In five years, from 1347 to 1352, half of the European population disappeared. Carried away by the scourge of the Black Death and its consequences. On this point, written sources are consistent with archaeology and genetics.
We are all survivors, writes Collège de France professor Patrick Boucheron, in a remarkable book that questions everything we knew or thought we knew about this terrible epidemic wave. The historian and specialist in the Middle Ages questions everything: how this story is told, the distance from the sources, the limits of archaeology and environmental sciences. But also, how all these contributions draw a different history from clichés and preconceptions.
Numerous pogroms. Despite its ravages, the Black Death did not restructure European societies. Moments of panic were rare, but pogroms were numerous.
The major reservoir species were (and still are) marmots, which played an important role in subsequent outbreaks.
The origins of the Black Death are to be found in the Orient. Qinghai, north of the Tibetan Plateau, is the likely region where the presence of the bacillus exploded. Issyk-Kul (in Kyrgyzstan), a convergence point for steppe caravans and Western merchants, is the epicenter of the epidemic, from 1338. And of course, often forgotten, this pandemic also affected the Middle East with a climax in Mecca in 1349.
The bubonic plague was not the only form to spread. Episodes of unknown pneumonic plague (100% fatal in three days) have been identified. And we still carry in our genes the memory of this pandemic, which favored individuals with supposedly identified resistance genes.
Without falling into the easy trap of over-embodying characters, the historian brings poetry to his ultra-sourced knowledge, and notably shows with acuity the literary and pictorial works inherited from this plague, from previous and subsequent ones.
The Black Death, Patrick Boucheron, Seuil, 549 pages.
— Context: The content discusses the impact and historical context of the Black Death pandemic that affected Europe in the 14th century. — Fact Check: The content aligns with historical records and findings about the Black Death, its consequences, and its spread across different regions.
