There is much we can learn from past pandemics, like how Emperor Justinian ruined the Eastern Roman Empire's economy and made the first plague pandemic even worse.

From the day the Black Death starts to ravage humanity in 1347, there will be speculation about what it is. It will take until 2017 for science to give us a conclusive answer to the riddle how so many people could die so fast all over Europe, Africa, and Asia in only five years.

Research Sources:
  • “Quinto Tiberio Angelerio and New Measures for Controlling Plague in 16th-Century Alghero, Sardinia” Raffaella Bianucci , Ole Jørgen Benedictow, Gino Fornaciari, and Valentina Giuffra
  • “The Path to Pistoia: Urban Hygiene Before the Black Death” G Geltner Past & Present, Volume 246, Issue 1, February 2020, Pages 3–33 “Encyclopedia of the Black Death” Joseph Patrick Byrne
  • “Epidemiological characteristics of an urban plague epidemic in Madagascar, August–November, 2017: an outbreak report” The Lancet, Rindra Randremanana, PhD *Voahangy Andrianaivoarimanana, PhD Birgit Nikolay, PhD Beza Ramasindrazana, PhD Juliette Paireau, PhD, Quirine Astrid ten Bosch, PhD et al
  • “Yersinia pestis, the cause of plague, is a recently emerged clone of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis” Mark Achtman, Kerstin Zurth, Giovanna Morelli, Gabriela Torrea, Annie Guiyoule, and Elisabeth Carniel


  • “Insights into the evolution of Yersinia pestis through whole-genome comparison with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis” P. S. G. Chain, E. Carniel, F. W. Larimer, J. Lamerdin, P. O. Stoutland, W. M. Regala, A. M. Georgescu, L. M. Vergez, M. L. Land, V. L. Motin, R. R. Brubaker, J. Fowler, J. Hinnebusch, M. Marceau, C. Medigue, M. Simonet, V. Chenal-Francisque, B. Souza, D. Dacheux, J. M. Elliott, A. Derbise, L. J. Hauser, and E. Garcia
  • “Distinct Clones of Yersinia pestis Caused the Black Death” Stephanie Haensch, Raffaella Bianucci, Michel Signoli, Minoarisoa Rajerison, Michael Schultz, Sacha Kacki, Marco Vermunt, Darlene A. Weston, Derek Hurst, Mark Achtman, Elisabeth Carniel, Barbara Bramanti

Starting in 1347 and for three centuries, the second plague pandemic provides ample time to learn how to deal with the recurring outbreaks. And yet, fears of ruining the economy, political expediency, and refusal to accept reality leaves those trying to implement protection measure to fight an uphill battle. The result is even worse economic consequences, and unfathomable death.