A recent study by academics at the Museum of London has found that Black women of African descent were more likely to die from the medieval plague in London. The research, the first archaeological exploration of its kind, shows how racism influenced a person’s risk of death during what was known as the Great Pestilence or Great Mortality. The study was based on 145 individuals from three cemeteries and found there were significantly higher proportions of people of colour and those of Black African descent in plague burials compared to non-plague burials. The outbreak is believed to have claimed the lives of 35,000 Londoners.
The research showed that the likelihood of dying from the Great Pestilence was highest among those who already faced significant hardship, including exposure to famines that hit England during this time. The study found that higher death rates amongst people of colour and those of Black African descent were a result of the “devastating effects” of “premodern structural racism” in the medieval world. Social and religious divisions based on origin, skin colour, and appearance were present both in medieval England and Europe.
Today often referred to as the Black Death, the outbreak of 1348-1350 was a deadly infectious disease that swept across Asia and Europe, killing millions of people. The disease was carried by rats who had infected fleas, and also transmitted by droplet infection, such as people coughing on each other. Symptoms included fever, fatigue, vomiting and buboes (large swellings). More than half the population of London died, and emergency cemeteries had to be set up to bury them.
Dr Rebecca Redfern, from the Museum of London, said: “We have no primary written sources from people of colour and those of Black African descent during the Great Pestilence of the 14th Century, so archaeological research is essential to understanding more about their lives and experiences. As with the recent Covid-19 pandemic, social and economic environment played a significant role in people’s health and this is most likely why we find more people of colour and those of Black African descent in plague burials.”
The research takes a deep dive into previous thinking about population diversity in medieval England based on primary sources. Combining bioarchaeological method and theory with forensic anthropological methods permits a more nuanced analysis of this very important data. The research adds to our knowledge about the biosocial factors that affected risks of mortality during medieval plague epidemics, and it shows that there is a deep history of social marginalization shaping health and vulnerability to disease in human populations, according to Professor Sharon DeWitte, a biological anthropologist from the University of Colorado
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