Black Death

 Garnel IronheartOctober 27, 2026 at 2:28 PM

Does he mention how the Ottomans brought the Black Death to Europe a few centuries earlier?

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AI 

The Black Death was brought to Europe primarily via Genoese merchant ships returning from the Black Sea in October 1347, which docked in Messina, Sicily.

How It Arrived

• The Origin: The bacterium responsible for the pandemic (Yersinia pestis) originated in Central or East Asia and traveled westward along the Silk Road and trade networks.

• The Siege of Caffa: During the Mongol siege of the Genoese trading outpost of Caffa in Crimea, the attacking Mongol forces under Janibeg famously catapulted plague-infected corpses over the city walls.

• The Vector: Flea-infested black rats and infected crew members boarded Genoese trading vessels fleeing Caffa and sailed into the Mediterranean.