![]() ![]() In 1347, a Genoese ship landed in Sicily, carrying a deadly cargo: rats with the bacteria known as the bubonic plague. Most saw the plague as not just a disease, but a heavenly curse "sent down upon mankind for our correction by the just wrath of God." It killed with such power and swiftness that "the living could scarcely bury the dead." The economic, physical, and emotional shock is unsurpassed in European history. The disease spread quickly, killed horribly, and then moved on, leaving whole cities devastated in its wake. The medieval equivalent of a nuclear holocaust, the bubonic plague - or "Black Death" - killed as many as one-third of Europe's people in three long years (1347–1350). Town squares throughout Europe still sport (often gaudy) "plague monuments" built by dazed, grateful survivors. Ever wonder why we say, "God bless you" when someone sneezes? It's because of the bubonic plague. ![]()
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