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Plague of Justinian

This article is about the first episode of the First Plague Pandemic, 541–549. For the series of plague pandemics, 541–767, see First plague pandemic.
Plague of Justinian
see caption
Saint Sebastian pleads with Jesus for the life of a gravedigger afflicted during the plague of Justinian. (Josse Lieferinxe, c. 1497–1499)
DiseaseBubonic plague
LocationMediterranean basin, Europe, Near East
Date541–549
A characteristic of Yersinia pestis infection is necrosis of the hand. (photo from 1975 plague victim)
A map of the Byzantine Empire in 550 (a decade after the Plague of Justinian) with Justinian's conquests shown in green

The plague of Justinian or Justinianic plague (AD 541–549) was an epidemic that afflicted the entire Mediterranean Basin, Europe, and the Near East, especially the Sasanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire.[1][2][3] The plague is named for the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) who, according to his court historian Procopius, contracted the disease and recovered in 542, at the height of the epidemic which killed about a fifth of the population in the imperial capital.[1][2] The contagion arrived in Roman Egypt in 541, spread around the Mediterranean Sea until 544, and persisted in Northern Europe and the Arabian Peninsula until 549. By 543, the plague had spread to every corner of the empire.[4][1]

The plague's severity and impact remain debated. Some scholars assert that as the first episode of the first plague pandemic, it had profound economic, social, and political effects across Europe and the Near East and cultural and religious impact on Eastern Roman society.[5] Others reject the cataclysmic view, arguing for a limited impact.

In 2013, researchers confirmed earlier speculation that the cause of the plague of Justinian was Yersinia pestis, the same bacterium responsible for the Black Death (1346–1353).[6] Ancient and modern Yersinia pestis strains are closely related to the ancestor of the Justinian plague strain that has been found in the Tian Shan, a system of mountain ranges on the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and China, suggesting that the Justinian plague originated in or near that region.[7][8] However, there would appear to be no mention of bubonic plague in China until the year 610.[9]

  1. ^ a b c 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
  2. ^ a b 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
  3. ^ Floor, Willem (2018). Studies in the History of Medicine in Iran. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. p. 3. ISBN 978-1933823942. The Justinian plague (bubonic plague) also attacked the Sasanian lands.
  4. ^ Meier, Mischa (August 2016). "The Justianic Plague: The economic consequences of the pandemic in the Eastern Roman empire and its cultural and religious effects". Early Medieval Europe. 24 (3): 267–292. doi:10.1111/emed.12152. S2CID 163966072.
  5. ^ Gârdan, Gabriel-Viorel (2020). ""The Justinianic Plague": The Effects of a Pandemic in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages". Romanian Journal of Artistic Creativity. 8 (4): 3–18. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Modern lab reaches across the ages to resolve plague DNA debate". phys.org. May 20, 2013.
  7. ^ Eroshenko, Galina A.; et al. (October 26, 2017). "Yersinia pestis strains of ancient phylogenetic branch 0.ANT are widely spread in the high-mountain plague foci of Kyrgyzstan". PLOS ONE. 12 (10): e0187230. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1287230E. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0187230. PMC 5658180. PMID 29073248.
  8. ^ Damgaard, Peter de B.; et al. (May 9, 2018). "137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes". Nature. 557 (7705): 369–374. Bibcode:2018Natur.557..369D. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0094-2. hdl:1887/3202709. PMID 29743675. S2CID 13670282.
  9. ^ Sarris, Peter (August 2002). "The Justinianic plague: origins and effects" (PDF). Continuity and Change. 17 (2): 171. doi:10.1017/S0268416002004137. S2CID 144954310. Retrieved 7 December 2023.

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