The Black Death 1346-1353 as Eurasian Pandemic — Mongol Trade Routes, Egypt + Syria + Maghreb + Persia + China as Equal Victims (Monica Green Refusal of Eurocentric Framing)

Recite FOUR PROMISES. Then: 'Was the Black Death a European pandemic?'

• Recite FOUR PROMISES
• Collect guesses (most students will say yes)
• Reveal: NO. The Black Death was a EURASIAN pandemic — Egypt, Syria, Maghreb, Persia, and China were equally devastated. Per Monica H. Green 2014 'Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World: Rethinking the Black Death,' the Eurocentric framing is wrong. Today: refusing the framing absolutely.

MG-15 TRAUMA-INFORMED PROTOCOL ACTIVE — content includes mass-mortality pandemic + antisemitic pogrom response. YERSINIA PESTIS — the plague bacterium identified by Alexandre Yersin 1894 — originated in Central Asian rodent reservoirs (marmots + rats). Recent genetic-archaeology studies (Krause + Cui + Spyrou 2010s-2020s) trace strain emergence to Central Asia c. 1320s with rapid spread. CAFFA SIEGE 1346: Mongol Golden Horde under Jani Beg besieged Genoese trading-colony Caffa (Crimea). Plague broke out in Mongol camp. Per Gabriele de Mussi's 1348 account (Christian-European secondary source), Mongols catapulted plague-corpses over walls — first documented biological warfare (account is disputed; plague may have spread by other means). Genoese ships fled Caffa 1347 carrying plague to Sicily, Marseille, and Alexandria SIMULTANEOUSLY. 1347-1353 EURASIAN PANDEMIC: ~30-60% mortality across multiple regions. Mortality estimates by region: Italy ~50-60%; England ~40-60%; Egypt ~30-40%; Syria ~30%; Maghreb ~25-30%; China possibly 30%+. Total ~75-200 million deaths. Per Monica Green 2014 anchor — Eurasian-pandemic framing replaces Eurocentric 'European pandemic' framing absolutely. Multiple perspectives: BOCCACCIO 'Decameron' 1353 — Italian-Christian humanist response, frame-story of 7 women + 3 men sheltering from plague + telling stories; documents Florence response + grave-digging + family-abandonment. ibn KHATIMA + ibn al-KHATIB — Granadan Andalusi-Muslim physicians who wrote scientific plague treatises 1348-1349 attempting to identify causes (miasma theory) + transmission (recognized contagion); ibn al-Khatib's 'A Convincing Discourse on the Pestilence' refuted miasma-only theory in favor of person-to-person contagion — proto-epidemiology 500 years before germ theory. ibn KHALDUN's Muqaddimah autobiographical passage 1349: 'It was a destructive plague that decimated nations and caused populations to vanish... I lost my mother + father + many of my teachers... I was 17 years old at the time.' Personal grief integrated into theoretical work. al-MAQRIZI Egyptian Mamluk chronicler writing 14th-15th c. documents Cairo mortality of ~40% + economic disruption. CHINESE YUAN SHI records document 1331-1334 plague in Hebei province + further outbreaks 1340s — predates the Caffa siege and points to Central Asian origin. RESPONSE TO PLAGUE: Western Christian Europe saw FLAGELLANT movements + ANTISEMITIC POGROMS as scapegoating response (Strasbourg massacre 1349 + Mainz 1349 + Cologne 1349 — Jewish communities massacred on false charge of well-poisoning); Islamic world generally rejected scapegoating responses with religious-acceptance framing in al-Khatib + Khatima treatises. POST-PLAGUE Eurasian transformation: labor scarcity → wage increases → feudal-system erosion in Western Europe + Mamluk-Egyptian commercial reconfiguration; population recovery 100+ years.

• MG-12 Connection-FIRST + Pax Mongolica is the trade-integration that ENABLED the Eurasian pandemic.

  model Per Monica Green 2014 anchor: the Black Death was a EURASIAN pandemic, not a European one. Egypt, Syria, Maghreb, Persia, China — all major regions experienced ~25-50% mortality. The Eurocentric framing centers Italy + England + France as the 'plague' story while marginalizing Cairo + Damascus + Tabriz + Hebei as equally-devastated centers. al-Maqrizi documents Cairo ~40% mortality; Yuan Shi documents 1331-1334 Hebei plague PREDATING Caffa siege. Banks Level-3 refuses Eurocentric framing absolutely.

  prompt Why is the Eurocentric 'European plague' framing wrong?
• Banks Level-3 — Islamic-world scientific response was sophisticated.

  model Both Granadan Andalusi-Muslim physicians wrote scientific plague treatises during the pandemic. ibn al-Khatib's 'Muqni'at al-Sa'il' ('A Convincing Discourse on the Pestilence') refuted Galenic miasma-only theory in favor of person-to-person contagion based on EMPIRICAL OBSERVATION — he noted that those who isolated from the sick (mountain shepherds + nuns + jailed prisoners) escaped plague; those who associated with the sick contracted it. This is proto-epidemiology 500 years before germ theory. ibn Khatima wrote 'Tahsil al-Gharad al-Qasid fi Tafsil al-Marad al-Wafid' similarly. Refuses 'Islamic-world ignored plague' Orientalist framing.

  prompt How did ibn Khatima + ibn al-Khatib practice proto-epidemiology in 1348-49?
• Multi-perspective response analysis.

  model WESTERN CHRISTIAN EUROPE: flagellant movements (self-flagellating processions for repentance); antisemitic pogroms scapegoating Jewish communities (Strasbourg massacre 1349 + Mainz 1349 + Cologne 1349 — Jewish communities massacred on false charge of well-poisoning); intensive religious processions; family-abandonment. ISLAMIC WORLD: generally rejected scapegoating with religious-acceptance framing (plague = test from God to be borne with patience); medical treatises by ibn Khatima + ibn al-Khatib applying proto-epidemiology; community continuation. CHINESE YUAN: weakened state response contributed to Yuan dynasty's fall to Ming 1368 (post-plague rebellion). DIFFERENT communities responded with different cultural-religious-political frames. MG-15 trauma-informed protocol — name antisemitic-pogrom violence honestly while centering survivors + bishop-protectors (similar to Lesson 14).

  prompt How did communities respond differently to the plague?

• Why is the Eurocentric 'European plague' framing wrong?
• Name 3 Islamic-world plague-response primary sources.
• Apply MG-7 Q1-7 to a Boccaccio Decameron excerpt + an ibn al-Khatib excerpt + corroborate.

M-7-F-ECO-19-A Map

Map of Afro-Eurasia c. 1346-1353 showing Black Death diffusion paths. Origin in Central Asian rodent reservoirs (marked with magenta). 1346 Caffa siege marked. 1347 Genoese-Venetian ship-routes spreading plague to Sicily (October 1347) + Marseille (November 1347) + Alexandria (autumn 1347) SIMULTANEOUSLY. 1348 pan-Mediterranean peak — Italy + Maghreb + Egypt + Syria + Persia. 1349 England + Northern Europe + Hungary. 1351-1353 Russia + Scandinavia. Mortality estimates by region: Italy ~50-60% (red); England ~40-60% (red); Egypt ~30-40% (orange); Syria ~30% (orange); Maghreb ~25-30% (orange); China ~30%+ (orange) [Yuan Shi 1331-1334 outbreaks marked separately]. Caption: 'The Black Death was a EURASIAN pandemic, not a European one. Per Monica Green 2014, refuses Eurocentric framing absolutely.'

• Apply MG-7 Q1-7 to 250 words from Boccaccio Decameron preface on Florence plague 1348 + 250 words from ibn al-Khatib's 'A Convincing Discourse on the Pestilence' 1348-49 side-by-side. Identify points of agreement + divergence in observation + response.

  scaffold Both sources Q1-2 pre-filled
• On MG-17 Pax Mongolica diffusion map, trace Black Death diffusion 1346-1353: Central Asian origin → Caffa 1346 → 1347 Genoese-Venetian carriers to Sicily + Marseille + Alexandria SIMULTANEOUSLY → 1348 pan-Mediterranean + Egypt + Maghreb + Persia peak → 1349 England + Northern Europe → 1353 Russia + Scandinavia.

  scaffold Pre-printed diffusion map with chronological markers

M-7-F-ECO-19-B Chart

Side-by-side primary-source excerpts. LEFT: Boccaccio Decameron preface excerpt (250 words on Florence 1348 — symptoms, mortality, family-abandonment, grave-digging). RIGHT: ibn al-Khatib 'A Convincing Discourse on the Pestilence' 1348-49 excerpt (250 words on contagion theory — empirical observation that isolated communities like mountain shepherds + jailed prisoners escaped plague while those who associated with sick contracted it — refuting Galenic miasma-only theory in favor of person-to-person contagion). MG-7 Q5 corroboration prompts. Caption: 'Florence Christian humanist + Granada Andalusi-Muslim physician — independent observations corroborating Eurasian-pandemic + contagion-recognition. ibn al-Khatib was practicing proto-epidemiology 500 years before germ theory.'

MG-7 Diagram

MG-7 SEVEN-QUESTION SOURCE CARD — primary instructional scaffold for ALL source analysis in the unit. 8.5x11 inch double-sided laminated card. Front: Seven questions with sentence-frame scaffolds. (1) WHO created this source? (Wineburg sourcing) (2) WHEN was it created and where? (Wineburg contextualization) (3) WHY was it created and for whom? (Wineburg sourcing — purpose + audience) (4) WHAT does it say + show + leave out? (Wineburg close reading) (5) WHAT do OTHER sources say? (Wineburg corroboration) (6) WHOSE living descendants connect to this source today? (NMAI 5th — present-tense protocol) (7) WHOSE GOLDEN AGE does this source name — and whose golden age does it occlude? (NEW G7-Fall 7th — Banks Level-3 transformative move; refuses single-narrative golden-age framing). Back: scaffolded sentence frames for each question.

• Why is the Eurocentric 'European plague' framing wrong?
• Apply MG-7 Q5 corroboration to Boccaccio + ibn al-Khatib in 75 words.

• Recite the FOUR PROMISES
• Preview Lesson 20
• Update I-STILL-WONDER chart MG-22

• Read Green 2014 'Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World' Introduction excerpt.