1349-06-00-Italy

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Date startStart date of the disease.	1349-06	+
Date endEnd date of the disease.		+
SeasonSeason (spring, summer, fall or winter)
Date otherOther mentioned dates.
PlacePlace(s), city or location of the disease.	Avignon
RegionHistorical region(s)
CountryCurrent country	Italy
RiverMentioned river(s)
Natural eventMentioned natural event(s)	Earthquake
PersonMentioned persons(s)	Francesco Petrarca
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	Latin
KeywordFurther keyword(s)	Epidemics, Mortality
last edited	9. 01. 2026 by EpiMedDat-Bot.

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Letter from Francesco Petrarca to his friend Ludwig van Kempen in Avignon about the plague in Italy in 1348 (mentioning an Earthquake

Text originalOriginal text

Heu michi, frater amantissime, quid dicam? unde ordiar? quonam vertar? undique dolor, terror undique. [...] Utinam, frater, aut nunquam natus aut prius extinctus forem! quodsi nunc optare cogor, quid dicturum putas si ad extremem senectutem venero? ad quam o utinam non venirem; sed veniam, timeo, non ut diutius vivam, sed ut diu moriar. Nosco etenim fatum meum, et sensim intelligo ad quid in hanc (p. 1124) erumnosam et infelicem vitam sim proiectus. Heu michi, frater optime! piget ex intimis ax miseret me mei. [...] (p. 1126) Qua in re benigno sub iudice forsan excuser, si ad examen venerit illud quoque, non leve aliquid, sed millesimum trecentesimum quadragesimum octavum sexte etatis annum esse quem lugeo, qui non solum nos amicis, sed mundum omnen gentibus spoliavit; cui siquid defuit, sequens ecce annus illius reliquias demetit, et quicquid (p. 1128) illi procelle superfuerat, mortifera falce persequitur. Quando hoc posteritas credet, fuisse tempus sine diluvio sine celi aut telluris incendio sine bellis aut alia clade visibili, quo non hec pars aut illa terrarum, sed universus fere orbis sine habitatore remanserit? quando unquam in annalibus lectum est, vacuas domos, derelictas urbes, squalida rura, arva cadaveribus angusta, horrendam vastamque toto orbe solitudinem? [...] (p. 1128) Ubi dulces nunc amici, ubi sunt amati vultus, ubi verba mulcentia, ubi mitis et iocunda conversatio? quod fulmen ista consumpsit, quid terre motus evertit, que tempestas demersit, que abyssus absorbuit? Stipati eramus, prope iam soli sumus. Nove amicitie contrahende sunt. UNde autem sive ad quid, humano genere pene extincto, et proximo, ut auguror, rerum fine? Sumus, frater, sumus - quid dissimulem? - vere soli; (p. 1134)

Template: Francesco Petrarca, Le Familiari VI-X, pp. 1124-1134 1

Text translationEnglish translation of the text

Woe is me, dearest brother, what shall I say, what shall I do, where shall I turn? Pain is everywhere, terror is everywhere! [...] Would that I, brother, had never been born or had been snuffed out earlier! If I am compelled to wish for this already, what will I say when I have reached the highest old age one day? And may I not even reach that day! But I will reach it, I fear, but not to live longer, rather to die longer. I know my fate, and gradually I understand why I was thrust into this sorrowful and luckless life. Woe is me, dearest brother, I am sickened to my core, and I mourn my [...] (p. 433) Perhaps I will at least be excused by a merciful judge in this matter, if he takes into account that I am not complaining about something trivial but about the year 1348 in the sixth age! It has not only (p. 434) deprived us of our friends, but the whole world of its peoples. And if anything escaped this year, behold, the new year is now mowing down the rest. And if something withstood the storms of the old year, it is now being overtaken by the deadly sickle. Will posterity ever believe that in a time free from flood and world conflagration, wars, and indeed from any visible disaster, nearly the entire globe, not just this or that region, was depopulated? When has such a thing ever been seen or heard through rumors? In which annals was such to be read? There are empty houses, deserted cities, fallow fields, fields covered with corpses, and a horrifying, boundless desolation everywhere in the world! [...] (p. 435) Where are the familiar friends now, where are the beloved faces, where are the charming conversations? Where is the cheerful and intimate companionship with them? What lightning bolt has removed all of this? What earthquake has overturned it? What storm has drowned it, and what abyss has swallowed it? We were surrounded by friends; now we are almost alone. We would have to form new friendships! But where and for what purpose? Since the human race is almost extinct, and, I fear, the end of the world is near. We are, my brother, we are – what should I suppress it! – truly alone!

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