There it is…
I’ve been waiting for this! Someone uncovered a manuscript – actually, just a piece of paper stuck in a book – with details of 22 peasant survivors of the Black Death.
The WHO says survivors are 30% to 60% for bubonic plague (though the pneumonic form is 100% fatal if untreated). That’s got to be a lot of people who were sick and got better; I’ve always been curious why we hear so little about them.
According to this document, the quickest recovery was a week and the longest nine weeks, but they all came back to working the land.
Picture is Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Triumph of Death (and not AI slop for once).
Posted: May 27th, 2026 under personal.
Comments: 1
Comments
Comment from Uncle AL
Time: May 27, 2026, 10:57 pm
Maybe we don’t hear much about the plague survivors because it was so awful for everybody they just wanted to shut it out of their minds.
Those such as Bruegel who delved into the Destruction part of Creation have been a pretty small minority. His work is captivatingly awesome (or awesomely captivating, I can’t decide). Bruegel was inspired/influenced by Bosch, who was of similar mind.
I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to spend a day at El Prado in Madrid some 35 years ago and was able to appreciate this Bruegel as well as The Garden of Earthly Delights and many more of the masterpieces in that unique place. Moreover, the museum had very few visitors when I was there, I don’t know why, but I had more than a half hour to myself simply standing a few feet front of the Bosch; I had few interruptions. Certainly no crowds with attendant crowd control like at the Louvre. If any of you find yourself in Spain please try to get to Madrid and El Prado, you’ll thank yourselves.
p.s. Don’t overlook the Italian natural stone mosaic tables and furniture scattered throughout the place. It’s all magnificent.
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