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Nothing Goes Viral Like A Virus
The 14th Century plague taught us we can survive anything and then life gets better.
What can disruption teach us? Does it destroy or does it transform? Can it revive us? The 14th Century shares its secrets.
In October 1347, twelve Genoese merchant vessels pulled into port at Messina, Sicily, looking like ghost ships. Most of the sailors on board were dead. The reason the Sicilians called it “black death” is likely because they were returning from the Crimean seaport of Caffa on the Black Sea or it could also have been the black sores which covered the body of the victims.
The contagion was first brought to Caffa by Mongolian warriors. The frightened citizenry hid behind high ramparts and the Mongols simply hurled infected bodies over the walls. By the time the Genoese sailors arrived, the infection turned into an epidemic. The sailors brought it back to Sicily where it spread to all of Europe.
Before it would run its course, the Plague would kill 35 percent of the known world and nearly half the population of Countries like England. It was an equal opportunity disruptor and spared no one, neither king nor queen and, especially not children.
