Pesta has feelings too - Løpe Med Saks

When the Black Death finally made its way to England in 1348 after travelling across Asia and Europe, it was met with much amusement by the Scots, who said the English’s misfortune ‘had befallen them through the revenging hand of God’ and eagerly awaited the ‘foul death of England‘.

Now due to Scotland’s climate, they had escaped the plague for a tad longer than some other countries, due to it being too cold for the fleas that transmitted the disease, but this streak came to an abrupt end in 1350 with the decision by some Scottish nobles to send soldiers South with the intention of conquering England…

Only for the Scottish soldiers to catch the plague after attacking Northern English towns and cities like Durham, quickly realise that they weren’t as immune to the disease as they originally thought, and then as the armies fled back but North the rats and fleas came with them and introduced the plague to Scotland en masse.

As contemporary English chronicler Henry Knighton wrote: “The Scots, hearing of the dreadful plague among the English, suspected that it had come about through the vengeance of God, and, according to the common report, they were accustomed to swear “be the foul deth (sic) of Engelond (sic)”. Believing that the wrath of God had befallen the English, they assembled in Selkirk forest with the intention of invading the kingdom, when the fierce mortality overtook them, and in a short time about 5,000 perished.

“As the rest, the strong and the feeble, were preparing to return to their own country, they were followed and attacked by the English, who slew countless numbers of them.”

In a far less murderous example fo history repeating itself, there has been a recent spike in corona virus cases in Scotland in the past couple of months… which people have concluded is due to folks coming down to London for the Euro 2020 football matches, with 2000 cases being linked to linked to people travelling South for the event.

So yeah, social distancing. It’s there for a reason, and travelling in large numbers to an area you know is riddled with disease is a bad idea.

I’d die for a plague doctor mask. 

artofcoredesign:

done… #plague #doctor #art #sketch

quidcogitas:

the remains of many felled by Plague are building material in the Ossuary of San Burnardino Alle Ossa -Milan,Italy {photo:Rob Sheridan}

“The ossuary dates back to 1210, when an adjacent hospital cemetery became overcrowded and a charnel house was built to hold the bones.”

Religious shelter.

“Holbein’s dance of death alphabet was first used in August 1524. The alphabet was originally published as sheets with Bible quotes.” This is a video of what the alphabet may have looked like with the letters removed and paired with their respective Bible quote.

Hans Holbein’s Dance of Death alphabet (Part 3). There are 24 letters since i,j and u,v are the same:

V. The Rider

W. The Hermit

X. The Gamblers

Y. The Baby

Z. Judgement Day

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Hans Holbein’s Dance of Death alphabet (Part 2). There are 24 letters since i,j and u,v are the same:

K. The Nobleman

L. The Canon

M. The Physician 

N. The Rich Man/Miser

O. The Monk

P. The Soldier

Q. The Nun

R. The Fool

S. The Young Girl

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Hans Holbein’s Dance of Death alphabet (Part 1). There are 24 letters since i,j and u,v are the same:

A. Bones of All Men

B. The Pope

C. The Emperor

D. The King

E. The Cardinal 

F. The Empress 

G. The Queen 

H. The Bishop

I.  The Duke

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Burial of the dead in Flanders, 1349.

strangeremains:

Ancient mass grave unearthed at Italian gallery thought to contain dozens of plague victims

Work to expand the Uffizi Gallery’s exhibit space has unearthed an ancient cemetery with dozens of skeletons archaeologists say might have been victims of the plague or some other epidemic that swept through Florence during the 4th or 5th century.

Archaeologists and art officials showed reporters Wednesday the excavation at the renowned museum. In five months of digging, archaeologists uncovered 60 well-preserved skeletons in a cemetery apparently made in a hurry, perhaps a mass grave, with bodies laid side-by-side at roughly the same time.

Read more and see more really cool photos at the National Post

abystle:

The Triumph of Death. Palermo, Palazzo Abatellis. Early fifteenth century.

“Some important observations from details of the painting deserve mention in increasing relevance. First, as mentioned, in the living group of ‘survivors’ behind Death the artist has painted himself looking out directly at the viewer while holding a brush; left of him is his likely assistant or apprentice also looking out. Second, in the plague group on the bottom right, one elegantly dressed woman grimaces in a rictus of shock and fear at the arrow just having struck her while her companion on the right (further from Death’s advance) may be attempting to comfort her. Third, nearly all of Death’s arrows are protruding from the necks of the victims, which greatly favors the responsive lymphatic nature of bubonic plague where the body attempts – usually in futility – to fight off the assault on the immune system. Fourth, a close look at Death’s bow shows it to be a compound bow from the East, likewise his arrow sheath, suggesting a cognition that this form of death came from the Mongol Empire, commensurate with the plague of 1347-51 arriving with the Golden Horde from Central Asia where the Mongol Empire was then on the wane.” (source)