The Plague Comes to Medieval Iceland
The Plague Comes to Medieval Iceland
We see death coming into our midst like black smoke, a plague that cuts off the young, a rootless phantom that has no mercy for fair countenance. Woe is me of the shilling (bubo) in the armpit; it is seething, terrible, where ever it may come, a head that gives pain and causes a loud cry, a burden carried under the arms, a painful angry knob, a white lump.
- Jeuan Gethin, a Welsh poet and plague victim (1349)
The "Black Death," a term synonymous with the pestilence that ravaged Europe for five years, from 1347-1351, coming in from the East by land and by sea following along the trade routes; was once in reference to a different pair of epidemics. Accounts from 16th century Sweden, and literature such as Swiss Family Robinson, used the phrase to mark two plagues that took place in 15th century Iceland. It was not until 1823 when historian Elizabeth Penrose coined this particular phrase for the earlier, much deadlier, and understandable outbreak. During the actual "Black Death" as it is now known, the shadow of bubonic plague that covered much of Europe left Iceland untouched. Then, nearly fifty years after the Great Mortality, the sickness finally reached the shores of the country. Questions still remain as to the how and why of the fateful events.
By modern standards, the disease itself is explainable as one of the forms of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, named for Alexandre Yersin, the Swiss/French physician and bacteriologist who discovered it in 1894. When it reaches its advanced state, it is known by the telltale sign of the swollen, inflamed, painful lymph nodes called “buboes.”
The symptoms were not the same as in the East, where a gush of blood from the nose was the plain sign of inevitable death; but it began both in men and women with certain swellings in the groin or under the armpit. They grew to the size of a small apple or an egg, more or less, and were vulgarly called tumours. In a short space of time these tumours spread from the two parts named all over the body. Soon after this the symptoms changed and black or purple spots appeared on the arms or thighs or any other part of the body, sometimes a few large ones, sometimes many little ones. These spots were a certain sign of death, just as the original tumour had been and still remained.
- Giovannia Boccaccio (1348)
Excavations and evaluations of remains from medieval cemeteries provide further evidence in support of the Black Death being bubonic plague. Likely, it was transmitted from rodents to humans through infected fleas. While the suspected casualties of the disease number in the 25 million range, it did spare certain areas of Europe and beyond; one of those fortunate locations being Iceland originally.
The first epidemic in Iceland, an epidemic being defined as a large outbreak of an infectious disease within a certain area or population, as opposed to a pandemic that is worldwide, appeared in 1402 CE. Running its course through the country until 1404 CE. A second outbreak happened from 1494 CE to 1495 CE.
For every ounce of information that is known or can be surmised through educated guesswork, about the Black Death and reoccurring instances of bubonic plague both before and after the 1340s/1350s outbreak; Iceland gives more questions than answers.
The first, how did it get there?
Iceland currently has four species of rodents. The wood mouse, the house mouse, the brown rat, and the black rat. It is not known when the house mouse arrived. The brown rats probably date to the early 18th century, traveling along with merchant ships. Peculiarly in the case of plague, black rats are rare in the country and do not have a permanent place. Suggesting that they were not the ones to bring the bubonic plague to Iceland. There are other animals known to be carriers of this disease, namely: squirrels, rabbits, prairie dogs, chipmunks, and voles. Rabbits are not native to Iceland, they were introduced well after the plague. Overall, it is not an environment made for rodents. One is more likely to see puffins, seals, reindeer, and artic foxes. Even if rodents were to blame for the outbreak, then how did the disease reach them in the first place?
Therefore, the most likely culprit would be man himself. Per a report in The Guardian, “Black Death blamed on man, not rats” (2004) Chris Duncan, a professor of zoology at Liverpool University, and Sue Scott, a social historian, worked together to form a new theory in regards to bubonic plague outbreaks in history. They claim that it is not the rodents who are to blame, but humans who spread the disease.
Supporting this argument, are the writings of the Franciscan friar, Michael of Piazza, who wrote about the Black Death coming to the ports of Messina. According to this account, the pestilence arrived aboard a flotilla of Genoese galleys. The crew showed no symptoms of the plague, he wrote, while also stating that they had ‘sickness clinging to their very bones.’ The citizens of Messina drove the galleys from their ports, thereby, spreading the disease. Both Corsica and Sardinia were infected by November. Those very same citizens who forced the ships to leave, were then going into the countryside to escape the crowded cities. As they went, so too did the disease.
As these activities relate to Iceland, as noted in Britannica Encyclopedia, “Iceland under foreign rule,” in the early 14th century Norwegian merchants began importing dried dish from Iceland to Bergen, Norway. In the beginning of the 15th century, the English began sailing to Iceland as well, to catch or purchase the fish for themselves. Throughout the latter half of the 14th century, England was cursed with intermittent outbreaks of bubonic plague and other diseases. By 1400 in England, about half of those born in the seventy years prior died of the plague. However, the last epidemic of note was from 1390-1391.
Þorsteinn Vilhjálmsson from the Icelandic Web of Science (2005), states that the route between Bergen, Norway and the southeastern coast of Iceland at Horn, would have taken the Vikings three days. That is, of course, considering: good weather, luck, and no other stops along the way. The incubation period for modern bubonic plague, the period between coming into contact with the disease and presenting symptoms, runs from two to eight days. The other forms of plague, septicemic and pneumonic, can change that time to one to eight days. Taken into the consideration of the number of days, the English could have sailed into the Icelandic ports while still in the incubation stage of the disease. Allowing themselves or any fleas they carried with them to easily transfer to an unsuspecting victim.
Once in Iceland, the path of travel for the disease is not known. Farm settlements that were abandoned at various points in time, make tracking the route more difficult.
The next question is, how many died?
This is a historic period of abandoned settlements. Historians must decide if they were abandoned prior, after, or during the plague? As well as the reasons for the change. Some historians claim that the first epidemic killed off one-half the population, while the second killed off an additional 30 to 50%.
In this plague the mortality was so great, that no-one remembered or had heard of anything like it, because many farms were devastated, and on most farms only three or two survived, sometimes children, usually two or mostly three, and some of them yearlings, and some sucking their dead mothers.
- Jon Egilsson, Bishop’s Annals (1605)
More reasonable, modern claims put the numbers closer to 25% of the population for each outbreak.
To better understand the potential fatalities from the plague, it is necessary to also understand what was happening with Medieval Icelandic settlements. In order to start this process, one can look at what is known of the Greenland settlements for an example. Greenland had two Norse colonies that seemed to completely miss all of the plague outbreaks. Their settlements eventually disappeared as well for unspecified reasons. The list of reasons why includes: changing weather, Basque pirates, an Inuit invasion, and boredom. Arguably, some historians believe that Greenland’s problems stemmed from the Norsemen themselves and their overuse of natural resources.
When the Norse were settling in both Iceland and Greenland, there was a period of warm weather, before the Little Ice Age set in. The people who settled there were too concerned with their livestock and building churches. The over use of timber through those activities led to soil erosion. While the Inuit populations on Greenland were able to survive because they stuck with their traditions of fishing and seal hunting. They native people also did not place their population at risk with open sea journeys either. Between the harsher climate and challenges in relation to food and supplies, these are all substantial reasons for a dwindling population as those on the island moved elsewhere.
Whether through plague or the same circumstances that caused Greenland to lose settlements, in both cases human activities can potentially be blamed for both the Iceland plagues and the loss of human life on the island. Even if the latter had little to relate to the former.
References:
Boccaccio, Giovanni, The Decameron vol. I (translated by Richard Aldington illustrated by Jean de Bosschere) (1930); Gottfried, Robert, The Black Death (1983).
Carlin, Martha. The Black Death in the British Isles. Department of History, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (10/2/2020)
“Ecology and Transmission,” Bubonic Plague. CDC. (July 31, 2019) https://www.cdc.gov/plague/transmission/index.html (12/20/2020)
Iceland Travel Guide and Planner, Rodents in Iceland (8/31/2022)
“Iceland under foreign rule,” Encyclopedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/place/Iceland/Iceland-under-foreign-rule (9/1/2022)
Gillies, Emma (26/08/2022) Iceland’s Animals & Wildlife: Your Guide. Nordic Visitor https://www.nordicvisitor.com/blog/in-focus-icelands-beautiful-wildlife/ (9/14/2022)
Klintisch, Eli (11/10/2016) Why did Greenland’s Vikings disappear? Science https://www.science.org/content/article/why-did-greenland-s-vikings-disappear?cookieSet=1 (9/14/2022)
Mount, Toni (2015) Medieval Medicine Its Mysteries and Science. Amberley: UK.
Revill, Jo (6/16/2004) Black Death blamed on man, not rats. The Guardian UK News https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/16/health.books (9/14/2022)
Streeter, Richard. Dugmore, Andrew J. Vésteinsson, Orri. PNAS. Edited by Georgina Endfield, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, and accepted by the Editorial Board November 28, 2011 (received for review September 20, 2011) Plague and landscape resilience in premodern Iceland | PNAS (9/12/2022)
Vilhjálmsson, Þorsteinn. (1/28/2005). How long did the Viking voyages take? Icelandic Web of Science. Web of Science: How long did the Viking voyages take? (why.is) (9/2/2022)
Comments
Post a Comment