The church books reveal that the first case of plague in Östergötland was seen in the parish of Lönsås on 23 September, 1710, and already within a month the plague had reached several other parishes both far away and nearby (Fig. 52). One year later, by the end of 1711, 89% of the parishes had been affected (Fig. 53).120 Some parishes were hit hard, others not so hard and some appear not to have been affected by the plague at all. As an estimate of how severely the plague ravaged the different parishes the Crises Mortality Ratio (CMR) has been used, which is frequently used to identify mortality crises in a population.121 It measures the mortality in a year of crisis in proportion to the average mortality of normal years. Mortality 3× times higher than normal (CMR> 3) is defined as a demographic crisis, whereas mortality more than 15× higher than normal (CMR> 15) is a demographic catastrophe.122 According to these criteria the plague resulted in a demographic crisis in 66%123 of the parishes of Östergötland and in 3.6% of them it reached a demographic catastrophe (Fig. 54).124
Hence, in spite of a better preparedness, the plague of 1710–13 hit parts of Sweden hard. Plague was still a deadly disease that was very difficult to stop, partly due to the unwillingness among the general public to change deeply-rooted customs and traditions. Similar religious traditions were probably important also for the transmission and spread of the Black Death. Although devastating in some areas, the last plague did not reach all parts of Sweden and at a local scale it showed a mosaic pattern of spread. This is evident from Östergötland, where even neighbouring parishes suffered to very different degree. The local variation may be due to chance, but also to different precautions taken by the parishioners. If the Black Death also showed this spatial variation at a local scale is not known.
In Östergötland, the agricultural lowlands, characterised by relatively small and densely populated parishes, appears to have been struck harder than the forested uplands by the last plague (Figs 53 and 54). There are several exceptions – some upland parishes were affected whereas some parishes on the plains were not affected at all – but in general the central lowlands were most hardly hit. This was also the case in Scania.125 Probably the plague could spread more easily in the lowlands, where population density was higher and the settlement pattern was characterised by hamlets and villages. However, it is important to note that also several sparsely populated parishes in the uplands, where single farms dominated, were hit by the plague.
Little is known about migration, both during the last plague and during earlier outbreaks. It is likely that all plagues resulted in social reorganisation, remarriages, etc., which involved moving to new farms and settling in new areas. For the Black Death the large-scale farm abandonment in marginal uplands may to some degree reflect such migration, when people moved to better holdings in the more fertile lowlands.126 The last plague gives some support to such an interpretation, by indicating that the plague hit the agricultural plains somewhat harder than the uplands. However, the high mortality rates of some upland parishes show that the plague sometimes also reached remote farms in the woods.
The church books from Östergötland also give interesting insights into recovery after the plague. For 20 randomly selected parishes the annual numbers of deaths and births have been used to estimate the time it took to reach pre-plague population numbers. The calculations are based on the relationship between deaths and births only, and take no heed of the possible influence of migration, which is not known. The results show that birth rates increased soon after the arrival of the plague in 1710–11, and already in 1720, population numbers were back at pre-plague levels in 76% of the 21 parishes (Fig. 55). However, in some parishes recovery took longer. In Bjälbo the population reached pre-plague levels in 1723, in Kaga in 1728, and in Sya and Väderstad in 1730. The parish of Skänninge had almost recovered in 1734 when mortality suddenly peaked again, probably due to some other epidemic disease, and the same happened in 1743. It did not reach pre-plague population number until 1750 (Fig. 55). Even though plague did not return to Sweden after the outbreaks of 1710–13, there were several different diseases that could lead to increased mortality. The most serious ones were smallpox, typhus, measles, dysentery and whooping cough.
However, even though different diseases and other difficulties may have added to the problems and delayed the recovery, Figure 55 shows a clear relationship between Crisis Mortality Ratio and recovery time. All the parishes with a CMR lower than 3 recovered within less than 5 years, whereas the parish with the highest CMR needed the longest time to recover. During the Middle Ages, recurring outbreaks of plague together with different social factors may have delayed recovery after the Black Death, but the most important factor behind the very long time needed to recover was probably an exceptionally high mortality ratio.
Fig. 52. Maps showing how the plague of 1710–11 spread from parish to parish through the province of Östergötland, beginning in the Parish of Lönsås in September 1710. The plague spread quickly in October, November and December
Fig. 53. Parishes affected by plague 1710–11 in the province of Östergötland
Fig. 54. Crises Mortality Ratio (CMR) for the different parishes of Östergötland in connection to the plague 1710–11
Fig. 55. Diagram showing the time needed for population recovery in some parishes of Östergötland after the plague of 1710–11. Bars show the number of years needed before population numbers were back at the same level as before the plague. By 1720 76% of the parishes had recovered and some of them already after a few years. Others took longer to recover. Skänninge, which had experienced a demographic catastrophe in connection to the plague and also was hit by other epidemics, took 40 years to recover
Conclusions
The higher density of graves and the increased numbers of multiple graves in layers from the Late Middle Ages at ordinary cemeteries are here interpreted as a reflection of the Black Death and recurring plague outbreaks in the late fourteenth century. This observation, together with the absence of any documented mass graves, indicates that the majority of the plague victims were buried in the ordinary cemeteries. If so it tells us that, even though mortality was high, the dead were taken care of according to the existing customs and practices as far as ever possible.
The hypothesis that living conditions improved after the Black Death was tested by means of changes in stature estimated from skeleton material. The results showed that people born after the Black Death were taller than earlier generations, which indicates improved living conditions. However, the change was small and only statistically significant for women.
One aspect of living conditions that may be particularly decisive for stature is diet. Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen was used to investigate the intake of animal proteins among a medieval population in Lund. The results indicated increased intake of animal proteins like meat and milk products around 1100, but no noticeable change after that. Hence, the results indicated no difference in diet before and after the Black Death in the population studied. The largely vegetarian diet of some individuals before 1100 may be associated with low social status.
Strontium isotope analysis of the Lund population indicated a high rate of non-locals in the earliest phase of the medieval town, before 1100. Variation decreased after that and of particular interest is the absence of non-locals during the brief period of the Black Death, from 1350 to 1370. It indicates that the ordinary exchange of temporary visitors paused during the plague.
Written documents from the last plague in Sweden 1710–13 were used as a reference to the Black Death. The last plague resulted in a population drop in Sweden of approximately 15% on average but in the studied province of Österg
ötland of as much as one-third. There was great spatial variation, both on a regional and local scale. Even neighbouring parishes were sometimes struck to a very different degree. Agricultural lowlands seem to have suffered most, but the plague reached also forested uplands. Recovery took one or a few decades in most parishes. The apparently much slower recovery after the Black Death may have been due to several reasons. Probably the initial population drop was much larger and also the recurring outbreaks of plague held population numbers down.
Notes
1 Myrdal 1999, 93–95
2 Myrdal 2006, 154
3 Myrdal 2012a, 205
4 See Chap. 2
5 Dyers 2002, 296; Benedictow 2004, 390; Myrdal 2012a, 229
6 Campbell 2012, 151; Myrdal 2012, 227
7 Grainger 2008; DeWitte 2009, 2014; DeWitte & Wood 2008; DeWitte & Huges-Morey 2012
8 Stone & Appleton-Fox 1996
9 Werdelin et al. (2002) made a similar study based on a smaller material
10 See Chap. 4
11 Myrdal 1999, 130, 137, 154; Campbell 2006, 186; Thomas 2007
12 The year 1536 marks the reformation and the end of the Middle Ages in Denmark. Lund is situated in the province of Scania, which belonged to Denmark at the time
13 Cf. Chap. 2 for an introduction
14 E.g. Livi Bacci 2000, 81
15 Myrdal 2012a, 223
16 Benedictow 2004, 5; also the pollen record presented in Chap. 4 indicates a sudden decline at 1350
17 Scott & Duncan 2001, 106
18 Scott & Duncan 2004, 24–25
19 Scott & Duncan 2004, 27, 31
20 Boccaccio 1353 [1995], 9–12
21 Boccaccio 1353 [1995], 10
22 Grainger et al. 2008
23 Grainger et al. 2008, 12–18
24 Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 1906–07
25 Barber & Thomas 2002, 12–14
26 Poulton & Woods 1984, 52
27 Stone et al. 1996, 24–25
28 Lütgert 2000, 255–265
29 Etter & Schneider 1982–83, 43–49
30 Archaeology Magazine, Barcelona’s Black Death Victims. August 19, 2014
31 KHM 35/89 Fideikommisgården, Kirkegård ved Vor Frue kirke. Randers
32 Ragnar Blomkvist 14/9 1953, unpublished document, Kulturen Museum
33 Signoli et al. 2002, 829–854
34 Myrdal 2011, 80; 2012, 227
35 Myrdal 2006, 154; Bisgaard 2009, 97
36 Palm 2001, 28
37 Bonnier 2008, 167
38 Arcini 1999, 160
39 Cinthio 1992, 30–39 and this study
40 Lilja et al. 2001, 38
41 Menander & Arcini 2013, 222
42 Arcini & Tagesson 2005, 292
43 Unpublished photo from the ATA archive
44 Ranåker 2009, 26–39
45 Blomqvist 1951, 324
46 Carelli 2001, 118
47 Scott & Duncan 2004, 22, 25
48 Keene 1984, 101; 1989, 107
49 Brook & Keir 1975, 123–125; Keen 1989, 99
50 Grainger et al. 2008, 10; Barber & Thomas 2002, 12–14
51 Højrup & Jensen 1963
52 Royal letter dated 08-11-1710 (Stiernman 1775)
53 Ecclesiastical book Linköping 1710 containing data on deaths. Archive of Swedish church books, Linköping Domkyrkoförsamling, CI: 2
54 Jacobsson 2002, 16
55 Arcini et al. 2006, 16
56 Arcini et al. 2006, 59
57 Koepke & Baten 2005; Steckel 1995; Hatton 2014
58 Sellevold 1984, 227; Arcini 1996, 91–100
59 Hultkrantz 1927; Arcini et al. 2006, 80–81; Gustafsson et al. 2007
60 Hatton 2014
61 Tanner 1987; Bielicki et al. 1986
62 Kuh et al. 1997
63 Meyer & Selmer 1999
64 Chinn et al. 1989
65 Tanner 1987; Bielicki et al. 1986
66 WHO 1983
67 Allen & Uauy 1994; Tanner et al. 1982
68 Kimura 1984; Takahashi 1984; 1994
69 Tanner 1982; Takahashi1984; 1994
70 Hatton 2014
71 Hatton 2014
72 Martin & Saller 1957
73 The method is based on Sjøvold 1990
74 Cinthio 2002
75 Dahlbäck 1982, 118–119; Weises 2009, 39
76 Menander & Arcini 2013, 226
77 Thordeman 1939
78 Arcini 2008, 72
79 Dahlbäck 1982, 113
80 The result of the t-test (two-tailed P-value test) for stature of women were P = 0.0015 and for men P = 0.0001 and the level for significance is P<0.05
81 Dyer 2002, 296; Benedictow 2004, 390; Myrdal 2012a, 229; Campbell 2012, 124
82 Cf. Chap. 2 for further discussion
83 t-test: women P=0.0036, men P=0.0939
84 t-test: women P= 0.6327, men P=0.3531
85 t-test: P=0.155
86 The pollen record from the South-Swedish Upland indicates a relative increase of pastures and meadows in relation to arable land after the Black Death (see Chap. 4)
87 Fjällström 2013
88 DeNiro & Epstein 1978; 1981. According to these studies, δ15N increases with 3–4‰ by each step up the food chain (Schoeninger et al. 1983, Schoeninger & DeNiro 1984), but recent studies suggest that 6‰ would be a more correct value (O’Connell et al. 2012)
89 For example, if the meat consumed were from young animals that were still suckling, the nitrogen value would be higher than if the meat were from adult animals. However, nothing in the kill-off patterns in faunal remains from Lund indicates any change through time in the consumption of young animals (Magnell 2006, 19–33). Regarding cereals, nitrogen isotope values are affected by the degree of manuring, and cereals from heavily manured crops may reach similar nitrogen isotope values as meat from herbivores (Bogard et al. 2013)
90 Schwarcz & Schoeninger 1991; Ambrose & Norr 1993, 1–37; Howland et al. 2003
91 Fjällström 2013
92 Cinthio 2002, 64
93 Magnell 2006, 19–33; Cardell in prep.
94 P<0.05
95 Material from the Nunnan block in Sigtuna, dated to 970–1100, showed an average nitrogen isotope value of 10.73% (Kjellström et al. 2009)
96 Cinthio 2002, 63–89
97 The use of slaves in early-medieval Sweden was mentioned for instance by Adam av Bremen in the eleventh century (1984, 207)
98 Price et al. 1994; 2011; 2013; Cox & Sealy 1997; Grupe et al. 1997
99 Price 1989; Kohn et al. 1999; Budd et al. 2000; Lee-Thorp & Sponheimer 2003
100 Price et al. 2002. Ratios of strontium isotopes in human tissue may vary from the actual geological background for a number of reasons (e.g. Sillen et al. 1998; Price et al. 2002; Maurer et al. 2012)
101 Price et al. 2002; Maurer et al. 2012
102 Sjögren et al. (2009) and Sjögren and Price (2013) analysed 87Sr/86Sr in human remains from megalithic burials in the Falbygden region of western Sweden along with numerous bioavailable samples from the surrounding region. Frei et al. (2009) recorded strontium isotope ratios in sheep wool and soil leachates from several areas in Sweden and Denmark. Arcini & Price (in press) measured strontium isotope ratios in human teeth from the Viking period and various biological materials from the Swedish island of Gotland and southern Sweden in a study of place of origin for the inhabitants of Viking Gotland
103 Larsson 2007; Hårdh & Larsson 2007; Price 2013
104 The tooth sampled is mainly from mandible but there are also some from maxilla. The majority of the sampled are incisors or first molars, however a canine tooth is used in three cases (Appendix 3)
105 Shimazaki & Shinomoto 2010
106 Wand & Jones 1995
107 Cinthio 2002
108 These records have been used for studies of different aspects of the last plague. Illmoni (1846–53) has studied the transmission routes but also the measures authorities took in the Nordic countries; Hult (1916) studied th
e plague’s rampage in different regions in Sweden; Kellgren (1930, 76–105) showed how Gotland was hit; P. G. Vejde (Preinitz 1987) studied the plague in county of Kronoberg; Persson (2001) studied the plague in Stockholm and Scania; and Knudsen (2009) studied how it struck Zealand in Denmark
109 Andersson 2001, 28
110 Nordberg 1995, 160
111 Carmichael 1986, 110–112
112 Carmichael 1986, 110–112
113 Cipolla 1981, 19–50
114 Slack 1985, 256–257; Cipolla 1976, 47–66
115 Persson 2001, 266
116 Knudsen 2009, 115
117 Persson 2001, 423
118 Arcini et al. 2006, 59
119 Arcini et al. 2006, 56
120 Frequency based on 112 of 133 preserved church books. In some church books it is just mentioned that plague was present and in a few we have drawn the conclusions only from an increased number of deaths
121 30 parishes thave been sampled to calculate Crises Mortality Ratio (CMR) and the number of deaths for 1705–1709 and 1713–1717 used (the mortality in the two highest and two lowest years were removed). The number of individuals for each parish is not known for the year 1710, but there are estimates done by Palm for 1699 that have been used. The calculated frequency of death based on the 30 investigated parishes is 2.3%. According to Palm the mortality at that time is assumed to have been 2–3%. Based on Palms data regarding estimated number of individuals in 1699, the number of expected deaths a normal year has been calculated in order to see how it relates to the mortality during the plague years in 1710 and 1711
122 Persson 2001, 348; Knudsen 2009, 116
123 74 of the 112 investigated parishes that have been affected by plague and where CMR could be calculated for each year
124 Four of 112 investigated parishes that have been affected by plague. For comparison, in the province of Scania a demographic catastrophe was reached in 6 of 155 (3.9%) of the investigated parishes (Persson 2001, 349)
