Plague in Byzantine Times: A Medico-historical Study

Costas Tsiamis

Published by De Gruyter 2022

Plague in Byzantine Times

A Medico-historical Study

Costas Tsiamis

Volume 9 in the series Medicine in the Medieval Mediterranean

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110613636

Overview
Contents

About this book

The lack of reliable demographic data for Byzantine cities raises questions as to the actual rate of expansion and mortality of plague. This essentially leads to the question of change and progress of the nature of infectious diseases in that period. Also, the analysis of the written sources raised a series of questions, mainly epidemiological in nature: the entry points and spreading of the disease in the Mediterranean, the epidemic dynamics as well as the evolution of the microbial agent of plague, i.e. Yersinia pestis.

The present study offers a substantial explanation for the outbreaks of plague that struck Byzantium by exploring the multiple factors that caused or triggered epidemics. The study covers the entire period extending from the beginning of the Byzantine Empire until its fall in 1453, which was marked by two major pandemics, namely the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death. All known primary sources were collected and grouped from a spatiotemporal perspective, so as to retrace the unfolding of the two pandemics. The focus of the research shifts from known historical frameworks to ones of human activities, endemic foci and natural environment of the era as risk factors of the outbreaks.

Author / Editor information

Costas Tsiamis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Foreword Ancient Epidemics The Necessity of a Multidisciplinary Approach Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1 What is Plague? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Chapter 2 Inside the Molecular World of Yersinia pestis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Chapter 3 Aggravating Factors of Plague Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Chapter 4 Plague-resembling Epidemics from Antiquity to Byzantium Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
Chapter 5 First Plague Pandemic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Chapter 6 The Second Plague Pandemic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
Chapter 7 Analysis of the First Pandemic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Chapter 8 Analysis of the Second Pandemic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
Chapter 9 Theories on the Disappearance of Plague (751–1346) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Lists of Tables, Figures and Maps Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Index of Names and Places Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	246

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academic institutions and researchers focusing on History of Medicine and Historical Epidemiology.
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 247
Keywords: Byzantine Empire; Historical epidemiology; Justinian Plague; Black Death

eBook

Published: November 7, 2022
ISBN: 9783110613636

Hardcover

Published: November 7, 2022
ISBN: 9783110611199