Two victims of the Black Death exhibiting buboes, a telltale sign of the disease.
Introduction and Scope
Guide to Abbreviations
Subject Headings and Browsing Areas
Bibliographies
Encyclopedias
Historical Atlases
Reference Sources
Other Print Sources
Journal Articles
Online Sources
Introduction and Scope
In 1347, a group of Mongols laid seige to the port city of Caffa in present-day Ukraine. An Italian ship was able to escape to Sicily, but much of the crew was dead or dying. Unbeknownst to the men, their ship was infected with bubonic plague which then spread throughout all of Europe, killing 30 to 40 percent of the population - all from one tiny ship. Today it is known that the disease is spread through the bite of an infected flea, an insect which was abundant during the unsanitary Middle Ages. The past few years have brought along new revelations regarding the disease. A number of historians now believe that bubonic plague may not have been the cause of the Black Death.
This pathfinder is aimed at high school and college students. It is intended to provide the user with general information about the Black Death through print and electronic sources available from the Lakeland Public Library and the Polk County Library Cooperative, as well as sources available to all on the world wide web. Most resources provide a general overview of the topic. A number of sources go much more in-depth, discussing the cause and effects of the disease, as well as social, economic, and political ramifications of the Black Death.
Guide to Abbreviations
Though the materials in this pathfinder are found primarily at Lakeland Public Library, the institution is part of the Polk County Library Cooperative. Patrons can easily request circulating materials from any library in the Cooperative to be delivered to another. Materials found in the Other Print Sources category contain abbreviations which correlate to the library in which they are located. The libraries are as follows:
BPL - Bartow Public Library, Bartow FL
LPL - Lakeland Public Library, Lakeland FL
LWPL - Lake Wales Public Library, Lake Wales FL
Subject Headings
Browsing Areas
When searching for information on the Black Death, many keywords can yield an overwhelming amount of information. Browsing the following areas of the library's reference and circulating non-fiction collections may help to narrow the search for print sources:
614.5 -- Incidence and Prevention of Specific Diseases
940 -- European History
-- Within the 940s, one could also browse through each country which was affected by the Black Death, such as England (942) or France (944), and so on.
When conducting a search online, it is easiest to use the keyword "Black Death", as well as a specific topic or country of choice.
For example, a person studying the religious aspect of the Black Death may want to search "Black Death" AND monks, or "Black Death" AND religion.
Infected monks. Religious figures were often the highest demographic of the diseased, as they had to perform last rites on the sick and dying.
Bibliographies
The Lakeland Public Library does not contain many print bibliographies. If looking for Black Death bibliographies specifically, it may be best to look at author bibliographies in the back of the books found in the Other Print Sources category.
Yaakov, J. (Ed.). (2002). Senior high school library catalog. New York: The HW Wilson Co. (R 011.62 SEN)
This general bibliography can provide a researcher with call numbers to browse. It specifically named a book about the Black Death under call number 614.5.
Encyclopedias
These articles can be found in general encyclopedias in the reference section of the Lakeland Public Library:
Black Death. (1997). In The Oxford companion to British history. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (R 941.003 OXF)
Black Death. (1998). In Medieval England: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing. (R 942 MED)
Bubonic Plague. (2008). In Compton's by encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 3). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. (R 031 COM v.3)
Plague. (2006). In The world book encyclopedia (Vol. 15). Chicago: The World Book. (R 031 WOR v.15)
These articles can be found in medical encyclopedias also located in the general reference section of the Lakeland Public Library. They simply discuss the plague, and not specifically the Black Death:
Plague. (2008). In Magill's medical guide (Vol. 4). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, Inc. (R 610.3 MAG v.4)
Plague. (2008). In Infectious diseases: In context (Vol. 2). Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group. (R 616.003 INF v.2)
Historical Atlases
Historical atlases are large books containing maps which tell a story. The books below which discuss the Black Death show the spread of the disease. They also contain text which discusses the effects and economy of Europe after the Black Death. The following atlases can be found in the general reference section of the Lakeland Public Library:
Barraclough, G. (Ed.). (1983). The times atlas of world history. Maplewood, NJ: Hammond, Inc. (R 911 T58t)
O'Brien, P.K. (Ed.). (1999). Oxford atlas of world history. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (R 911 OXF)
Reference Sources
These books can be found in the general reference section of the Lakeland Public Library:
Evans, J. (Ed.). (1966). The flowering of the Middle Ages. New York: McGraw-Hill Co. (R 914.031 E92f)
Discusses the role of the Black Death in the decline of the Middle Ages.
Singman, J.L. (1999). Daily life in Medieval Europe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. (R 940.1 SIN)
This book briefly touches upon the Black Death. It may be a useful resource to show life before the plague, which could then be compared to life during the plague.
Workers carry away coffins and bury the dead at an alarming rate.
Other Print Sources
It is important to note that many advances have been made in researching the Black Death over the past five years or so. Information prior to 2000 may no longer reflect the current research trend in the Black Death, and old information should be supplemented with newer materials highlighting recent discoveries.
Bray, R.S. (1996). Armies of pestilence: The impact of disease on history. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. (LPL - 614.49 BRA)
Highlights the after effects of the Black Death and how the disease impacted Medieval Europe. It also covers the previous 3rd century Justinian outbreak of plague, as well as other catastrophic diseases.
Cantor, N.F. (2001). In the wake of the plague: The Black Death and the world it made. New York: Free Press. (LPL - 614.57 CAN)
Cantor's account of the Black Death focuses on England and thus gets very specific at times. The author also discusses the benefits of the Black Death, something which is somewhat unheard of in other works about the disease.
Dunn, J.M. (2000). Life during the Black Death. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. (LPL - YA 614.5732 DUN)
Though a young adult book, Life During the Black Death is a very valuable tool. It has a plethora of images and maps, as well as all basic information on the Black Death. It is especially good when studying the social aspect of the disease, as it discusses life during the time period as well as issues such as burial.
Gottfried, R.S. (1983). The Black Death: Natural and human disaster in medieval Europe. New York: Free Press. (LWPL - 940.192 Got Rb)
Gottfried focuses on the types of plague and how they are spread, as well as the history of the disease. He also discusses how people dealt with the disease, and exactly how the Black Death changed the dynamic of Medieval society.
Kelly, J. (2005). The great mortality: An intimate history of the Black Death, the most devastating plague of all time. New York: Harper Collins. (LPL - 614.5732 KEL)
The Great Mortality is a good piece of revisionist history, as it focuses on the idea that the Black Death may not have been a form of plague. Kelly hypothesizes that it may have been anthrax, ebola, or perhaps a combination of many diseases.
McMullin, J. (Ed.). (2003). Great disasters: The Black Death. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. (LPL - YA 614.57 MCM)
This YA book contains short essays from others regarding the Black Death, such as Cantor also featured on this list. There are also a handful of sources from shortly after the Black Death discussing medical aspects of the outbreak.
Nikiforuk, A. (1993). The fourth horseman: A short history of epidemics, plagues, famine, and other scourges. New York: M. Evans and Co. (BPL - 614.4 NIK)
The Fourth Horseman covers various endemics throughout history, but also touches upon the Black Death. He argues that people are always living with diseases, but that a balance is upset and a disease takes over.
Orent, W. (2004). Plague: The mysterious past and terrifying future of the world's most dangerous disease. New York: Free Press. (LPL - 614.5732 ORE)
This book has a section on the Black Death with very accurate and vivid descriptions of the disease from a medical standpoint. It discusses symptoms and treatments for the disease with many first-person quotes.
Ziegler, P. (1969). The Black Death. (LPL - 940.17 ZIE)
This book gives an overview of the spread of the plague from Asia to Europe in 1347. It also contains numerous illustrations, as well as art from the time period.
Databases
The following databases can be accessed through the Polk County Library Cooperative website using a PCLC library card:
Credo Reference: Using the general keyword search in all subjects, simply type "Black Death" and search. The database will return results from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases, among others. The user may also limit their search by subject, type of reference material, type of media, date published, and related peoples.
Gale Databases: The Gale databases give users access to a variety of useful reference materials online such as General OneFile, Academic OneFile, Health Reference Center, InfoTrac World History E-collection, and popular magazines, all of which could prove useful when researching the Black Death.
InfoTrac: Through the "Florida Electronic Library" link, the Infotrac site allows patrons to search for virtually anything. A search of "Black Death" yielded nearly 1000 results, all broken down into categories such as magazines, academic journals, books, news, and multimedia. Within academic journals, the user can then choose from book reviews, abstracts, short articles, and more.
Online Sources
The following online sources can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection through the world wide web:
Black Death: This website created by historian Dr. Mike Ibeji for BBC which covers the arrival of the Black Death to the British Isles. The page also contains a timeline which details the spread of the disease throughout towns in Britain.
Black Death: This site is geared toward high school students, but again gives a very thorough overview of all aspects of the disease in an easy-to-understand manner.
Black Death: Professor J.P. Sommerville's site for his English History course at the University of Wisconsin has fast facts about the Black Death, including statistics and maps.
The Black Death: Dr. Knox, a professor at Boise State University, gives a very brief overview of the Black Death and related topics. This site would serve as a good starting point, perhaps to narrow down a research topic from the Black Death to something more specific about the time period, such as movements or effects.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Fordham University's Internet Medieval Sourcebook contains a small section on the Black Death with links to primary sources.
Sarah A. Dockray
In 1347, a group of Mongols laid seige to the port city of Caffa in present-day Ukraine. An Italian ship was able to escape to Sicily, but much of the crew was dead or dying. Unbeknownst to the men, their ship was infected with bubonic plague which then spread throughout all of Europe, killing 30 to 40 percent of the population - all from one tiny ship. Today it is known that the disease is spread through the bite of an infected flea, an insect which was abundant during the unsanitary Middle Ages. The past few years have brought along new revelations regarding the disease. A number of historians now believe that bubonic plague may not have been the cause of the Black Death.
This pathfinder is aimed at high school and college students. It is intended to provide the user with general information about the Black Death through print and electronic sources available from the Lakeland Public Library and the Polk County Library Cooperative, as well as sources available to all on the world wide web. Most resources provide a general overview of the topic. A number of sources go much more in-depth, discussing the cause and effects of the disease, as well as social, economic, and political ramifications of the Black Death.
Guide to Abbreviations
Though the materials in this pathfinder are found primarily at Lakeland Public Library, the institution is part of the Polk County Library Cooperative. Patrons can easily request circulating materials from any library in the Cooperative to be delivered to another. Materials found in the Other Print Sources category contain abbreviations which correlate to the library in which they are located. The libraries are as follows:
BPL - Bartow Public Library, Bartow FL
LPL - Lakeland Public Library, Lakeland FL
LWPL - Lake Wales Public Library, Lake Wales FL
Subject Headings
- Black Death
- Black Death--Bibliography
- Black Death--Economic aspects
- Black Death--England
- Black Death--Etiology
- Black Death--Europe
- Black Death--Europe--Maps
- Black Death History
- Black Death--Poland
- Black Death--Scandinavia
- Black Death--Social aspects
- Bubonic plague
- Medieval history
- Medieval medicine
- Plague
- Plague--Byzantine Empire--History--To 1500
- Plague, Cattle
- Plague--England--Case studies
- Plague--Europe
- Plague--History
- Plague--History--Sources
- Plague--History--To 1500
- Plague--Maps
- Plague--Political aspects
- Plague--Religious aspects
- Plague--Transmission
Browsing Areas
When searching for information on the Black Death, many keywords can yield an overwhelming amount of information. Browsing the following areas of the library's reference and circulating non-fiction collections may help to narrow the search for print sources:
614.5 -- Incidence and Prevention of Specific Diseases
940 -- European History
-- Within the 940s, one could also browse through each country which was affected by the Black Death, such as England (942) or France (944), and so on.
When conducting a search online, it is easiest to use the keyword "Black Death", as well as a specific topic or country of choice.
For example, a person studying the religious aspect of the Black Death may want to search "Black Death" AND monks, or "Black Death" AND religion.
Infected monks. Religious figures were often the highest demographic of the diseased, as they had to perform last rites on the sick and dying.
Bibliographies
The Lakeland Public Library does not contain many print bibliographies. If looking for Black Death bibliographies specifically, it may be best to look at author bibliographies in the back of the books found in the Other Print Sources category.
Yaakov, J. (Ed.). (2002). Senior high school library catalog. New York: The HW Wilson Co. (R 011.62 SEN)
This general bibliography can provide a researcher with call numbers to browse. It specifically named a book about the Black Death under call number 614.5.
Encyclopedias
These articles can be found in general encyclopedias in the reference section of the Lakeland Public Library:
Black Death. (1997). In The Oxford companion to British history. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (R 941.003 OXF)
Black Death. (1998). In Medieval England: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing. (R 942 MED)
Bubonic Plague. (2008). In Compton's by encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 3). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. (R 031 COM v.3)
Plague. (2006). In The world book encyclopedia (Vol. 15). Chicago: The World Book. (R 031 WOR v.15)
These articles can be found in medical encyclopedias also located in the general reference section of the Lakeland Public Library. They simply discuss the plague, and not specifically the Black Death:
Plague. (2008). In Magill's medical guide (Vol. 4). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, Inc. (R 610.3 MAG v.4)
Plague. (2008). In Infectious diseases: In context (Vol. 2). Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group. (R 616.003 INF v.2)
Historical Atlases
Historical atlases are large books containing maps which tell a story. The books below which discuss the Black Death show the spread of the disease. They also contain text which discusses the effects and economy of Europe after the Black Death. The following atlases can be found in the general reference section of the Lakeland Public Library:
Barraclough, G. (Ed.). (1983). The times atlas of world history. Maplewood, NJ: Hammond, Inc. (R 911 T58t)
O'Brien, P.K. (Ed.). (1999). Oxford atlas of world history. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (R 911 OXF)
Reference Sources
These books can be found in the general reference section of the Lakeland Public Library:
Evans, J. (Ed.). (1966). The flowering of the Middle Ages. New York: McGraw-Hill Co. (R 914.031 E92f)
Discusses the role of the Black Death in the decline of the Middle Ages.
Singman, J.L. (1999). Daily life in Medieval Europe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. (R 940.1 SIN)
This book briefly touches upon the Black Death. It may be a useful resource to show life before the plague, which could then be compared to life during the plague.
Workers carry away coffins and bury the dead at an alarming rate.
Other Print Sources
It is important to note that many advances have been made in researching the Black Death over the past five years or so. Information prior to 2000 may no longer reflect the current research trend in the Black Death, and old information should be supplemented with newer materials highlighting recent discoveries.
Bray, R.S. (1996). Armies of pestilence: The impact of disease on history. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. (LPL - 614.49 BRA)
Highlights the after effects of the Black Death and how the disease impacted Medieval Europe. It also covers the previous 3rd century Justinian outbreak of plague, as well as other catastrophic diseases.
Cantor, N.F. (2001). In the wake of the plague: The Black Death and the world it made. New York: Free Press. (LPL - 614.57 CAN)
Cantor's account of the Black Death focuses on England and thus gets very specific at times. The author also discusses the benefits of the Black Death, something which is somewhat unheard of in other works about the disease.
Dunn, J.M. (2000). Life during the Black Death. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. (LPL - YA 614.5732 DUN)
Though a young adult book, Life During the Black Death is a very valuable tool. It has a plethora of images and maps, as well as all basic information on the Black Death. It is especially good when studying the social aspect of the disease, as it discusses life during the time period as well as issues such as burial.
Gottfried, R.S. (1983). The Black Death: Natural and human disaster in medieval Europe. New York: Free Press. (LWPL - 940.192 Got Rb)
Gottfried focuses on the types of plague and how they are spread, as well as the history of the disease. He also discusses how people dealt with the disease, and exactly how the Black Death changed the dynamic of Medieval society.
Kelly, J. (2005). The great mortality: An intimate history of the Black Death, the most devastating plague of all time. New York: Harper Collins. (LPL - 614.5732 KEL)
The Great Mortality is a good piece of revisionist history, as it focuses on the idea that the Black Death may not have been a form of plague. Kelly hypothesizes that it may have been anthrax, ebola, or perhaps a combination of many diseases.
McMullin, J. (Ed.). (2003). Great disasters: The Black Death. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. (LPL - YA 614.57 MCM)
This YA book contains short essays from others regarding the Black Death, such as Cantor also featured on this list. There are also a handful of sources from shortly after the Black Death discussing medical aspects of the outbreak.
Nikiforuk, A. (1993). The fourth horseman: A short history of epidemics, plagues, famine, and other scourges. New York: M. Evans and Co. (BPL - 614.4 NIK)
The Fourth Horseman covers various endemics throughout history, but also touches upon the Black Death. He argues that people are always living with diseases, but that a balance is upset and a disease takes over.
Orent, W. (2004). Plague: The mysterious past and terrifying future of the world's most dangerous disease. New York: Free Press. (LPL - 614.5732 ORE)
This book has a section on the Black Death with very accurate and vivid descriptions of the disease from a medical standpoint. It discusses symptoms and treatments for the disease with many first-person quotes.
Ziegler, P. (1969). The Black Death. (LPL - 940.17 ZIE)
This book gives an overview of the spread of the plague from Asia to Europe in 1347. It also contains numerous illustrations, as well as art from the time period.
Databases
The following databases can be accessed through the Polk County Library Cooperative website using a PCLC library card:
Credo Reference: Using the general keyword search in all subjects, simply type "Black Death" and search. The database will return results from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases, among others. The user may also limit their search by subject, type of reference material, type of media, date published, and related peoples.
Gale Databases: The Gale databases give users access to a variety of useful reference materials online such as General OneFile, Academic OneFile, Health Reference Center, InfoTrac World History E-collection, and popular magazines, all of which could prove useful when researching the Black Death.
InfoTrac: Through the "Florida Electronic Library" link, the Infotrac site allows patrons to search for virtually anything. A search of "Black Death" yielded nearly 1000 results, all broken down into categories such as magazines, academic journals, books, news, and multimedia. Within academic journals, the user can then choose from book reviews, abstracts, short articles, and more.
Online Sources
The following online sources can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection through the world wide web:
Black Death: This website created by historian Dr. Mike Ibeji for BBC which covers the arrival of the Black Death to the British Isles. The page also contains a timeline which details the spread of the disease throughout towns in Britain.
Black Death: This site is geared toward high school students, but again gives a very thorough overview of all aspects of the disease in an easy-to-understand manner.
Black Death: Professor J.P. Sommerville's site for his English History course at the University of Wisconsin has fast facts about the Black Death, including statistics and maps.
The Black Death: Dr. Knox, a professor at Boise State University, gives a very brief overview of the Black Death and related topics. This site would serve as a good starting point, perhaps to narrow down a research topic from the Black Death to something more specific about the time period, such as movements or effects.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Fordham University's Internet Medieval Sourcebook contains a small section on the Black Death with links to primary sources.
Sarah A. Dockray
Basic Info Sources, Sect. 732
Updated 1 December 2008