The Black Death

John Aberth received his Ph.D. in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge, UK. He has published ten books--mostly focusing on the history of the Black Death and disease--and has taught for twenty years at various colleges and universities in Vermont, Nebraska, and New York.

List of Figures
List of Images
List of Maps
List of Tables
About the Author
Acknowledgments

Preface. What was the Black Death?
The Evolution and Epidemiology of Plague
The Three Pandemics of Plague
Paleomicrobiology Identifies the Black Death as Plague

1. "It Began in the Land of Darkness": The Geographical Origin and Spread of the Second Pandemic
Where Did the Black Death Begin?
How Did the Black Death Spread?
Mapping the Black Death

2. Bring Out Your Dead! How Many People Died during the Great Mortality?
How the Black Death Raised the Mortality Ante
Plague Mortality, 1347-1353
Plague Mortality, 1353-c.1500
Why Did the Black Death End?
Was the Black Death Indiscriminate?
The Personal Side of Plague Mortality

3. Doctoring the Black Death: The Medical Response to Plague
Causes
Signs
Prevention
Cure
The Verdict on Medieval Medicine

4. What Goes Around Comes Around: Environmental Aspects of the Black Death
Environmental Causes and Signs of Plague
Fear of Stenches
Environmental Factors Affecting Plague Vectors: Climate
Environmental Factors Affecting Plague Hosts: Rats and Housing

5. "Al Shal [Not] Be Wel": The Religious Response to the Great Mortality
Spirituality and Piety in the Wake of the Plague
Islam's Response to the Black Death
The Problem of Post-Plague Parish Poverty
Towards a Reformation?

6. "To Yow Myn Hand is Rawght to this Daunce": The Artistic Impact of the Black Death
Painted Depictions of Plague
The Plague Saints
The Macabre or Memento Mori
Physical Impacts of Plague

7. The "Red Knights of Christ": The Flagellant Movement
The Flagellant Itinerary
The Flagellant Ritual
Perspectives on the Flagellants
The Flagellants' Suppression

18. "They Processed to the Flames Dancing, Singing, and Weeping": The Artificial Poison Conspiracy
First Stirrings in Southern France
The Conspiracy in Catalonia
The Poisoned Springs of the Savoy
The Great Massacres of the Kingdom of Germany
The Persecuted and Their Persecutors
Aftermath of the Conspiracy

9. When Brothers Abandoned Brothers: The Social Impacts of the Black Death
Fear of Being Abandoned
Fear of Being Forgotten
Fear of Being Unshriven
Plague and the Poor

10. The Peasants are Revolting! The New Realities of the Plague Economy
The Plague Economy
Was There Economic Recovery After the Black Death?
A Golden Age of the Laborer?
The Decline of Serfdom
The Peasant Land Market
A Time of Transition?

Epilogue. Could the Black Death Happen Again (and Would We Want It To)? Lessons to be Learned in the Modern World

Appendix: The Plague Denial Controversy

Bibliography