According to medieval historian Philip Daileader, it is likely that over four years, 45–50% of the European population died of plague.[126][g] Norwegian historian Ole Benedictow suggests it could have been as much as 60% of the European population.[127][h] In 1348, the disease spread so rapidly that before any physicians or government authorities had time to reflect upon its origins, about a third of the European population had already perished. In crowded cities, it was not uncommon for as much as 50% of the population to die.[30] Half of Paris’ population of 100,000 people died. In Italy, the population of Florence was reduced from between 110,000 and 120,000 inhabitants in 1338 down to 50,000 in 1351. At least 60% of the population of Hamburg and Bremen perished,[128] and a similar percentage of Londoners may have died from the disease as well,[58] with a death toll of approximately 62,000 between 1346 and 1353.[47][i]
If a modern country had even a tenth of the death toll %s that the black death caused, countries would collapse. The Black Plague depopulated Europe on a somewhat routine basis.
Now we have COVID, Ebola, AIDS, tuberculosis and the plague, and the few headlines I’ve read tonight make me feel I woke up in the “idiocracy” part of the multiverse. Or one of the Hitchhiker’s books of Adam’s series.
Funny enough, in the early Medieval period Germanic bathing practices still dominated - in which people would bathe in rivers. Maybe not as good or regular as a Roman bath, but certainly better than nothing! It wasn’t until the later Medieval periods that bathing became seen as vain and sinful. Poland, in particular, welcomed Jewish populations (which traditionally have an emphasis on ritual cleanliness, including hand-washing) and was notably spared the worst of the Black Plague.
Yes I read about Europe and hygiene practices. They also didn’t believe in baths. Wonder they didn’t wipe themselves out with the black plague.
They actually did wipe themselves out with the Black Plague, regularly.
If a modern country had even a tenth of the death toll %s that the black death caused, countries would collapse. The Black Plague depopulated Europe on a somewhat routine basis.
Now we have COVID, Ebola, AIDS, tuberculosis and the plague, and the few headlines I’ve read tonight make me feel I woke up in the “idiocracy” part of the multiverse. Or one of the Hitchhiker’s books of Adam’s series.
Funny enough, in the early Medieval period Germanic bathing practices still dominated - in which people would bathe in rivers. Maybe not as good or regular as a Roman bath, but certainly better than nothing! It wasn’t until the later Medieval periods that bathing became seen as vain and sinful. Poland, in particular, welcomed Jewish populations (which traditionally have an emphasis on ritual cleanliness, including hand-washing) and was notably spared the worst of the Black Plague.