The Black Death (Kaffa Genesis)

I spent the hot afternoon clearing overgrown blackberry brambles from the gravel path near the old well-house. It was physical, mind-numbing work, but when I stepped back inside, the transition was jarring. The air inside the house is stubbornly cold, holding onto the dampness of the cellar regardless of the August heat. In the desk drawer under the terminal, the folder marked “1347” sits at the very front of the steel cabinet labeled CONTAGION. My mother’s handwriting on this tab is uncharacteristically large, almost hurried, as if she wanted to index it and move on.

The dossier concerns the Siege of Caffa, which took place between 1345 and 1347 at the Genoese trading port of Caffa, located in modern-day Feodosia, Crimea. During the final stages of the siege in 1346, the besieging Mongol army of the Golden Horde, led by Khan Jani Beg, suffered a swift and devastating outbreak of a lethal disease. Modern molecular archaeology has since identified the pathogen as the plague, Yersinia pestis.

According to the primary contemporary chronicler, a notary named Gabriele de’ Mussi who wrote the Historia de morbo sive mortalitate quae fuit Anno Dni MCCCXLVIII, the Mongol command utilized their siege engines to launch the rotting corpses of infected soldiers over the city walls. De’ Mussi described the falling bodies as “arrows raining down from heaven,” capturing the sheer terror of the defenders. The contemporary accounts claim that the catapulted corpses created an “intolerable stench” that poisoned the city’s air and water supply.

While this account is frequently cited as one of the earliest instances of biological warfare, modern historians maintain a degree of skepticism. Many scholars argue that the catapulting of bodies was either a dramatic literary device or a minor factor in the city’s infection, suggesting instead that the plague entered Caffa through infected rats or human-to-human transmission via fleas and lice.

The ultimate result, however, remains undisputed. In 1347, Genoese survivors fled the port on ships bound for Mediterranean destinations, including Italy. These vessels became the primary vector for the introduction of the Black Death into Europe, initiating a pandemic that would claim an estimated 40 to 50 million lives across Europe and the Near East. My mother’s notes in the margin focus on these fleeing vessels, which contemporary writers eventually termed “death ships.” She wrote: “They believed the sea would wash them clean, but they only carried the ledger to a larger stage.”

It is 02:45 now. I should probably rest, but my head has been throbbing since this afternoon. When I walked down the driveway to check the mailbox, a sudden, violent wave of vertigo hit me about two hundred meters from the house. It was so intense my nose began to bleed in the dry heat. I must be more exhausted than I care to admit.

I am sending this to Lukas over the line. If it only exists here, it doesn’t exist.

>>> BEGIN CAPTURE
FILE CONTAGION/1347/BLA-004
SUBJECT: siege of Caffa and vector of Black Death
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siege of Caffa occurred 1345--1347.
Genoese trading port of Caffa, modern Feodosia, Crimea.
Mongol army of Golden Horde led by Khan Jani Beg.
outbreak of plague, Yersinia pestis, in 1346.
notary Gabriele de' Mussi wrote contemporary account.
described Mongol forces launching infected corpses over walls.
Genoese survivors fled on ships in 1347.
vessels introduced Black Death to Europe.
pandemic claimed estimated 40 to 50 million lives.
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M. NOTE: They believed the sea would wash them clean,
but they only carried the ledger to a larger stage.
>>> END CAPTURE