Today in Welsh history... 20 March 1345, a Saturn-Jupiter-Mars-conjunction occurred which, at the time, was conjectured to have been the cause of the Black Death that was to soon devastate Europe.
The Black Death (The Plague) was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Historians estimate that up to 200 million people perished. It is believed that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia Pestis bacterium, which is thought to have started in China or central Asia before travelling along the trade route called the Silk Road, reaching the Crimea by 1346 and from there, carried by fleas on black rats on merchant ships into the Mediterranean and Europe.
It struck Bristol in the summer of 1348 and arrived in Wales later that year, killing an estimated 30% of the population. Further outbreaks of the plague occurred in 1360 and 1369 though these were not so virulent. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover.
The Black Death (The Plague) was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Historians estimate that up to 200 million people perished. It is believed that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia Pestis bacterium, which is thought to have started in China or central Asia before travelling along the trade route called the Silk Road, reaching the Crimea by 1346 and from there, carried by fleas on black rats on merchant ships into the Mediterranean and Europe.
It struck Bristol in the summer of 1348 and arrived in Wales later that year, killing an estimated 30% of the population. Further outbreaks of the plague occurred in 1360 and 1369 though these were not so virulent. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover.