The Black Death, 1346-1353: The Complete History

Ole Jørgen Benedictow

Boydell Press, 2006 - History - 433 pages

Unique, sensational and shocking, this revelatory book provides the best overview of the Europe-wide history of the Black Death. The author's painstakingly comprehensive research throws fresh light on the nature of the disease, its origin, its spread, on an almost day-to-day basis, across Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East and North Africa, its mortality rate and its impact on history. These latter two aspects are of central importance here, for it is demonstrated that the plague's death rates have consistently been under-estimated and that they were in fact much higher, making the disease's long-term effects on history even more profound. First paperback edition published 2006.

OLE J. BENEDICTOW is Professor of History at the University of Oslo.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - setnahkt - LibraryThing

I’ve already reviewed a different book on the Black Death; this one is by Norwegian historian Ole Benedictow. This is a frustrating book; there’s a lot of useful and interesting material but there’s ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - satyridae - LibraryThing

So scholarly and dense that it takes awhile to sink in that the enormity of the carnage is so much worse than we've been taught before. My favorite book about the plague heretofore was Ziegler's ...

Contents

• Why the history of the Black Death is important: 3
• Anatomy of a killer disease: 8
• Figures: 9
• Bubonic plague and the role of rats and fleas: 11
• the Hydraheaded monster: 25
• Tables: 31
• The territorial origin of plague and of the Black Death: 35
• Part Two Spread of the Black Death: 55
• The Caucasus Asia Minor the Middle East and North Africa: 57
• Mediterranean Europe: 68
• Albania Macedonia southern Yugoslavia Greece: 74
• Croatia BosniaHerzegovina Slovakia: 75
• the Spanish kingdoms the Kingdom of Portugal: 77
• Italy: 91
• Chronology of the spread of the Black Death in Italy: 94
• France: 96
• Belgium: 110
• Switzerland: 118
• The British Isles: 123
• Institutions of new parish priests in Cambridgeshire in 1349: 134
• Norway: 146
• Denmark: 159
• Deaths of donors of chantries in Ribe Cathedral 1350: 162
• Sweden: 170
• Donations to Swedish religious institutions 134150: 174
• Austria: 179
• Germany: 185
• The Netherlands: 203
• The Baltic countries: 209
• Russia: 211
• some countries or regions escape? What happened in Iceland: 216
• Part Three Patterns and Dynamics of the Black Death: 225
• Patterns of conquest dynamics of spread: 227
• Part Four Mortality in the Black Death: 243
• The medieval demographic system: 245
• Life expectancy and mortality in a population of males with a life: 249
• Problems of source criticism methodology and demography: 257
• Mortality in the taxpaying households of Grenis in the Black Death: 268
• Spain: 273
• Mortality in the Black Death in Spain: 284
• Italy: 285
• Average household size in four Italian localities 133980: 289
• Estimates of population San Gimignano 1332 and 1349: 296
• Numbers of hearths in villages near Susa Piedmont 133567: 304
• Estimated population mortality in the Black Death in Tuscany and other: 307
• France and the County of Savoy: 308
• Changes in number of households before and after the Black Death in: 311
• Decline in number of subsidypaying households in the castellany of: 318
• Increase in number of households in the castellany of Ugine 13536: 319
• Decline in number of households and population size in parishes near: 321
• Chambéry 13489: 322
• Number of taxpaying hearths in four parishes in the castellany of: 328
• Decline in number of registered taxpaying peasant households in the: 330
• Mortality rates in the Black Death in the County of Savoy: 331
• Mortality in the Black Death in southcentral France: 334
• Decline in number of fiscal hearths in SaintFlour 134556: 335
• Mortality in the Black Death in France: 337
• Belgium: 338
• Decline in number of households in two hamlets in Artois 134786: 339
• England: 342
• Average mortality rates at ages 070 according to Model West life table: 350
• Mortality rates of English beneficed parish clergy according to diocese: 359
• Death rates on 15 manors in the diocese of Worcester: 362
• Manorial death rate among tenants: 364
• Mortality in 28 townships in the priory of Durham: 367
• Decline in number of tithing members in 7 Essex communities 134556: 372
• Tithingmen in Kibworth Beauchamp 134654: 374
• Plague mortality among landless men in 17 manors of Glastonbury Abbey: 375
• How many died in the Black Death?: 380
• Mortality in the Black Death by various regions and countries: 383
• Its Impact on History: 385
• A Turning Point in History?: 387
• Bibliography: 395
• Index: 415

About the author

OLE J. BENEDICTOW is Professor of History at the University of Oslo.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Black Death, 1346-1353: The Complete History
• Author: Ole Jørgen Benedictow
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Boydell Press, 2006
• ISBN: 1843832143, 9781843832140
• Length: 433 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Medieval; Medical / History; Medical / Infectious Diseases