This article is about the series of outbreaks of plague, 541–767. For the first episode of the First Plague Pandemic, 541–549, see Plague of Justinian.
The first plague pandemic was the first historically recorded Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Also called the early medieval pandemic, it began with the Plague of Justinian in 541 and continued until 750 or 767; at least fifteen or eighteen major waves of plague following the Justinianic plague have been identified from historical records.[1][2][3] The pandemic affected the Mediterranean Basin most severely and most frequently, but also infected the Near East and Northern Europe,[4] and potentially East Asia as well.[5] The Roman emperor Justinian I's name is sometimes applied to the whole series of plague epidemics in late Antiquity.
The pandemic is best known from its first and last outbreaks: the Justinianic Plague of 541–549, described by the contemporary Roman historian Procopius, and the late 8th century plague of Naples described by Neapolitan historian John the Deacon in the following century (distinct from the much later Naples Plague). Other accounts from contemporaries of the pandemic are included in the texts of Evagrius Scholasticus, John of Ephesus, Gregory of Tours, Paul the Deacon, and Theophanes the Confessor; most seem to have believed plague was a divine punishment for human misdeeds.[4]
^Glatter, Kathryn A.; Finkelman, Paul (February 2021). "History of the Plague: An Ancient Pandemic for the Age of COVID-19". The American Journal of Medicine. 134 (2): 176–181. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.08.019. PMC 7513766. PMID 32979306. S2CID 221882331.
^Arrizabalaga, Jon (2010), Bjork, Robert E. (ed.), "plague and epidemics", The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662624.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-866262-4, retrieved 2020-05-16, The first - called the Plague of Justinian and described by Procopius - spread through Europe and Asia Minor from Egypt in 541 and included fifteen epidemics until 767
^Stathakopoulos, Dionysios (2018), "Plague, Justinianic (Early Medieval Pandemic)", The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8, retrieved 2020-05-16, bubonic plague that began in 541 and returned in some eighteen waves (approximately one every twelve years) until 750
^ abStathakopoulos, Dionysios (2018), "Plague, Justinianic (Early Medieval Pandemic)", The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8, retrieved 2020-05-16
^Cite error: The named reference CompleteHistoryoftheBlackDeath was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 25 Related for: First plague pandemic information
The firstplaguepandemic was the first historically recorded Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis...
The third plaguepandemic was a major bubonic plaguepandemic that began in Yunnan, China, in 1855. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited...
followed the firstplaguepandemic that began in the 6th century with the Plague of Justinian, but had ended in the 8th century. Although the plague died out...
epidemic. Due to the long time spans, the firstplaguepandemic (6th century – 8th century) and the second plaguepandemic (14th century – early 19th century)...
Peninsula until 549. By 543, the plague had spread to every corner of the empire. As the first episode of the firstplaguepandemic, it had profound economic...
the plague. Epidemics were common in the ancient world, but the Antonine plague was the first known pandemic of the Roman Empire. The Antonine plague spread...
centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that originated in Central Asia in 1331 (the first year of the Black Death)...
The Black Death was a bubonic plaguepandemic occurring in Europe from 1346 to 1353. One of the most fatal pandemics in human history, as many as 50 million...
history, there have been a number of pandemics of diseases such as smallpox. The Black Death, caused by the Plague, wiped out up to half of the population...
The Plague of Cyprian was a pandemic that afflicted the Roman Empire from about AD 249 to 262, or 251/2 to 270. The plague is thought to have caused widespread...
the plague are grouped into three plaguepandemics, whereby the respective start and end dates and the assignment of some outbreaks to either pandemic are...
post-pandemic. Death rates were particularly high in those aged 20–35. The only comparable disease to this was the Black Death, or bubonic plague, in the...
during the firstplaguepandemic and toward the end of the Muslim conquest of the region. It was likely a reemergence of the mid-6th-century Plague of Justinian...
Ctesiphon. The Plague of Shiruye was one of several epidemics that occurred in or close to Iran within two centuries after the firstplaguepandemic was brought...
The Firstpandemic may refer to: Firstplaguepandemic (541), also known as the Plague of Justinian First cholera pandemic (1817–1824) "Pandemic" (South...
Probably bubonic plague, it was part of the first plague pandemic that followed the great plague of Justinian, which began in the 540s and may have killed...
The plague of 664 was an epidemic that affected Great Britain and Ireland in 664 AD, during the first recorded plaguepandemic. It was the first recorded...
(2007). "Life and Afterlife of the FirstPlaguePandemic.". In Little LK (ed.). Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541–750. Cambridge University...
Europe had a severe outbreak of the plague with a peak from 1708 to 1712. This epidemic was probably part of a pandemic affecting an area from Central Asia...
perceived impact of the Athenian plague on collective social and religious behavior echoes accounts of the medieval pandemic best known as the Black Death...
The Great Plague of Marseille, also known as the Plague of Provence, was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Western Europe. Arriving in Marseille...
septicemic plague and pneumonic plague, were also present. Second plaguepandemic Great Plague of London Great Plague of Vienna Bubonic Plague Black Death...
The 1894 Hong Kong plague, part of the third plaguepandemic, was a major outbreak of the bubonic plague in Hong Kong. While the plague was harshest in 1894...
The Hittite Plague or Hand of Nergal was an epidemic, possibly of tularemia, which occurred in the mid-to-late 14th century BC. The Hittite Empire stretched...
the pandemic. The disease's spread extended to the Adriatic. It made its way to the island of Brač in modern-day Croatia. Black Death Bubonic plague Second...