[Absalon Pederssøn's report on the plague in Bergen during 1565-1567]

The plague in Bergen 1565-67 was reported by Absalon Pederssøn, a citizen of Bergen, in his diary. The diary describes the onset of the epidemic and reports the deaths from day to day. The plague was brought to Bergen on about 10th August 1565 by a ship from Danzig. Altogether 1,500 people died of bubonic plague in Bergen, i.e. 21-25% of its population. The peaks of the epidemic occurred during the autumn months of 1565 and 1566. In both years the city was almost free from plague from February to July. During the first phase the infection must have been transmitted by rat fleas, but human fleas were the carrier during the cold autumn months. The recurrence in August 1566 and 1567 must have been due to the establishment of a plague reservoir among the rats in the grain stores.