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LIBRARY Author : GASQUET P. A. Title : The Black Death of 134-8 and 1349 Acc. No. Class Mark Date Volume 63260 f. JN^.D 1908 mm LSHTM 0011035205 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/b21351673 THE BLACK DEATH 1348 and 1349 BY FRANCIS AIDAN GASQUET, D.D. ABBOT PRESIDENT OF THE ENGLISH BENEDICTINES SECOND EDITION * LONDON GEORGE BELL AND SONS 1908 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION THIS essay, published in 1893, has long been out of print, and second-hand copies are difficult to procure, as they very rarely find their way into booksellers' catalogues. For this reason it has been thought well to reprint this account of the greatest plague that has probably ever devastated the world in historic times. Al- though the subject is necessarily of a doleful and melancholy character, it is of importance in the world's history, both as the account of a universal catastrophe and in its far-reaching effects. Since the original publication of The Great Pestilence additional interest in the subject of bubonic plague has been aroused by the alarming mortality recently caused by it in India, and by the threatened outbreaks in various parts of Europe, where, however, the watchful care of the sanitary authorities has so far enabled them to deal with the sporadic cases which have appeared during the past few years, and to prevent the spread of the terrible scourge. v vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION From the researches made in India and else- where into the nature and causes of the disease, many new facts have been established which assist us to understand the story of the great epidemic of the fourteenth century, now commonly 4 known as 'The Black Death," which is related in some detail in these pages. The accounts of the ravages of the disease in India, which have ap- peared in the newspapers, are little less than appalling, and would probably have attracted more attention were it not for the fact that few Europeans have succumbed to a malady which has been so fatal to the natives of the country. The present bubonic plague in India assumed the nature of an epidemic in the Punjab in Octo- ber, 1897, an d> m spite of the drastic precautions of the sanitary authorities, it so far seems to baffle their endeavours to stamp it out, notwith- standing all the resources of modern science which they possess. In April, 1907, a telegram from Simla announced that the total number of deaths from plague in India during the week ending April 13th was seventy-five thousand; all but five thousand of these having taken place in the United Provinces and the Punjab. At this time the total number of victims from the epi- demic in the Punjab alone, during the nine years A — — OTHER WORKS B YABBOT GASQUET, D.D., O.S.B. Demy 8vo, I2j. net. HENRY III. AND THE CHURCH. A Study of his Eccle- siastical Policy, and of the Relations between England and Rome. "It is written with no desire to defend the Papacy from the charges which were made even by the faithful at the time, and it may fairly claim to represent an unbiassed survey of the evidence. He has gone carefully through a large body of evidence which English historians have too much neglected, and that his investigations serve rather to confirm than to upset generally received opinions, is, perhaps, additional reason for gratitude. His book will be indispensable to the student of the reign of Henry III.— Times. Crown 8vo, 6s. net. THE EVE OF THE REFORMATION. Studies in the Reli- gious Life and Thought of the English People in the Period preceding the Rejection of the Roman Jurisdiction. Fourth Edition. " Dr. Gasquet has produced a book which will set many men thinking. He has done an excellent piece of work, and has offered to students of history a highly interesting problem. He writes as usual in a lucid and attractive style. The controversial element is so subordinated to the scholarly setting forth of simple facts and the adroit marshalling of evid- ence, that one might read the volume through without being tempted to ask what the author's creed is, or whether he has any, and when one gets to the end one is inclined to wish that there were a little more. " A thenceum. Demy 8vo, Ss. 6d. net. HENRY VIII. AND THE ENGLISH MONASTERIES. "The work of Abbot Gasquet on the dissolution of the English Monas- teries is so well known and so widely appreciated that little may be said to commend a new and cheaper edition. The criticism of nearly twenty years has served only to show that the views, expressed by the author in the original edition, are shared by every candid student of the events of that period." Scottish Historical Review. Crown 8vo. THE LAST ABBOT OF GLASTONBURY, and other Essays. Contents.— I. The Last Abbot of Glastonbury.— II. English Biblical Criticism in the Thirteenth Century.— III. English Scholarship in the Thirteenth Century. — IV. Two Dinners at Wells in the Fifteenth Century. —V. Some Troubles of a Catholic Family in Pena! Times.— VI. Abbot Feckenham and Bath. — VII. Christian Family Life in Pre-Reformation Days. —VIII. Christian Democracy in Pre-Reformation Times. — IX. The Layman in the Pre-Reformation Parish. —X. St. Gregory the Great and England. LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS THE BLACK DEATH LONDON : GEORGE BELL AND SONS PORTUGAL ST. LINCOLN'S INN, W.C. CAMBRIDGE : DEIGHTON, BELL & CO. NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY: A. H. WHEELER & CO. ——; CONTENTS PAGE Preface to the Second Edition v To the Reader xvii Introduction xix CHAPTER I The Commencement of the Epidemic First reports as to the sickness —General account of the epidemic in eastern countries—The great trade routes between Asia and Europe—The plague in the Crimea Tartar siege of Caffa—Origin of the name "Black Death" —Symptoms of the disease—Constantinople is attacked account of the epidemic by the Emperor Cantacuzene Genoese traders carry the infection to Sicily—Effect in Messina and Catania . .1-17 CHAPTER II The Epidemic in Italy Date of the arrival of the infected ships at Genoa Striking sameness in all accounts —De Mussi's account of the beginning of the plague in Italy, specially in Genoa and Piacenza—Boccaccio's description of it in Florence This confirmed by the historian Villani—Progress of the disease in Italy—Pisa—Padua, Siena, etc. —Petrarch's letter on the epidemic at Parma—Venice and its doctors —Description of the desolation by Bohemian students 18-38 xi xii CONTENTS CHAPTER III Progress of the Plague in France page Its arrival at Marseilles—A Parisian doctor's account of the epidemic at Montpellier—Avignon is attacked and suffers terribly—Contemporary account of its ravages by a Canon of the Low Countries—Gui de Chauliac, the Pope's physician—Spread of the infection in every direc- tion—William of Nargis' description of the mortality in Paris—Philip VI consults the medical faculty—Nor- mandy—Amiens—Account of Gilles Le Muisis, Abbot of Tournay—M. Simeon Luce on the conditions of popu- lar life in France in the fourteenth century—Agrarian troubles follow the epidemic 39-65 CHAPTER IV The Plague in Other European Countries From Sicily the pestilence is carried to the Balearic islands —Majorca—The scourge in Spain—The shores of the Adriatic are visited—From Venice the wave passes into Austria and Hungary— It passes over the Alps into the Tyrol and Switzerland—Account of a Notary of Novara—From Avignon the epidemic is carried up the Rhone Valley to the Lake of Geneva— It visits Lucerne and Engelberg—Account of its ravages at Vienna—It goes from Basle up the valley of the Rhine—Frankfort —Bremen—From Flanders it passes into Holland—Den- mark, Norway, and Sweden—Account of Wisby on the Island of Gotland—Labour difficulties consequent upon the epidemic 66-80 —— CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER V The Plague Reaches England PAGE Jersey and Guernsey are attacked—First rumours of the epidemic in England—It is brought to Melcombe Regis in Dorsetshire—Discussion as to the date— Diffi- culty in dealing with figures in Middle Ages—Value of episcopal registers in giving institutions of beneficed clergy—Evidence of Patent Rolls— Institutions in Dor- setshire—Letter of the Bishop of Bath and Wells Difficulty of obtaining clergy—Institutions in Somerset Effect of the disease in the religious houses—Bristol Evidence of the mortality in Devon and Cornwall—In- stitutions in the diocese of Exeter—Spread of mortality —Religious houses of the diocese . 81-105 CHAPTER VI Progress of the Disease in London and the South Rapidity of the spread of the epidemic—Date of its reaching London—The opening of new churchyards Number of the dead in the capital—State of the city streets—Evidence of the wills of the Court of Hustings at this period —Westminster and other religious houses St. Albans—Institutions of clergy for Hertfordshire Evidence as to the counties of Bedford, Buckingham, and Berks—Special value of the Inquisitiones post mortem —State of various manors after the Plague—Institutions for the county of Bucks—The diocese of Canterbury William Dene's account of the Rochester diocese—Diffi- culty in finding priests—The diocese of Winchester Bishop Edyndon's letter on the pestilence—Date of the epidemic in Hampshire—Troubles about the burying of the dead—Institutions for Hants—Institutions for the county of Surrey—Little information about Sussex 106-134 —— I xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER VII The Epidemic in Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick, and Oxford PAGE Le Baker's account of the disease—Evidence of it in Wales—Account by Friar Clyn of the plague in Ireland —Institutions for Worcester—New burial ground in the city—State of the county after the plague—Institutions in Warwickshire—The city and county of Oxford— Effect on the University « 135-148 CHAPTER VIII Story of the Disease in the Rest of England Dr.

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