Black Death: The Origin Story

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

The myth goes thus: the Black Death reached Christendom at the Siege of Caffa when Mongols catapulted diseased bodies over the walls. Where did we get this story? What actually happened at Caffa? And how did the Black Death really enter Europe?

Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney are joined by Professor Hannah Barker, medieval historian from Arizona State University. She's the author of That Most Precious Merchandise: The Mediterranean Trade in Black Sea Slaves, 1260-1500 and "Laying the Corpses to Rest: Grain Embargoes and the Early Transmission of the Black Death in the Black Sea, 1346-1347".

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.