Evidence of Violence from a Late Black Death Cemetery

Tags

archaeology, Black Death, Britain, England, health, medieval

This is a nice précis of research into community violence during the Black Death era as evidenced from archaeological remains

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Reading List: The Black Death

Tags

archaeology, Black Death, Britain, education, Lowdham, medieval, Nottinghamshire

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these. Indeed, we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

GENERAL

Crawford, D. 2009. Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History

Scott, S and Duncan, C. 2001. Biology of Plagues: Evidence from Historical Populations

Slack, P. 2012. Plague: A Very Short Introduction

World Health Organisation Plague Manual: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/plague/WHO_CDS_CSR_EDC_99_2_EN/en/

THE PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN

Harbeck M, Seifert L, Hänsch S, Wagner DM, et al. (2013) Yersinia pestis DNA from Skeletal Remains from the 6th Century AD Reveals Insights into Justinianic Plague. PLoS Pathog 9(5): e1003349.

Rosen, W. 2008. Justinian’s Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe

THE BLACK DEATH

Cantor, N. 2001. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It made

Cohn, S. 2002. The Black Death Transformed: Disease and Culture in Early Renaissance Europe.

Hatcher, J. 2009. The Black Death: An Intimate History. Phoenix.

Kelly, J. 2006. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death

Twigg, G. 1984. The Black Death: A Biological Reappraisal

Ziegler, P. 1998. The Black Death.

THE PEASANTS REVOLT

Jones, D. 2010. The Summer of Blood: The Peasants Revolt of 1381

DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGES

Allison, K J, Beresford, M W, Hurst, J G. 1965. The Deserted Villages of Oxfordshire, Leicester University Press.

Miles, D and Rowley, T. 1976. Tusmore Deserted Village, Oxoniensia 4, 309-315.

Rowley, T & Wood, J. 2000. Deserted Villages. Shire

THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON

Porter, S. 2012. The Great Plague of London

Moote, AL and Moote, DC. 2006. The Great Plague: The Story of London’s Most Deadly Year

Pepys, S. 2003. The Diaries of Samuel Pepys. Penguin Classics

Tomalin, C. 2012. Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self

The past, present and future of the bubonic plague

Tags

archaeology, Black Death, Britain, England, health, medieval, Plague, plague of Justinian, WEA

The bubonic plague, which killed around 1/5 of the world’s population in the 14th century, is still around today — but it now claims only a few thousand lives each year. How did that number shrink so drastically? In this TED-Ed Original Sharon N. DeWitte investigates the causes and effects of the black death and explains how knowing this information can help us prepare for any future outbreaks of the disease.

Yersinia pestis found in human fleas, Madagascar 2013

Tags

archaeology, Black Death, education, health, WEA

Those of you who have taken the ‘Black Death’ course may be interested in this post. In our last session of that course, you may recall we looked at the modern situation and this is a nice summary of a recent study in Madagascar.

Contagions

Madagascar is consistently one of the top two countries in Africa (and usually the world) in cases of plague, caused by Yersinia pestis. For five years prior to January 2013, Madagascar registered 312 to 648 cases per year, with a majority being laboratory confirmed of which >80% were bubonic plague. Of the multiple reservoir species in Madagascar, the black rat (Rattus rattus) is the primary reservoir with Xenopsylla choepus being the main urban vector and Synopsyllus fonquerniei in rural areas.

After a nine case bubonic outbreak in the rural area of Soavina in the district of Ambatofinandrana (shown below), fleas were collected within and outside of five houses over three nights.

The team from the Institut Pasteur de Madagascar collected 319 fleas representing five genera; the most common being the human flea Pulex irritans (73.3%).  In this study, X. cheopis and S. fonquerniei were only collected outside of…

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Surviving the Black Death

Tags

archaeology, Black Death, Britain, England, health, Leicestershire, Loughborough, Plague, WEA

Those of you who took the Black Death course may be interested in this recent research on the impact of the epidemic.

Ralph Tailor’s Summer: A Scrivener, his City, and the Plague

Tags

archaeology, Black Death, Britain, education, England, Plague, post-medieval, WEA

Those on the ‘Black Death’ course may be interested in a book by Keith Wrightson called ‘Ralph Tailor’s Summer: A Scrivener, his City, and the Plague‘ (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2011), which has recently been reviewed at the Contagions blog. This focuses on what happens to one man when the plague comes to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1635-6.

Reading List: The Black Death

Tags

archaeology, Black Death, Britain, education, Great Plague of London, medieval, Plague, plague of Justinian, post-medieval, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these. Indeed, we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

GENERAL

Crawford, D. 2009. Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History

Scott, S and Duncan, C. 2001. Biology of Plagues: Evidence from Historical Populations

Slack, P. 2012. Plague: A Very Short Introduction

World Health Organisation Plague Manual: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/plague/WHO_CDS_CSR_EDC_99_2_EN/en/

THE PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN

Harbeck M, Seifert L, Hänsch S, Wagner DM, et al. (2013) Yersinia pestis DNA from Skeletal Remains from the 6th Century AD Reveals Insights into Justinianic Plague. PLoS Pathog 9(5): e1003349.

Rosen, W. 2008. Justinian’s Flea: Plague, Empire and the Birth of Europe

THE BLACK DEATH

Cantor, N. 2001. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It made

Cohn, S. 2002. The Black Death Transformed: Disease and Culture in Early Renaissance Europe.

Hatcher, J. 2009. The Black Death: An Intimate History. Phoenix.

Kelly, J. 2006. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death

Twigg, G. 1984. The Black Death: A Biological Reappraisal

Ziegler, P. 1998. The Black Death.

THE PEASANTS REVOLT

Jones, D. 2010. The Summer of Blood: The Peasants Revolt of 1381

DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGES

Allison, K J, Beresford, M W, Hurst, J G. 1965. The Deserted Villages of Oxfordshire, Leicester University Press.

Miles, D and Rowley, T. 1976. Tusmore Deserted Village, Oxoniensia 4, 309-315.

Rowley, T & Wood, J. 2000. Deserted Villages. Shire

THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON

Porter, S. 2012. The Great Plague of London

Moote, AL and Moote, DC. 2006. The Great Plague: The Story of London’s Most Deadly Year

Pepys, S. 2003. The Diaries of Samuel Pepys. Penguin Classics

Tomalin, C. 2012. Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self

WEA Courses Autumn 2013

Tags

Black Death, Britain, education, Herculaneum, Leicester, Leicestershire, Loughborough, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Pompeii, Roman, Roman Britain, WEA

This autumn term I am offering three courses at WEA venues in the East Midlands region.

Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum
Nottingham Mechanics, Nottingham
Starting Tuesday 17th September, 1.00pm – 3.00pm, 5 weeks
What was it like to live in the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and what happened to them on that fateful day in AD79? We’ll examine these questions and more. Includes a trip to the British Museum exhibition Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum on Tuesday 24 September
Online Enrolment available

The Archaeology of Roman Britain
Great Meeting Unitarian Chapel, East Bond Street, Leicester
Starting Wednesday 25th September, 1.30pm – 3.30pm, 8 weeks
What did the Romans ever do for us? This course aims to provide a look at the archaeological evidence for the Romans in Britain, from towns and villas to forts and fortifications. How did this affect us both locally in Leicestershire and on a national level?
Online enrolment available.

The Black Death
Quest House, Woodgate Chambers, Loughborough
Starting Thursday 19th September, 1.30pm – 3.30pm, 8 weeks
What was the Black Death? Where did it come from? What caused it? What impact did it have on society? What archaeological evidence do we have for it? Discover the answer to these questions as we examine one of the most famous epidemics in European history.
Online enrolment available.