[blam]

I've read that the plague in the 14th century lead to the Magna Carta and eventually to our own constitution.

Also, I believe the Justinian Plague was initiated by a comet impact. I will post data supporting that belief as the thread progresses.

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[glorgau]

One of the "major social issues" arising from the great mortality of the plague "is that it tends to raise the value of labor," Little said. "There are not enough workers around anymore. You can't find servants and, when you do find someone, they tend to charge outrageous amounts."

Mexicans, catching the diseases that Americans don't want to catch.

[pabianice]

"The changes in religious thought and beliefs the long-term effects of Justinian's Plague was the final collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire, the beginning of the Dark Ages in Eastern Europe and ultimately the successful invasion of Islamic forces in 632 AD throughout the Near East and Eastern Europe."

The rise of Islam was opportuned by mass death.

http://www.globalterrorism101.com/JustiniansPlague.html

[G8 Diplomat]

This is useful. I'm doing a report on the Black Plague for school.

Russian experts have long argued that plague is a much more frightening prospect than anthrax.

I'd agree, but if Ebola Zaire ever became airborne, we'd be done for.

[LexBaird]

I've read that the plague in the 14th century lead to the Magna Carta and eventually to our own constitution.

The Magna Carta was signed in 1215.

[jimfree]

Also, I believe the Justinian Plague was initiated by a comet impact. I will post data supporting that belief as the thread progresses.

Andromeda Strain?

[LexBaird]

Frankly, the whole thing smacks of more junk science. Someone cherry picking data to support their pet theory, which isn't supported by the entirety of the historical record. It's pretty hard to attribute a 50 year plague to a alleged 5 years of bad crops or cold winters. Rats freeze too.

[Mike Darancette]

540 was a pretty bad year.

[SunkenCiv]

By the time Justinian's plague had run its course in AD 590, it had killed as many as 100 million people -- half the population of Europe -- brought trade to a near halt, destroyed an empire and, perhaps, brought on the Dark Ages. Some historians think that the carnage may also have sounded the death knell for slavery as the high demand for labor freed serfs from their chains. Justinian's plague was a "major cataclysm," says historian Lester K. Little, director of the American Academy in Rome, "but the amount of research that has been done by historians is really minimal."

One quibble I have right now -- the population of Europe at that time probably wasn't anything like 200 million. The population of the whole Roman Empire at its peak was something in excess of 50 million, and that included north Africa, Anatolia, and the Levant.

Will ping when I get home. Work beckons. Work sure has a nerve. ;')

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam. And that's good advice about work. :')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Fiddlstix]

Bookmarked

[Tallguy]

A third pandemic began in China in the late 19th century and spread to North America, where a large reservoir of the disease remains active in animals throughout the Southwest.

Are they referring to the Hanta (Sp?) Virus here?

[Antoninus]

By the middle of the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian had spread his Byzantine Empire around the rim of the Mediterranean and throughout Europe, laying the groundwork for what he hoped would be a long-lived dynasty.

If this sentence could be projected back through time and read to Justinian himself, his response would have been: "Wha?"

Justinian was a Roman Emperor.

[Antoninus]

By the time Justinian's plague had run its course in AD 590, it had killed as many as 100 million people -- half the population of Europe -- brought trade to a near halt, destroyed an empire and, perhaps, brought on the Dark Ages.

Where's Captain Hyperbole when you need him?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

By the time Justinian's plague had run its course in AD 590, it had killed as many as 100 million people -- half the population of Europe...

This seems unlikely if the entire world population was only 200 million.

[Little Bill]

The Justinian plague led to the reduction of population in the Byzantine half of the empire, and to its later inability to resist the Persians and later the Moose Limbs.

The Magna Carta was in the 12th century well before the Great Plague. Europe didn't recover from the J-Plague until the time of John, look at population density in the Doomsday book, 1086, and 1345.