The Siege

In 1347, the Genoese city of Caffa was besieged by Tartar armies. The men who had laid siege to the city, unable to achieve their goal, began to die, victims of a terrible and inexplicable mortality rate. Powerless to achieve their objective, they ordered the bodies of the dead to be thrown over the walls. Soon the air became infected and the water poisoned. Some managed to escape using trade routes, but their ships, infested with infected rats, caused the disease to spread through various ports in Europe. The Black Death killed approximately 25-30 million people.