What was the Italian Plague of 1629-1631?
Q: What was the Italian Plague of 1629-1631?
A: The Italian Plague of 1629-1631 was a group times when many people in northern Italy caught bubonic plague from 1629 to 1631. This epidemic, often called the Great Plague of Milan, killed about 280,000 people.
Q: How did it spread?
A: German and French soldiers carried the plague to the city of Mantua in 1629 because of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Venetian troops, infected with the disease, retreated into northern and central Italy, spreading the disease to more people. In October 1629, the plague reached Milan, Lombardy's commercial center.
Q: How many people died in Milan?
A: In the city Milan, it killed about 64,000 people which was 25% of Milan's population. It killed between 12% and 60% of all the people in Italy.
Q: What other cities were affected by this outbreak?
A: The papal city of Bologna lost an estimated 15,000 citizens to the plague with neighboring smaller cities such as Modena and Parma also being heavily affected. This outbreak also spread north into Tyrol which is an alpine region located in western Austria and northern Italy.
Q: Were there any later outbreaks in Italy?
A: Yes there were later outbreaks including Florence from 1630-1633 and areas surrounding Naples, Rome and Genoa from 1656-1657.
Q: What pandemic did this outbreak stem from?
A: This outbreak stemmed from a pandemic known as Black Death or bubonic plague that began during medieval times.
