The year is 1338. The young Samnaq thunders out of the central Asian Chuy Valley on his horse. Away from the new disease. The Black Death. Leaving is the only way to save herself. But where is he safe? And can medieval society cope with such a devastating epidemic?
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This literature was used in the making of this episode of Wilde Eeuwen:
The conversations between Petrarch and Samnaq are taken almost verbatim from two of Petrarch’s poems (Canzoniere 363 and 364) and from his letter of May 1349 which can be found in John Asberth (2005) The Black Death. The Great Mortality of 1348-1350 A Brief History with Documents, Palgrave McMillan. Samnaq Jr. is a fictional figure, but his father’s grave really exists, described in this groundbreaking study into the origins of the Black Death Maria A. Spyrou et al. (2022) ‘The source of the Black Death in fourteenth-century central Eurasia’ , in Nature vol. 606, pp 718–724
Ole J. Benedictow (2021) The Complete History of the Black Death, The Boydell Press
Monica Green (2020) ‘The Four Black Deaths’ in The American Historical Review, Vol 125, 5, pp 1601–1631
WP Blockmans (1980) ‘The social and economic effects of plague in the Low Countries 1349-1500’ in Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire, Vol 58, 4, pp. 833-863;
Richard H. Steckel (ed) The Backbone of Europe Health, Diet, Work and Violence over Two Millennia, Cambridge University Press
- Text and presentation:
- Hendrik Spiering
- Editing, directing and editing:
- Elze van Driel
- Music, editing and mixing:
- Rufus van Baardwijk
- Final editing:
- Mirjam van Zuidam & Iddo Havinga
- Image:
- Jeen Berting
- Design:
- Yannick Mortier