ID: 901000513 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ia/901000513	Record Type: Event/Narrative

	Black Death (European history, plague, 1346-1353)

Note: Pandemic that killed 75-200 million people in Europe 1346-1353. Although several diseases have historically been suggested as the cause of the Black Death, recent analysis of DNA from victims' remains suggest the pathogen Yersinia pestis bacterium, probably causing several forms of plague. Famous symptoms included buboes (or gavocciolos) at lymph glands in the groin, neck, and armpits, that oozed pus and blood. The Black Death originated in Central Asia, spread via the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343, then spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe through sea trade, most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats on merchant ships. The Black Death killed over 50% of Europe's population, resulting in large-scale and long-lasting social and economic upheavals.

Display Date: peak 1346-1353

Names:

	Black Death (European history, plague, 1346-1353) (preferred,English-P,D,P)
	Peste nera (storia europea, peste, 1346-1353) (Italian-P,D,P)

Hierarchical Position:

		Named Events (P)
		....<European history> (P)
		........Black Death (European history, plague, 1346-1353) (I)

Other Relationships:

	located in .... Eurasia
	..... ULAN Candidate

	role/characteristic is .... bubonic plague
	.....(communicable disease, disease, health-related concepts, health and related concepts, biological concepts, scientific concepts, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

Sources:

	Black Death (European history, plague, 1346-1353)
	................J. Paul Getty Museum, collections online (2000-)
	................Getty Research Institute Special Collections Finding Aids (2005-)
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-) accessed 28 November 2016
	Peste nera (storia europea, peste, 1346-1353)
	................ICCD database (1988-)

Iconography Record Sources:

	................ Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)