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A terrifying plague ravaged Europe for nearly 400 years – but one surprising group had the most to fear

A terrifying plague ravaged Europe for nearly 400 years – but one surprising group had the most to fear

Far from a great leveller, new research argues that a deadly plague outbreak in 17th-century Switzerland fell hardest on young labourers who could not afford to stay at home

A medieval manuscript illustration showing flagellants processing through the streets of Tournai in 1349. The penitents, wearing pointed hoods and simple garments, scourge themselves while carrying religious banners and a crucifix during the Black Death.

Piers Mucklejohn

Published: August 4, 2026 at 11:15 AM

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For about 370 years, the people of medieval and early modern Europe lived in fear of the plague.

The infectious disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, first arrived on the continent in 1347. Spread by fleas living on rats, the Black Death ravaged major cities and rural villages alike, killing as many as 50 million people, between a third and half of Europe’s population.

The “pestilence”, as it was commonly known, did not vanish after this pandemic. It continued to regularly break out in smaller epidemics around Europe until the early 18th century. Those who fell ill exhibited terrifying symptoms, which varied depending on the type of plague they had.

Bubonic plague caused buboes – painful swellings, usually in the groin, armpits or neck; septicaemic plague could turn skin black; and the pneumonic plague, which might make a person cough up blood, was spread in tiny airborne droplets when a person coughed or sneezed.

The plague was widely feared as a sign of God’s wrath. Many contemporary accounts portrayed the disease as a great leveller which touched all parts of society – whether peasants, aristocrats, clergy or royalty.

But new archaeological research on burial sites in Switzerland suggests the disease was not an impartial killer, with higher death rates among poor, young labourers who could not afford to stay at home.

Who were the victims of Switzerland’s last plague epidemic?

Researchers at the University of Basel examined the remains of 15 people buried in the former cloister garden of a 17th-century monastery-turned-hospital in Basel, one of the largest cities in Switzerland.

DNA testing revealed that at least five had been infected with the Yersinia pestis bacterium. Each of the four graves contained multiple bodies, indicating they were buried during a plague epidemic which caused mass casualties.

A clay pipe found on one of the skeletons – bearing an artisan’s insignia – allowed the archaeologists to date their burials to the final major plague outbreak in Switzerland, which reached Basel in 1667.

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The average age at death among the burials was remarkably young, at just 17.7 years, and only four had lived beyond 20 years old. Most of the skeletons exhibited signs of strenuous physical activity, including four individuals who had previously suffered fractured bones. A number had spinal or shoulder lesions – damaged tissue caused by injuries – which were common among urban apprentices and workers.

These findings, published in the journal Antiquity, suggest working youths from the lower social classes were most likely to die in early modern plague outbreaks.

Swiss towns repeatedly faced waves of epidemic disease into the early modern period, with epidemics persisting until the 17th century, even as authorities increasingly turned to quarantines, health boards and other practical measures alongside religious explanations | Credit: Getty Images

Why were poor, young labourers so vulnerable to the plague?

Physiological stress, a poor diet and ill-health are all known to increase a person’s susceptibility to the plague and other illnesses. Young labourers with physically demanding jobs were particularly vulnerable – especially if they could not stay at home, struggled to afford food and did not have access to medical care.

“Work strain was of particular interest for us, as this represents one of the most important factors for vulnerability during a pandemic,” explains osteoarchaeologist Laura Rindlisbacher, who led the research. “If somebody can’t forgo work to survive, even the danger of contracting a deadly disease cannot stop these persons from working.”

Plague epidemics were especially dangerous because Basel’s council, wanting to protect trade, refused to close the city gates, which helped the disease spread through the city’s busy markets and then along trade routes into Italy and beyond. An outbreak in 1610 killed 3,500 inhabitants (about 30 per cent of the city’s population).

Read more | It felt like the end of the world, but this medieval ‘apocalypse’ left a legacy no one saw coming

Wealthier citizens often tried to avoid the plague by fleeing the city, whereas the poor lived in unhygienic, cramped conditions that increased their risk of infection. Pamphlets and letters from the time allude to this inequality – but this new study offers direct evidence.

“What’s really exciting about this piece of research is the multidisciplinary approach and, in particular, the use of archaeology,” Alex Bamji, associate professor of early modern history at the University of Leeds, tells HistoryExtra. “A lot of the research suggesting that social status impacted plague has been based on documentary sources, so it’s exciting to see it confirmed by the study of human remains.”

Because manual labour could lead to injury, Bamji believes this research has a broader historical relevance.

She notes: “This research doesn’t just tell us something about plague, it also tells us something about disability, about the impact of manual work on people’s bodies – and that’s a real growth area of interest among scholars.”

What can a centuries-old plague tell us about illness today?

The researchers hope to make 17th-century socioeconomic divisions relevant to the present day through comparison with a much more recent pandemic: Covid-19.

Alongside the young ages of the Basel plague victims, Rindlisbacher says: “We were also surprised by how clearly some of the social determinants of well-being and survival observed during the Covid-19 pandemic also emerged for the early modern period.”

Even within the lower classes, those with less access to medical care or social support networks – including non-citizens and servants – bore the brunt of the epidemic.

Several academic studies have similarly suggested that the Covid-19 pandemic revealed inequalities in society, including in the UK – with some professions or communities impacted more than others.

The Black Death

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For Marc Oxenham, emeritus professor of bioarchaeology at the Australian National University, however, this new study needs to go further to justify its conclusions. Though academics have long linked plague mortality with conditions such as stress and poor health, it requires substantial evidence to show that one was caused by the other.

“They are not demonstrating that this occurred in their study. They simply can’t as they don’t have any control samples,” Oxenham tells HistoryExtra. “I’d also point out that a sample of 15 is not enough to prove anything.”

Despite this, Rindlisbacher tells HistoryExtra that this initial research “was never intended to be more than a case study of the 15 confirmed plague victims”, but only “to present the individuals, the genetic data and the historical context of the 1667–68 plague outbreak”.

She adds that she and her co-researchers are in the final stages of a more comprehensive study that will include comparisons with other graves.

What’s indisputable is that these plague victims, unearthed beneath what is now a concert hall in central Basel, are yet more grim evidence of the devastation wreaked by the plague for hundreds of years. For those who survived, like the Covid-19 pandemic for many of us, it was an ordeal they would not forget.

“A lot of people who lived in cities would experience one epidemic of plague during their lifetime,” Bamji observes. “In a way, that’s a bit like the impact of Covid. That may be the single pandemic that affects any of us in our lifetimes, but it’s obviously had a massive cultural impact.”

Authors

Piers MucklejohnFreelance journalist

Piers is a journalist with a BA in History from the University of Exeter and a master’s degree in Early Modern History from the University of Oxford.