What caused the Great Plague of Marseille?

On May 25, 1720, a ship named the Grand Saint-Antoine arrived in the port of Marseille, France, laden with cotton, fine silks, and other goods. The invisible cargo it also carried, the bacteria known as Yersinia pestis, launched the Great Plague of Provence, the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe.

How long did the plague of Marseille last?

It lasted until 1722 and cost nearly half the population their lives. The last cases of plague in Marseille occurred during the epidemic of 1919 and 1920 [27], which echoes the plague that struck ragpickers in Paris in 1920 [28].

What plague happened in the 14th century?

The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. The plague arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina.

When did the Black Death hit Marseille?

In the spring of 1720, the bubonic plague arrived in the southern port city of Marseilles, France. When on May 25, 1720, boil-covered bodies arrived aboard a Syrian ship in the French port of Marseilles, a quarantine was immediately put into effect.

Was the Great plague of Marseille a pandemic?

This great outburst of plague was the last recurrence of a pandemic of bubonic plague, following the devastating episodes which began in the early fourteenth century; the first known instance of bubonic plague in Marseille was the arrival of the Black Death in the autumn of 1347.

How long did the first cholera pandemic last?

The disease eventually made its way to European territory, reaching modern-day Turkey, Syria and Southern Russia. The pandemic died out 6 years after it began, likely thanks to a severe winter in 1823–1824, which may have killed the bacteria living in water supplies.

What ended the Black Plague?

1346 – 1352
Black Death/Periods

Where did the Great plague of Marseille start?

In 1720, Yersinia pestis arrived at the port of Marseille from the Levant upon the merchant ship Grand-Saint-Antoine. The vessel had departed from Sidon in Lebanon, having previously called at Smyrna, Tripoli, and plague-ridden Cyprus.