The Bubonic Plague and the Black Death

Imagine an epidemic breaking out today that killed over 1 billion people on Earth. That’s about one sixth of the current population. That’s exactly what happened in the 1340s when fleas carrying the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis), left their dying rodent hosts for live humans. It turns out that the lowly mosquito has been a more prolific killer over the centuries but the common flea has been pretty devastating as well.

Reading about the Black Death also got me to thinking about what it would be like to have lived in the 14th century. I guess I would have been a Native American if I was living where I’m sitting right now. Maybe a cool Powhatan Indian brave hunting deer with my bow and arrow. Or perhaps I would have been in Europe trying to avoid the plague in Florence, Italy. Either way, it is fun to think what life back then would have been like. I think I might pick up a copy of the Decameron  by Giovanni Boccaccio and read all about it.