The Score of Death. Plague Epidemics in Europe 1347-1600

VladAtanasiu, AnneTournieroux 2008-9

This page provides various visualizations of plague epidemics that killed an estimated one half of the European population during the Middle Ages.

Dataset

Source: Jean-Noël Biraben, Les Hommes et la peste en France et dans les pays européens et méditerranéens, Paris/La Haye, Mouton/École des hautes Études en sciences sociales, 1975-6.
Download: Datasets > Bernstein > Biraben

Credits

Idea: EzioOrnato
Data digitization: AnneTournieroux
Technical and artistic implementation, text: VladAtanasiu

Timeline animation

The red dots mark localities where plague occurred during the year indicated on the time counter.

Download: flv format (flv reader)
Credits: Music: Sonne, Ramstein, 2001; Images: dance: Graffiti at the Kent Street Canvas, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, photo by Johnny Ballgamme; virus: The Learning Company; flea source unkonwn

Static timeline

A plague count by locality and year of occurrence.

Density maps

Density of localities of occurrence. (All localities have same weight, density rendered with kernel point density method in ArcGIS 9.3.)

Note...

Recurrence of occurrences. (Each locality is weighted by the number of years during which it was hit by plague.) Note...

Limitations : A better understanding would come from maps taking into account the distribution of all localities including the ones not hit by plague, as well as the population of the localities.

-- VladAtanasiu - 28 Jul 2009