Some comments on the spread of the Black Death in Russia and Eurasia

Abstract

The article analyzes the process of the «Black Death» in the spaces of Eurasia and Russia. In the light of the latest advances in Yersinia pestis paleogenetics, epidemiology, climatology, and the study of historical sources, a host of scientific questions were resolved. This first affected a number of well-established historical facts since the bombing by troops of the Golden Horde Khan of Janibik in 1346 of the besieged Italian colony in the Crimea of Kafa. Many of them, despite all the scientific advances that have been made to date, have received little critical consideration. At the same time, the biggest shortcomings of the study of the Black Death until recently were the lack of a unified theoretical point of view. The article therefore focused on the convergence of the existing concepts of the emergence and spread of the second plague pandemic in Eurasia in the middle Ages. The study identified in pandemic processes the role of different types of plague hotspots, climate change, anthropogenic factors, urban development in densely populated areas and the road network of the Eurasian space. The poly variate start and implementation of the pandemic waves «Black Death» was recognized. The data thus obtained have allowed the motorist to rethink some of the issues related to the chronological interpretation of the events of the second plague pandemic.