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Article: The Temporal Dynamics of the Fourteenth-Century Black Death: New Evidence from English Ecclesiastical Records
- Article from:
- Human Biology
- Article date:
- August 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Wayne State University Press Aug 2003. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Abstract Recent research has questioned whether the European Black Death of 1347-1351 could possibly have been caused by the bubonic plague bacillus Yersinia pestis, as has been assumed for over a century. Central to the arguments both for and against involvement of Y. pestis has been a comparison of the temporal dynamics observed in confirmed outbreaks of bubonic plague in early-20th-century India, versus those reconstructed for the Black Death from English church records-specifically, from lists of institutions (appointments) to vacated benefices contained in surviving bishops' registers. This comparison is, however, based on a statistical error arising from the fact that most of the ...