1389-00-00-Pistoia
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| Date startStart date of the disease. | 1389 | + |
| Date endEnd date of the disease. | + | |
| SeasonSeason (spring, summer, fall or winter) | Winter | |
| Date otherOther mentioned dates. | ||
| PlacePlace(s), city or location of the disease. | Arezzo, Città di Castello, Florence, Pelago, Pistoia | |
| RegionHistorical region(s) | ||
| CountryCurrent country | ||
| RiverMentioned river(s) | ||
| Natural eventMentioned natural event(s) | ||
| PersonMentioned persons(s) | ||
| GroupGroup(s) of people mentioned | ||
| VictimIndication of victims | + | |
| AnimalMentioned animal(s) | ||
| DiseaseMentioned disease(s) | Plague | |
| Epidemic waveAssociated epidemic wave | ||
| Social responseSocial response that happened in reaction to the disease | ||
| LanguageLanguage of the original text | Italian | |
| KeywordFurther keyword(s) | Epidemics, Famine, Grain, Harvest, Mortality, Price increase | |
| last edited | 23. 12. 2025 by EpiMedDat-Bot. |
Grain increased a lot in price and the municipality of Florence had to import grain, otherwise there would have been a great famine. In Pistoia, Arezzo and Città di Castello was a great mortality because of the plague.
Text originalOriginal text
Capitolo XXVIII. - Che valse il grano e'l vino in questo anno in Firenze, e come la mortalità fu nel loro contado in più parti.
Questo anno fu molto caro il grano in Firenze, alcuna volta valse lo staio lire tre, e 'l vino valse di vendemia dieci fiorini il cogno perché ne fu molto poco,' e tutte l'altre cose furon care mollo, e alli poveri mancò il guadagno, e a' cittadini crebbono le spese, e a gran parte de' cittadini pareva istar male; e se non fosse che 'l Comune, con grande sollecitudine e spese, fece venire di Pelago di mollo grano di più parti del mondo circa di 30 milia moggia, grande moltitudine di gente nella città e nel contado arebbono patito grandissima nicistà di vittuvaglia; ma quel grande riparo li salvò.
In questo anno medesimo fu grande mortalità in Pistoia e in tutti li luoghi e intorno a quella; e morivano di posteme pestilenziose e velenose in due o in tre di; e alla città d'Arezzo e in tutto il suo contado cominciarono a morire di pestilenzia, ed ebbevi Castello che vi mori più che 'l terzo delle bocche. E ancora la della mortalità in molte terre d' Italia grandissima; della qual cosa molto isbigottirono i Fiorentini temendo di non averla l'anno vegnente.
Text translationEnglish translation of the text
Chapter 28: The development of the value of grain and wine in Florence this year and the mortality in its surroundings.
Grain was very expensive in Florence that year. Sometimes a bushel cost three lire, and the wine of the harvest was sold for ten florins a barrel, because there was very little of it. All other things were also expensive and the poor lacked income, while expenses for the citizens increased, causing great inconvenience to many citizens. If the municipality had not taken great care and expense to import large quantities of grain from Pelago and other parts of the world, some 30,000 moggia, there would have been a great famine in the city and the countryside. But these extensive measures saved them.
In the same year there was a great mortality in Pistoia and in all the surrounding areas. People died of pestilential and toxic abscesses every two or three days. In the city of Arezzo and its entire surrounding area, they began to die of the plague, and in Castello more than a third of the population died. Mortality was also very high in many other parts of Italy, which worried the Florentines greatly, as they feared they would suffer the same fate the following year.
