Military life/warfare during the Black death plague book request

[Hessen20]

I have a term paper coming up on the plague of 1348-9 and I was wondering if you guys new of any books that would cover anything to do regarding the plague and military matters. Thank you.

[T-Rex]

What do you mean military matters? The Black Death was a plague brought on over from the east by merchant ships (rats). I do not see how it could have become a military matter aside from affecting the health of said armies. I say stick to how the plague affected the social fabric of the people as well as their morality.

[budgie]

That's going to be a hard one. The worst outbreak in 1348-9 was a medieval Ebola: short-lived but incredibly devestating. That was all it took to wipe out - by some accounts - a quarter to a half of Europe's population.

As warfare was more a privately-financed affair and fuedal kingdoms rarely had standing armies, most participants would have been far too occupied putting out fires at home. With their whole societies crumbling about them, peasants and landholders dropping like flies, it would be hard enough for the great lords to manage their own estates. It's probably safe to say that most campaigns in that brief period were suspended or cancelled due to the plague.

Probably better to go with existing texts on the subject and eke out what information you can about any wars or campaigns that had been planned or underway, then draw your own conclusions as to the effect, because I doubt you'll have time to find something covering military life in particular. However, I bet you can come up with some kind of inference by digging around the topic. Any book that covers the plagues and specifically that first outbreak as its main focus would be a good place to start.

[camerashy]

I have a term paper coming up on the plague of 1348-9 and I was wondering if you guys new of any books that would cover anything to do regarding the plague and military matters. Thank you.
Recently saw a history channel show on the plague...apparently the Mongols knew what they were doing when they catapulted their dead into European fortifications...no shizzle.

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

That's going to be a hard one. The worst outbreak in 1348-9 was a medieval Ebola: short-lived but incredibly devestating. That was all it took to wipe out - by some accounts - a quarter to a half of Europe's population.

As warfare was more a privately-financed affair and fuedal kingdoms rarely had standing armies, most participants would have been far too occupied putting out fires at home. With their whole societies crumbling about them, peasants and landholders dropping like flies, it would be hard enough for the great lords to manage their own estates. It's probably safe to say that most campaigns in that brief period were suspended or cancelled due to the plague.

Probably better to go with existing texts on the subject and eke out what information you can about any wars or campaigns that had been planned or underway, then draw your own conclusions as to the effect, because I doubt you'll have time to find something covering military life in particular. However, I bet you can come up with some kind of inference by digging around the topic. Any book that covers the plagues and specifically that first outbreak as its main focus would be a good place to start.

The English and French were fighting it out non stop during the Hundred Years War when the Plague hit. English used this as a chance to devastate France even more during the Edward of Woodstock's (The Black Prince) Poitiers Campaign in which more aristocrats of France were killed then by the Black Death.