EpiMedDat
The Open Data Collection for Historical Epidemics and Medieval Diseases

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Sixth fire in Mount Hekla with such a large rumbling that the whole country trembled so that in distant places and districts the windows of houses shook because of strong winds for a long time and then the weather was calm. There was so much darkness from the ashfall in nearby districts that lights burned in houses for days. This was six nights before Urban Mass (= 19 May). Due to this fall of ash, a large part of the cattle died in the south of the country, so that many people became destitute of livestock and left their houses, their properties and lands. Many towns around in the district of Skálholt and Rangárvellir and a bit further east were laid waste.  +
A fire broke out in Mount Hekla on the Lord's Day (= [[Sunday]]) after (Maundy [[Thursday]]), with so much hostility and ashfall that many nearby villages were laid waste, and it was so dark on the first day outside how it is blackest in houses in the dead of winter at night. Rumbling all over the country and ashfall around Borgarfjörður and Skaga, and everywhere in between, so that livestock died. People went to the mountain where the casting (= eruption) was, and they heard that a large rock had been thrown from within the mountain. They appeared to be birds flying in the fire, both small and large, with various sounds. People thought they were souls. There was so much white salt around the opening that a horse could be split, and sulfur.  +
In [[1341]], in Pisa, there was a great death toll of young, rich and talented people, and there was great [[hunger]]; and at the height of all evil, on the 22nd of December, Count Fazio died, causing great suffering for Pisa and the whole of Tuscany, and everyone mourned him as if he were his own father or his only-born son, and it was a good thing to mourn because, in everyone's opinion, he had all goodness without any evil.  +
In the year [[1341]], since there had been a great shortage of grain in the year of the wheat [[harvest]], and there was great hunger, there was a great mortality of young men. In this mortality, on the 22nd day of [[October]], the said Count Fasio died, in whose death there was great grief in Pisa and all of Tosca and everyone mourned him as if he had been his father or his son  +
In this year, during the time of August, a pestilent wind blew from the turbulent shores of the Adriatic Sea into the harbors of Aquileia, which, with the foaming waves of the stormy sea, brought death to many in that area and afflicted many with lingering illnesses.  +
Bread was cheap this year [6849], but horned cattle died.  +
In the year of our Lord 1345, the pestilence, beginning in the regions of the Tartars, and spreading contagiously throughout the whole world, raged so terribly, driven by the demands of sin, that it spared no place entirely; and if it seemed to subside anywhere, after two or three years, it returned to the same place.  +
In that year ([[1346]]) God sent an torment among the people of the East, On cities: Urgench<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and on Sarai<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and on Bezdezh<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and That year God sent a [[punishment]] on the people of the east and on other cities and their lands<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The epidemic was among Muslims<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and the Tartars, and the Armenians, and the Georgians, and the Jews, and among the Franks<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and the Circassians, and among the other people living there. And there was no one to bury them. As God had punished the Egyptians before, so He punished these too.  +
There was a great plague in Bologna, and more than 4,000 people died, including Ms. Jacomo Bottivigari, [[Doctor]] of Law, Ms. Mraion da S. Marino Cavaliere, Salvadio Delfino, Bibozo Sava Medico.  +
653. In the same year ([[1346]]), the great plague of humanity, the walking death, began, first in the lands of [[Jerusalem]], across the sea and among the pagans, where fifty, sixty, a hundred, a thousand, and countless people fell and died. This was not much mourned, as they were considered enemies of God. However, this same great plague later came into Christian lands. First, it was observed in [[Apulia]], then in [[Hungary]], then in [[Sicily]], in [[Avignon]], then near [[Marseille]], then in (...?), and then in [[England]], where many people died; next, in Flanders, from Flanders to Norway, then to [[Sweden]], from Sweden to [[Denmark]], in North Jutland and on [[Zealand]], then to [[Prussia]]. In [[Königsberg]] and [[Melbingen]], there was great mortality. The Jewish converts, who presented themselves as Christian and begged for alms in the name of God, were blamed for bringing the death to the people with giving them poison. They were discovered and persecuted, and many were burned. Under torture, they confessed that it was true—that they had done it, and that many of them across Christendom were involved in this crime. They claimed that the wealthy Jews in large cities had devised this plot to destroy Christianity, as they had long been captives since the martyrdom of our Lord and now wanted to become kings and rulers over all Christendom.  +
Similar things also occurred in the year [[1346]] overseas, where pepper and ginger are grown. Near Cathay, water flooded the land; it was filled with countless worms and snakes, which devoured all the crops. Many people who touched the water fell down dead. Furthermore, in a place called Imperium, between Cathay and Persia, fire rained down like snowflakes; this fire burned cities, castles, lands, mountains, valleys, men, women, and even stones as if they were dry wood. The fire produced a great smoke; anyone who saw the smoke did not live even half a day, and anyone who saw those people who had seen the smoke did not live long either. It is said that of twelve galleys in the area that encountered the smoke, only two arrived in Genoa, where both the crew on the ships and the people in the city immediately began to die, so much so that they barely managed to drag the ships out to the open sea. The ships drifted towards Constantinople and Pera. When the people of Constantinople and Pera spoke with those on the galleys, they went home and died, and anyone who saw them also died, with sixteen thousand people dying in the two cities within a short time.<br /><br /> Later, the galleys left and spread the plague in every city they visited. Eventually, they arrived in Sicily and Messina, bringing death, so that about a thousand people soon died in the area. An entire town in Sicily, called Catania, was wiped out. The galleys then reached Sardinia, where they brought the plague to the fleet of Lord Archassari, and they all died so that barely one in ten survived, with around forty thousand people dead and thrown into the sea. One of the galleys then arrived in Marseille and spread death there, causing the entire town to perish.<br /><br /> Moreover, on the Thursday before Christmas in Avignon, before the sun rose, a fire was seen in the sky from east to west, hovering over the city. Furthermore, along the road from Catalonia to Aragon, large stones fell from the sky, each as big as a tower. The people took one of these stones from the land and brought it to the king as a great wonder.<br /><br />In addition, the King of Bellemare, also known as Albessessu, a lord over all Barbaria, ordered a road to be built through the wilderness so that people could travel to Genoa. As he traveled with a large following to inspect the road, a messenger came to him and said: ‘My lord, since you set out, within two days, eighty of your noble ladies have died, and everyone in the city is also dying.’ When the king heard this, he was greatly afraid and said, ‘This is God's wrath; He wants us to praise the Christian faith.’ He summoned his highest advisors and declared that he wanted to become a Christian. However, soon a ship arrived, reporting that Christians were also dying. When the king heard this, he no longer wanted to become a Christian.  
Of the outrageous mortality<br />It is found in Holy Scripture that when sin had corrupted every human way of life, God sent the Flood upon the earth: and by his mercy saved eight souls, namely Noah, his three sons and their wives in the ark, while all the rest of mankind perished in the flood. Since then, in the course of time, as men multiplied, there have been some local floods, mortalities, corruptions and diseases, famines, and many other evils which God has permitted to come upon men because of their sins. [...] But from all that can be found in the Scriptures, there has been no universal judgement of mortality since the general deluge, which has affected the whole world so much as that which has taken place in our day. In this mortality, considering the multitude of people then living, as compared with those who lived at the time of the general deluge, far more people died in this than in that, according to the estimation of many experts. In this mortality, the author of the chronicle called "La Cronica" Giovanni Villani, citizen of Florence, gave his soul back to God. [...] <br />How long the plague lasted in each country<br />As we must begin our narrative by describing the destruction of the human generation, and by setting forth the time, type, quality, and quantity of this pestilence, a horror seizes the mind as it prepares to write the judgement which divine justice brought with much mercy upon men who, through the corruption of sin, had deserved final judgement. But when we think of the salutary benefits that can come from this report for the nations that will come after us, we begin with greater confidence. In the years of Christ, from his salvific incarnation in 1346, the conjunction of three upper planets was seen in the sign of Aquarius. The astrologers said that Saturn was the ruler of this conjunction and prophesied great and grave news to the world; but similar conjunctions had occurred many times in the past, and the influences of other particular events did not seem to be the cause of it, but rather divine judgement according to the absolute will of God.<br />In that year [[1346]], in the eastern regions, towards Cathay and Upper India and in the neighbouring provinces on the coasts of the ocean, a plague began among the people of all classes, ages and sexes. The diseased began to spit blood and died either immediately, within two or three days and some only after prolonged suffering. It happened that those who cared for the sick were themselves infected, fell ill immediately and died in a similar way. In many, the groin swelled up, in others lymph nodes under the arms and in other parts of the body, and there was almost always a unique swelling on the infected body. This plague spread from time to time and from people to people: Within a year it covered a third of the world called Asia. At the end of this period it reached the peoples of the Black Sea and the coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Syria and Turkey, Egypt and the coast of the Red Sea, the northern part of Russia, Greece, Armenia and other neighbouring provinces. At this time, Italian galleys left the Black Sea, Syria and Romania to escape death and bring their goods to Italy, but many of them died at sea from the disease. When they arrived in Sicily, they infected the locals, causing an immediate outbreak of the plague among the Sicilians. When the aforementioned galleys reached Pisa and then Genoa, mortality began in these places due to contact with these people, but not on a generalised scale. Then, when the time appointed by God for the countries came, the deadly plague seized the whole of Sicily; the coasts of Africa and the eastern provinces and the coasts of our Tyrrhenian Sea. It spread from time to time further westwards, and seized Sardinia, Corsica, and the other islands of that sea; and on the other side, which is called Europe, it reached the western parts in like manner, turning southwards, and attacking more violently than in the north. In the years of Christ 1348, it had infected the whole of Italy, with the exception of the city of Milan and some areas near the Alps that separate Italy from Germany, where it raged very little. In the same year, it began to cross the mountains and spread to Provence, Savoy, Dauphiné and Burgundy, along the coasts of Marseille and Aigues-Mortes, Catalonia, the island of Mallorca, Spain and Granada. In 1349, it finally reached the coasts of the Atlantic in Europe and Africa, as well as Ireland, the islands of England and Scotland and other western islands, and also spread inland with almost the same mortality rate, with the exception of Brabant, which was only slightly affected. In 1350 it reached Germany, Hungary, Denmark, the Goths, Vandals and other northern peoples and nations. The duration of this pestilence in the countries affected was five consecutive months or five lunar months, and this we have learnt as certain knowledge from many countries. It came about because it appeared that this pestilential infection was transmitted by sight and touch, that as the man or woman or children recognised the disease of the swelling, many left it and countless people died who could have been saved if they had been given the necessary remedies. Among the unbelievers this cruel inhumanity began, that mothers and fathers left their children, children left their parents, brothers and sisters left each other - a cruel, strange and very unhuman act, which was widespread even among Christians, following the barbaric nations. When it began in our city of Florence, it was condemned by the wise people, that many people took the precaution of moving to remote places with healthy air, equipped with all the necessities of life, in places where no infected people were suspected. They were struck by the divine judgment, to which no doors can be closed, like others who had not prepared themselves. Many others who had chosen to die in the service of their sick relatives and friends survived despite the illness, and many who continued this service did not fall ill. This led to everyone regaining courage and beginning to help and serve one another without fear, resulting in many recovering and being more confident to help others.<br /><br />About this subject<br />The doctors in all parts of the world had no remedy or true cure for this pestilential disease either by natural philosophy, medicine, or astrology. Some, for gain, visited the sick and gave them advice, but their deaths showed their art to be deceitful and untruthful: many others, for conscience sake, returned the wrongfully obtained money. In our town, the general plague began at the beginning of April 1348 and lasted until the beginning of September of the same year. In the city, neighbourhood and district of Florence, more than three out of five people of each sex and age died, with the poor being more affected than the middle and richer part of the population, as they started earlier and had less help and greater inconveniences and shortcomings. On the whole, the human population in the world was similarly lacking in number and kind, according to the reports we have received from many foreign countries and provinces of the world. However, there were provinces in the East where even more people died.  
So, as there was now no doubt about the threat of famine, the city showed its resourcefulness, gathering large supplies of grain in Africa, Sardinia, Sicily and many other places and seeing to their importation simultaneously by land and sea. But these steps were not enough to avoid the enormous difficulties they faced that year. For throngs of women and children from the countryside came (p. 308) into the city in long lines to beg. They were joined by multitudes from the nearby cities which had been less provident in this respect, so that there was almost an infinite number of people to feed. Amid these challenges the city’s great merit and humanity shone forth. For not only was not a single immigrant or foreigner turned away, but even the poor, with gratuitous liberality, were sustained throughout this great dearth of provisions, so that Florence seemed almost to have conferred a benefit on the human race. In this year, moreover, many allowances were made on behalf of the poor, and principally this: that the harshness of creditors was kept in check. A law was passed prohibiting suitors to collect debt except under particular conditions; the city felt that the multitude was oppressed enough already by the famine. And in addition to the famine there were the diseases which broke out among the throng of immigrants unused to the city, then spread among the urban masses, so that mercy and succor were needful.  +
In the same year ([[1346]]) the [[punishment]] from God was [sent] on the people of the eastern part, on Old Urgench<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and Khaztorokan<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and on Sarai<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and on Bezdezh<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and on other cities in their parts. There was a strong plague among the Muslims, and the Tartars, and the [[Armenians]], and the Jews, and the Franks/ Latins, and the Abkhazians/Georgians, and among all those living there, so that there was no one to bury them. For as God punished the Egyptians, so also He punished tchem.  +
In the same year ([[1346]])<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> the [[punishment]] from God was [sent] on the people of the eastern part, in the Horde, on Old Urgench<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and on Sarai<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and on Bezdezh<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>, and and in other towns and districts the plague was great among the people. There was a strong plague among the Muslims, and among the Tartars, and among the [[Armenians]], and among the Abkhazians/Georgians, and among the [[Jews]], and among the Franks/Latins, and among the Circassians, and among other people living there. The plague was so strong that it was impossible for the living to bury the dead.  +
In the year of Our Lord [[1346]], in the eastern regions, innumerable races of Tartars and Saracens perished due to an inexplicable plague and sudden death. Vast regions of these parts, countless provinces, magnificent kingdoms, cities, castles, and places filled with a dense population, were struck by the plague and succumbed to the horrific bites of death, being emptied of their inhabitants in a short time. For instance, a place called Thanna, in the eastern parts, towards the north near the territory of Constantinople under Tartar rule, where Italian merchants used to gather, was besieged and attacked by countless Tartars over a short period, and left completely desolate after an onslaught. It happened that the Christian merchants, violently expelled, fled to the fortified city of Caffa, which had been constructed long ago in that region by the Genoese, seeking protection for their lives and belongings. The Tartars, fearing the power of their enemy, surrounded the city and laid siege for nearly three years. Besieged by the massive Tartar army, the inhabitants barely managed to survive, despite some help brought by ships carrying supplies, which offered them only slight hope. Suddenly, the Tartars themselves were struck by disease, and their entire army began to weaken and was daily afflicted, with countless numbers dying. It seemed as if arrows were falling from the sky to strike and humble the pride of the Tartars. The infected showed signs in their joints and groins, with a thickened fluid, followed by a putrid fever, causing them to die despite all medical advice or aid. Exhausted by this disastrous plague, the Tartars, seeing no hope of recovery and stunned by the devastation, ordered the bodies of their dead to be catapulted into the city of Caffa to spread the intolerable stench and weaken the inhabitants. Thus, the Christians could neither hide nor escape nor free themselves from this danger, even though they threw the corpses they could into the sea to be carried away by the waves. The air was soon contaminated, the water poisoned, and the corruption spread so intensely that scarcely one in a thousand survived to flee, those who did often carrying the infection, spreading it wherever they went and infecting people and places simply by their presence. No one knew or could find a way to salvation. Thus, in the eastern regions, the southern lands, and the northern inhabitants, struck by the harshest arrows of disease that ate into the body, almost everyone succumbed and fell to sudden death. The scale and nature of the widespread mortality were such that the Cathayans, Indians, Persians, Medes, Kardians, Armenians, Tarsians, Georgians, Mesopotamians, Nubians, Ethiopians, Turcomans, Egyptians, Arabs, Saracens, Greeks, and nearly the entire East, overcome by cries, weeping, and sobs, suspected the final judgment, remaining in bitterness from the said year 1346 until 1349.  
1346 [...] In this year there was an epidemic and war.  +
In this year it was the greatest store that any man has ever recorded; and in the month of January he collected fodder at 40 lire, and in the month of March he collected it at 3 lire, and in the month of April he collected it at 3 lire, and stayed like that until the end of the year. And he found a very good harvest of fodder, so that on the feast of Saint Peter he called for fodder on the second Saturday at 20 lire per crown, and it was worth 3 Florins per crown in Florentine, and it was hard to get enough for the money, and many people went to the market where the fodder was sold. And there was general famine and starvation throughout Christendom. The peasants came to the city, and because of hunger, they went out into the countryside: there was great mortality. And one Sunday many families of the poor came to the great guiexia [S. 564] to have lemosina, since they were continually giving them money on Sundays; among the poor you could see many young men and women dying of hunger in the arms of their mothers, and a great froth came to their mouths; and this I saw in Santo Jacomo of the Romitani friars, which was a great pity to see.  +
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In this thousandth and year there was a great famine in these parts, and here in Bologna the forage was worth three lire, three coins; and our lords made the forage come more than one hundred thousand coins, which seem very cheap, and they gave it for 36 coins [... ] In the said thousandth year there was in Bologna a great mortality and great hunger, which made the forage worth three lire, money x the corba; and many good men died in Bologna because of the said death, among whom these died, namely (List of socially high-ranking citizens, scholars and nobles).  +
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