The
Spread of the Black Death through Europe
9.
1349
A larger version of this map is available.
Having infected virtually all of western Europe and half of central Europe in about 13 months, the illness began to spread more slowly. Most of Europe and Bitain were now keenly aware that a horrible plague was among them. The more affluent fled the heavily-populated areas and retreated to the countryside, but almost everyone else had nowhere and no way to run.
By 1349, many of the areas that had initially been afflicted were beginning to see the end of the first wave. However, in the more heavily-populated cities it was only a temporary respite. Paris suffered several waves of plague, and even in the "off season" people were still dying.
Once again utillizing trade routes, the plague appears to have made its way to Norway via ship from Britain. One story has it that its first appearance was on a wool ship that sailed from London. One or more of the sailors had apparently been infected before the vessel's departure; by the time it reached Norway, the entire crew was dead. The ship drifted until it ran aground near Bergen, where some unwitting residents went aboard to investigate its mysterious arrival, and were thus infected themselves.
At the same time, a few areas in Europe managed to escape the worst. Milan, as was previously mentioned, saw little infection, possibly due to the drastic measures taken to prevent the spread of the illness. The lightly-populated and little-traveled region of southern France near the Pyrenees, between English-controlled Gascony and French-controlled Toulouse, saw very little plague mortality. And strangely enough the port city of Bruges was spared the extremes that other cities on the trade routes suffered, possibly due to a recent drop-off in trade activity resulting from the early stage of the Hundred Years War.
Next time: Great Britain
- Back to:
- 1. What was the Black Death?
- 2. Europe on the Eve of Plague
- 3. Origins of Plague
- 4. The Black Death Comes to Europe
- 5. A Swift Strike
- 6. Italy
- 7. France
- 8. An Insidious Spread
Related Resources
A Medieval Atlas
More maps of the world as it was in the Middle Ages.The Great Mortality
A three-part overview of the origins and course of the Black Death, from your Guide.Plague and Disease in the Middle Ages
Sources for the study of leprosy and various plagues as well as the infamous Black Death.How to Avoid the Plague
Should you forget to get innoculated before you travel back to the 14th century, you'll need to take some measures to avoid the deadly Bubonic Plague.The Diabolical Black Death Quiz
Fifteen questions about the dreadful epidemic of the fourteenth century, the disease that caused it, and the events that it triggered.
This series of maps is intended to offer a general overview of the progression of plague through 14th-century Europe. While every effort has been made to represent these events without error, no guarantees are made as to the complete accuracy of these geographic renderings.
All maps were created by your Guide and may be reproduced for personal or classroom use only. For reprint permission, please contact Melissa Snell.
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