The Black Death was present in the Holy Roman Empire between 1348 and 1351. [1] The Holy Roman Empire, composed of today's Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, was, geographically, the largest country in Europe at the time, and the pandemic lasted several years due to the size of the Empire.
Several witness accounts do exist from the Black Death in the Holy Roman Empire, although they were often either written after the events took place, or are very short. [1]
At this point in time, the Holy Roman Empire was the geographically largest nation in Europe, though the population of France was bigger. It was a personal union under the King of Bohemia, who was also the Holy Roman Emperor.
Since the outbreak of the Black Death at the Crimea, it had reached Sicily by an Italian ship from the Crimea. After having spread across the Italian states, and from Italy to France, the plague reached the borders of the Empire from France in the West, and from Italy in the South.
The bubonic plague pandemic known as the Black Death reached Switzerland and Austria from Northern Italy in the South and Savoy in the West, and the Rhine and Central Germany from Northern France, and Northern Germany from Denmark. It continued from the Empire East to the Baltics and finally to Russia.
The Black Death reached Switzerland south from Ticino in Italy, and West to Rhone and Geneva from Avignon in France. According to tradition, Mühldorf am Inn was the first German language city to be affected by the Black Death, on 29 June 1348. [1] Most of Switzerland was affected during the year of 1349, when the plague reached Bern, Zürich, Basel and Saint Gallen.
The Black Death in Austria is mainly described by the chronicle of the Neuberg Monastery in Steiermark. The Neuberg Chronicle dates the outbreak of plague in Austria to the feast of St Martin on 11 November 1348. In parallel with the plague, severe floods affected Austria. The plague interrupted the ongoing feud among the nobility, who were forced to cooperate against it. The Neuberg Chronicle describes an outbreak of festivities among the peasantry and public to distract themselves from the catastrophe, and how law and order collapsed. [1] The plague reached Vienna in May 1349, where it lasted until September and killed about one-third of the population.
In the summer of 1349, the plague spread from Basel in Switzerland North toward Strasbourg. The plague reached Strasbourg from Colmar 8 July.
During the summer and autumn of 1349, the plague spread West from Strasbourg toward Mainz, Kassel, Limburg, Kreuznach, Sponheim and finally (in December) to Cologne; and East toward Augsburg, Ulm, Essingen and Stuttgart. [1]
The Black Death reached Northern Germany in the early summer of 1350 when it arrived in Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Lübeck and Hamburg. The plague appears to have reached the Northern port cities in different time periods, likely because it was spread by sea rather than land: the inland cities of Northern Germany, significantly, were affected at a later date in 1350 than the port cities along the North coast. [1]
It finally reached Prussia and from there to the Baltics in 1351, and from there to Russia.
The Black Death in the present-day Netherlands and Belgium are poorly documented. Due to this, it has often been described as free and unaffected of the plague.
It is known that the plague went as far as Hainaut and Flanders in the summer of 1349, but its progress further North cannot be traced, and there is no documentation of it in Central Netherlands. It is however confirmed that the ongoing reclaim of wetlands in Holland discontinued at this point, possibly because the population was suddenly smaller and there was, therefore, enough land for everyone. [1] The Rhyming Chronicle of Flanders, as preserved early-15th century Comburg Manuscript, noted that between 1348 and 1350, there was die groete steerfte ("the great dying"): [2]
...Dit ghesciede alsmen screef vorwaer XIIIc ende XLVIII iaer Curt hier naer si hu becant Quamen die cruus broeders int lant Ende daernaer die groete steerfte was Kerstinede duere gheloeft mi das Ende int iaer L dat verstaet So was te roeme tgroete aflaet... | ("...This happened when they truly wrote 1300 and 48 years Shortly thereafter, as you know The crusaders came into the land And after that was the great dying Raging hard, believe you me And in the year [13]50, you see There was in Rome the great jubilee...) |
– Rhyming Chronicle of Flanders [2] | (translation) |
The very northern part of the Netherlands, Frisia, is documented to have been reached by the plague, where it came from Germany in 1350, and there is a description of it in Deventer and Zwolle. [1] In Zwolle, a dispute even occurred between religious authorities as to who had the right to perform mass burials. [3]
According to the traditional narrative, Bohemia was spared from the Black Death. This was also used as propaganda. Since the Black Death was commonly interpreted as a divine punishment for the Sins of humanity, the fact that Bohemia was spared was a great gain for the reputation of Bohemia, and the Bohemian elite and government made use of this. In the famous chronicle Cronica Boemorum regum by Francis of Prague (Franciscus Pragensis), the king and the Kingdom of Bohemia were portrayed as free from the sins God's had sent the plague to punish the rest of Europe for, and the air as pure and clear. [1] With the exception of local outbreaks in Brno and Znojmo in Moravia in December 1351, no contemporary sources contradict the contemporary claim that Bohemia was spared. [1] Archaeological research suggests that the Black Death might have been responsible for some of the mass burials at Sedlec Ossuary. [4]
The reason why Bohemia was spared from the plague is debated. It has been suggested, that since Bohemia lacked water ways and could only be reached by land; and that most of the traffic came to Bohemia from Germany, where all traffic collapsed because of the Black Death there, the fact that the traffic from Germany was interrupted by the plague resulted in an unintentional quarantine, which spared Bohemia. [1]
The Holy Roman Empire was the stage for both the Jewish pogroms as well as the flagellants during the Black Death. [1]
As the plague progressed, the Jews were accused to have caused it by well poisoning. Rumours of well poisoning were spread in France, but they were directed more toward Jews within the borders of the Holy Roman Empire, where there was a larger Jewish population than in France. [1] The persecutions started to cause mass trials and mass executions of Jews in the Duchy of Savoy, and turned into massacres when the rumours of the trials in Savoy reached Switzerland and Germany. [1]
According to the chronicler Heinrich von Diessenhoven, all Jews from Cologne to Austria were killed in a series of massacres between November 1348 and September 1349. [1]
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as 50 million people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. The disease is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and spread by fleas and through the air. One of the most significant events in European history, the Black Death had far-reaching population, economic, and cultural impacts. It was the beginning of the second plague pandemic. The plague created religious, social and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history.
The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Europe and the Mongol Empire. West Africa experienced economic growth and prosperity.
The 1340s was a decade that began on 1 January 1340 and ended on 31 December 1349. It was in the midst of a period in human history often referred to as the Late Middle Ages in the Old World and the pre-Columbian era in the New World.
Louis IV, called the Bavarian, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328 until his death in 1347.
Charles IV, also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1355 until his death in 1378. He was elected King of Germany in 1346 and became King of Bohemia that same year. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his father's side and the Bohemian House of Přemyslid from his mother's side; he emphasized the latter due to his lifelong affinity for the Bohemian side of his inheritance, and also because his direct ancestors in the Přemyslid line included two saints.
Between the 12th century and modern times, the Swiss city of Basel has been home to three Jewish communities. The medieval community thrived at first but ended violently with the Basel massacre of 1349. As with many of the violent anti-Judaic events of the time, it was linked to the outbreak of the Black Death. At the end of the 14th century, a second community formed. But it was short-lived and disbanded before the turn of the century. For the following 400 years, there was no Jewish community in Basel. Today, there are several communities, ranging from liberal to religious to orthodox, and there are still more Jews who don’t belong to any community.
The Basel Massacre was an anti-Semitic episode in Basel, which occurred in 1349 in connection with alleged well poisoning as part of the Black Death persecutions, carried out against the Jews in Europe at the time of the Black Death. A number of Jews, variously given as between 300 and 600 or 50 to 70 were burned alive, after being locked in a wooden structure built on a nearby island in the Rhine. Jewish children were apparently spared, but forcibly baptized and sent to monasteries. The event occurred on January 9.
Louis V, called the Brandenburger, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, ruled as Margrave of Brandenburg from 1323 to 1351 and as Duke of Bavaria from 1347 until his death. From 1342 he also was co-ruling Count of Tyrol by his marriage with the Meinhardiner countess Margaret.
The Black Death peaked in Europe between 1348 and 1350, with an estimated third of the continent's population ultimately succumbing to the disease. Often simply referred to as "The Plague", the Black Death had both immediate and long-term effects on human population across the world as one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, including a series of biological, social, economic, political and religious upheavals that had profound effects on the course of world history, especially European history. Symptoms of the Bubonic Plague included painful and enlarged or swollen lymph nodes, headaches, chills, fatigue, vomiting, and fevers, and within 3 to 5 days, 80% of the victims would be dead. Historians estimate that it reduced the total world population from 475 million to between 350 and 375 million. In most parts of Europe, it took nearly 80 years for population sizes to recover, and in some areas, it took more than 150 years.
Anne of Bavaria was Queen of Bohemia by marriage to Charles of Luxembourg. She was the daughter of Rudolf II, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and Anna, daughter of Otto III of Carinthia.
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia, and peaking in Eurasia from 1321 to 1353. Its migration followed the sea and land trading routes of the medieval world. This migration has been studied for centuries as an example of how the spread of contagious diseases is impacted by human society and economics.
The Strasbourg massacre occurred on 14 February 1349, when the entire Jewish community of several thousand Jews were publicly burnt to death as part of the Black Death persecutions.
The Erfurt massacre was a massacre of the Jewish community in Erfurt, Germany, on 21-22 March 1349. Accounts of the number of Jews killed in the massacre vary widely from between 100 and up to 3000. Any Jewish survivors were expelled from the city. Some Jews set fire to their homes and possessions and perished in the flames before they could be lynched.
The persecution of Jews during the Black Death consisted of a series of violent mass attacks and massacres. Jewish communities were often blamed for outbreaks of the Black Death in Europe. From 1348-1351, acts of violence were committed in Toulon, Barcelona, Erfurt, Basel, Frankfurt, Strasbourg and elsewhere. The persecutions led to a large migration of Jews to Jagiellonian Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There are very few Jewish sources on Jewish massacres during the Plague.
The Black Death was present in France between 1347-1352. The bubonic plague pandemic, known as the Black Death, reached France by ship from Italy to Marseille in November 1347, spread first through Southern France, and then continued outwards to Northern France.
The Black Death was present in Norway between 1349 and 1350. The Black Death in Norway is more documented than any other Nordic country, but the information is unbalanced and mainly focused on Western Norway.
The Black Death was present in Sweden between 1350 and 1351. It was a major catastrophe which was said to have killed a third of the population, and Sweden was not to recover fully for three hundred years.
The Black Death was present in Denmark between 1348 and 1350. The Black Death in Denmark is the least documented of all the Nordic countries, with the exception of Finland.
The Zürich massacre was an antisemitic episode in Zürich, Switzerland, which occurred in 1349. The incident was caused by antisemitism in the city due to the alleged murder of the son of a Zürich man, and fueled by the subsequent accusations of well poisoning. This event took place in the frame of the widespread Black Death persecutions, where the Jews were accused of spreading the bubonic plague.
The Kyburg massacre was an anti-Semitic episode in Kyburg near Winterthur, present-day Switzerland, which occurred in 1349. The Jews sought refuge in the castle of Kyburg from the surrounding cities of Winterthur and Diessenhofen, as well as from all towns under the hegemony of the Duke of Austria. They had probably started to gather there in November 1348, when the first Black Death persecutions started. Probably pressured by the other Imperial cities, Albert II, Duke of Austria eventually ordered the Jews to be put to death by burning.
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