Which bacterium caused the Black Death?
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Yersinia pestis
The pathogen was discovered in 1894 by Alexandre Yersin.
💡 Did you know? The bacterium is named after him.
All questions with answers
What is the great plague wave of the 14th century called?
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The Black Death
It killed about a third of all Europeans.
💡 Did you know? The name alludes to the dark buboes.
Which animal mainly transmits the plague?
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The rat flea
The flea picks up the pathogen from infected rats.
💡 Did you know? Its bite passes it on to humans.
What is the best-known form of plague with swollen lymph nodes?
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Bubonic plague
The painful swellings are called „buboes“.
💡 Did you know? They appear mostly in the groin and armpit.
Which almost always fatal form spreads from person to person?
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Pneumonic plague
It attacks the lungs and spreads by droplets.
💡 Did you know? Untreated it is fatal within a few days.
In which year did the Black Death reach Europe?
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1347
Genoese trading ships brought it to Sicily.
💡 Did you know? From there it spread with astonishing speed.
Roughly what share of Europeans died in the Black Death?
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About one third
Estimates range from 25 to 50 million dead.
💡 Did you know? Entire villages died out.
Which protective measure grew from the 40-day isolation?
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Quarantine
In Venice ships had to wait 40 days.
💡 Did you know? „Quaranta“ is Italian for forty.
What were the physicians with beak-shaped masks called?
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Plague doctors
Their masks were filled with fragrant herbs.
💡 Did you know? People believed poisonous air caused the disease.
Which processions of penitent believers were common during the plague?
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The flagellant processions
They whipped themselves to appease God.
💡 Did you know? The Church eventually banned the movement.
Who was falsely blamed for the plague in many towns?
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Jews
Cruel pogroms against Jewish communities followed.
💡 Did you know? They were wrongly accused of poisoning wells.
Which Italian poet described the plague in the „Decameron“?
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Giovanni Boccaccio
In it young people flee the plague to the countryside.
💡 Did you know? The work is a masterpiece of the Renaissance.
Which early plague pandemic raged as early as the 6th century?
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The Plague of Justinian
It struck the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian.
💡 Did you know? It too claimed millions of lives.
Who discovered the plague pathogen in 1894?
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Alexandre Yersin
The Swiss doctor isolated the bacterium in Hong Kong.
💡 Did you know? The pathogen still carries his name.
How can the plague be effectively treated today?
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With antibiotics
Caught early, it is easily curable.
💡 Did you know? Isolated cases still occur worldwide today.
Which nursery rhyme is often linked to the plague?
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Ring a Ring o' Roses
Its reading as a plague song is, however, disputed.
💡 Did you know? Evidence for it only appears much later.
What social effect did the mass death have for peasants?
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Higher wages
With labour scarce, wages and rights rose.
💡 Did you know? This weakened the feudal order lastingly.
In which Italian city did one of the first quarantine stations appear?
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Venice
Arriving ships were isolated on an island.
💡 Did you know? Such stations were called „lazaretto“.
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