historians believe the black death originated from ground rodents, including marmots.
historians believe the black death originated from ground rodents, including marmots.
where is the location do historians believe the black death originated?
ground rodents, including marmots
in the late middle ages (1340–1400) europe experienced the most deadly disease outbreak in history when the black death, the infamous pandemic of bubonic plague, hit in 1347, killing a third of the european human population. some historians believe that society subsequently became more violent as the mass mortality rate cheapened life and thus increased warfare, crime, popular revolt, waves of flagellants, and persecution. the black death originated in central asia and spread from italy and then throughout other european countries. arab historians ibn al-wardni and almaqrizi believed the black death originated in mongolia. chinese records also showed a huge outbreak in mongolia in the early 1330s. research published in 2002 suggests that it began in early 1346 in the steppe region, where a plague reservoir stretches from the northwestern shore of the caspian sea into southern russia. the mongols had cut off the trade route, the silk road, between china and europe which halted the spread of the black death from eastern russia to western europe. the epidemic began with an attack that mongols launched on the italian merchants' last trading station in the region, caffa in the crimea. in late 1346, plague broke out among the besiegers and from them penetrated into the town. when spring arrived, the italian merchants fled on their ships, unknowingly carrying the black death. carried by the fleas on rats, the plague initially spread to humans near the black sea and then outwards to the rest of europe as a result of people fleeing from one area to another.
bubonic plague
the disease is caused by "yersinia pestis", which is enzootic (commonly present) in populations of ground rodents in central asia. morelli et al. (2010) reported the origin of the plague bacillus to be in china. an older theory places the first cases in the steppes of central asia, and others, such as the historian michael w. dols, argue that the historical evidence concerning epidemics in the mediterranean and specifically the plague of justinian point to a probability that the black death originated in central asia, where it then became entrenched among the rodent population.
black death migration