Qualla: The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/g/1/messina-wk/messina-harbour-aerial-view.jpg Qualla: The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse: Introduction https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival/ Photo credit Public domain. In October 1347, twelve Genoese galleys limped into the harbor of Messina, Sicily. Most of the sailors were dead. The survivors were dying - covered in black boils oozing blood and pus, delirious with fever, dead within days. The people of Messina tried to drive the ships away, but it was too late. The rats had already come ashore. The plague had arrived in Europe. Over the next five years, the Black Death would kill between 75 and 200 million people - perhaps a third to half of Europe's population. It was the most devastating pandemic in human history, and it began with twelve ships returning from the Black Sea.

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]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/g/1/black-death-arrival-wk/sqg1-the-arrival-of-the-black-death-when-ships-brought--intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse: The Origin https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival/ Photo credit Patrick1977, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Black Death originated in Central Asia - probably modern-day Kyrgyzstan, where cemetery records show a spike in deaths from 'pestilence' around 1338-1339. It spread along the Silk Road trade routes, reaching Crimea by 1346. Genoese merchants had a trading post at Caffa (mode...

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Image: Patrick1977 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/g/1/black-death-arrival-wk/sqg1-the-arrival-of-the-black-death-when-ships-brought--the-origin.mp3 0:06 2 full The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse: The Ships https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival/ Photo credit Rino Porrovecchio from Palermo, Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0. The death ships reached Messina in early October 1347. The Sicilians were horrified - the sailors were already dying, covered in black buboes that gave the disease its name. Authorities ordered the ships to leave, but the rats and fleas that carried the disease had already gone a...

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Image: Rino Porrovecchio from Palermo, Italy | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/g/1/black-death-arrival-wk/sqg1-the-arrival-of-the-black-death-when-ships-brought--the-ships.mp3 0:06 3 full The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse: The Death https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival/ Photo credit Jeanne Griffin, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Black Death killed in three forms. Bubonic plague attacked the lymph nodes, causing the characteristic black swellings. Pneumonic plague attacked the lungs, spreading through coughs and breath. Septicemic plague attacked the bloodstream, killing within hours. All three were a...

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Image: Jeanne Griffin | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/g/1/black-death-arrival-wk/sqg1-the-arrival-of-the-black-death-when-ships-brought--the-death.mp3 0:06 4 full The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse: The Search https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival/ Photo credit Antonello da Messina, Public domain. The medieval world had no understanding of contagion. The plague was blamed on divine punishment, planetary alignment, earthquakes releasing poisonous vapors, and, notoriously, on Jews - who were massacred across Europe despite papal condemnation. Flagellants roamed the countrysi...

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Image: Antonello da Messina | Public domain

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/g/1/black-death-arrival-wk/sqg1-the-arrival-of-the-black-death-when-ships-brought--the-search.mp3 0:06 5 full The Arrival of the Black Death: When Ships Brought the Apocalypse: The Aftermath https://qualla.com/black-death-arrival/ Photo credit Jeanne Griffin, CC BY-SA 4.0. By 1353, the first wave of the Black Death had passed, leaving perhaps 50 million dead in Europe alone. But the plague returned again and again over the following centuries, killing millions more. It didn't truly end until the 18th century. The social and economic effects were r...

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Image: Jeanne Griffin | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/g/1/black-death-arrival-wk/sqg1-the-arrival-of-the-black-death-when-ships-brought--the-aftermath.mp3 0:06 6 full