BLACK DEATH.

Shannon News, 15 January 1926, Page 4

BLACK DEATH.

GREAT PLAGUES RECALLED. The 'great plague, known as ttyc "Black Death," was the deadliest epidemic ever experienced. It is believed to have been ati aggravated outburst y \ of the Oriental plague, which, from the earliest records of history, has periodically appeared in Asia and Northern Africa. There was a visitation of the plague in Europe in 1342. The "Black Death," in. terrible viru. ! lence .appeared in 1345-9. It also came in milder form in 1361-2, and again in 1369. The prevalence and severity of the pestilence during the fourteenth century are ascribed to the disturbed ' conditions of the elements just previously. For a number of years Asia and Europe suffered from mighty earthquakes, furious tornadoes, vi. olent floods, and clouds of locusts darkening the air and poisoning it with their corrupting bodies. Whether these natural disturbances were the cause of the plague is not known, but writers on tho subject regard the connection as both probable and possible. ■ The disease was brought from the Orient to Constantinople, and early in 1347 appeared in Sicily and several coast towns in Italy. After a brief pause, the' pestilence broke out at Avignon in January, 1348; advanced .thence to Southern France, Spain, and Northern Italy. Passing through France and visiting, "but not yet ravaging Germany, it made its way to England, cutting down its first victims at Dorset in August, 1348. Thence it travelled slowly, reaching London early in the winter. Soon it embraced the entire kingdom penetrating to every rural hamlet, so that England became a mere pest, houso, - -