[wideminded]

Their findings, published on Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that the plague selectively took the already ill,

I recall reading in school that this plague killed half the people in England, so it seems unlikely that all of these people (IIRC 4 million of them) were already ill.

[VanShuyten]

The average around Europe was about one-third dead, with some place essentially depopulated. Prior to modern antibiotics, pesticides, and antiparasitics (mostly tapeworm), I wouldn’t be surprised at all if half the population had some kind of chronic infection or infestation. That doesn’t even include diseases cause by dietary deficiencies such as vit.C or iodine.

[null and void]

I recall reading in school that this plague killed half the people in England, so it seems unlikely that all of these people (IIRC 4 million of them) were already ill.

No antibiotics, no sanitation, poor nutrition, grinding poverty, little heating, harsh winters, crowded living conditions, frequent cuts, scrapes, and minor burns, and only half of them were sickly? Not bad!

[MrsEmmaPeel]

It wiped out approx. 1/3 the population of Europe and England. Many small towns and villages simply disappeared. We still see the effects of the plague today - with the emphasis on how Christ is portrayed in modern church art. Pre-Black Death, Christ was generally seen as a happy, arms-outstretched, inspirational person (The Sermon of the Mount Christ). Post-Black Death, the art rendering changed dramatically, focusing not only on his death, but his hideous torture, suffering and crown of thorns. (The Crucifixion Christ).