[Black Death in Constantinople (1343-1466]

The Black Death visited Constantinople eleven times between 1348, when the epidemic surged in the Mediterranean world, and 1466 when our inquiry ends. We know of these visits from the writings of eye-witnesses who describe their experiences in correspondence written at that time, in stories reconstructed retrospectively, or in theological discussions. After having related the story of these eleven epidemic episodes, this article will try to catch, through these sources, the medical perception of the plague by contemporaries, its social consequences and its psychological, spiritual and theological repercussions.