為什麼克拉科夫地區在十四世紀的黑死病中免受災難?

01-30

偶然發現一個細節，根據維基百科「the Black Death「條目中的圖片File:Blackdeath2.gif ，
歐洲的Cracow地區在十四世紀黑死病幾乎傳遍整個歐洲時卻免受災難，這是為什麼？

引用自：middle ages - Why was Poland spared from the Black Death?

Poland wasnt actually "spared", it was merely less affected than the rest of Europe. That graphic is incorrect (or rather, incomplete), since a substantial number of both Poland and Milans population did in fact die of the plague. Their death rates were only "low" in comparison to the rest of Europe - if it happened today, it would be horrifying to us.

Poland lost about a quarter of its population to the plague (...) Milans death rate was less than 15%, probably the lowest in Italy save a few Alpine villages.
- Gottfried, Robert S. Black Death. New York: The Free Press, 1983.

Nonetheless, it is true that Poland did survive the Black Death relatively unscathed. In addition to Polands relatively sparse population, a key factor is that King Casimir the Great wisely quarantined the Polish borders. By holding the plague off at the borders, the diseases impact on Poland was softened.

During Kazimierzs reign, the Black Death, a pandemic infection, swept across Europe, killing millions. But Poland established quarantines at its borders, and the plague skirted Poland almost entirely.
- Zuchora-Walske, Christine, Poland, North Mankato: ABDO Publishing, 2013.

The quarantines effectiveness was further enhanced by Polands relative isolation. While heavily hit regions such as the Mediterranean coast were densely interlinked with trade, the same was generally not true of Poland. When the Black Death arrived, this isolation helped insulate the Poles from the plague.

[M]uch larger areas, such as central Poland ... locations off the beaten trail and not along the more popular trade routes were more likely to be on the lookout for ill travelers, foreigners, or perhaps not even be visited by outsiders at all. We believe that it was the exclusion of medieval traders and pilgrims that would significantly account for the lightly-affected Medieval Black Death regions

- Welford, Mark, and Brian H. Bossak. "Revisiting the Medieval Black Death of 1347–1351: Spatiotemporal Dynamics Suggestive of an Alternate Causation." Geography Compass 4.6 (2010): 561-575.

Additionally, it has often been claimed that that Poland fared better due to having fewer rats. Two popular explanations offered for this theory is that Poland had more cats, or alternatively less food for rats.

The absence of plague in Bohemia and Poland is commonly explained by the rats avoidance of these areas due to the unavailability of food the rodents found palatable.
- Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made. Simon and Schuster, 2001.

It is, however, more likely that the local climate was simply less conductive to the plagues spread.

此回答下有人補充到：

Since my only reference is my (Polish) wife, Ill just add this as a comment. Poland at the time mostly forest, with significant distances between settlements. Casmir introduced internal quarantines (as well as those at the borders), so that travelers (especially caravans) had to wait some distance outside cities for a period before entering. He also conducted significant building works, with some exaggeration, Poles say that Casmir found a Poland built of wood and left a Poland built of brick. From the link above, and this "quote" about building, Poland was clearly rich, also a plus factor.

回答大意：

1. 此wiki的示意圖可能不準確。波蘭等地區並非幸免於難，而是相對於其他地區死亡率較低。

2.波蘭地區相對人口密度不大，而且當時的國王建立了隔離區。

3.波蘭當時相對重度感染區比如地中海沿岸而言，沒有那麼繁華，沒有那麼多貿易線路。所以外人來的少，與外界的交流少。相對感染機會小。

4.波蘭老鼠少，因為老鼠可以吃的少，而且貓多。

5.當地氣候抑制了瘟疫。

補充的：

波蘭當時多森林，各個聚居區相距遠，國王封鎖了邊境，國家內部也設置了隔離區，外來的旅者/商人必須在外面等一段時間才能進入。還有就是波蘭當時比較有錢。

反對樓上方若愚先生觀點，我不知道題目的答案，但只想指出方若愚先生的錯誤。

波蘭至今是歐洲反猶情緒最濃重的地區之一（雖然今天波蘭幾乎已經沒有猶太人了），黑死病肆虐的同時，波蘭民族共同體形成，主要就是依靠天主教的傳播以及天主教這一時期高昂的反猶主義，天主教會用波蘭語宣教，描述了一幅猶太人傳播疾病、聚斂財富的危險圖景，使得這些斯拉夫部落有了共同的假想敵，聚攏在教會的羽翼下。波蘭語、天主教、反猶主義共同構造了波蘭民族。

黑死病通常被認為是鼠疫，但鼠疫非但不畏懼嚴寒，反而畏懼乾熱的氣候。黑死病流行期間正是歐洲氣侯相對低溫的時期，隨著氣候的轉暖和降水量的減少，黑死病也逐漸淡出歷史舞台。我國鼠疫也主要高發於高寒牧區和北方草原。

黑死病流行期間，波蘭以南的其他國家即使不是統一的（與今天的義大利相比，義大利當時是分裂的，但時當時的米蘭、熱那亞等都是富強獨立的國家），至少在穩定方面也不輸于波蘭瑞典。

黑死病流行不需要同一穩定的環境，穩定的社會條件下繁榮的商貿往來和宗教控制反而為黑死病流行製造便利。

a. 14世紀黑死病肆虐歐洲，許多猶太人社區因為注意衛生，並且與基督教人群和區域相對隔離，疫情相對不嚴重。因為落後的衛生條件和醫療措施，還有一些觀念上認知的問題，教會和統治集團控制不了疫情，一些人開始轉移矛盾，指向異教徒。大量猶太人受到迫害。波蘭國王庇護猶太群體。大量猶太人遷入克拉科夫。

b. 波蘭政府的救治和抑制措施產生了作用。

c.小冰期之前，歐洲經濟保持穩定的增長，南部和西部較溫暖地區農作物產量穩定，物產較為豐富。小冰期的到來給這些地區帶來較大的變化，相反波蘭地區冬季較為寒冷，農作物原本就單一，影響較之小。

d. 波蘭以北或同緯度區域，14世紀大都處於原始或封建割據時期。13世紀初，波蘭重新統一，1385年王朝聯合，在14世紀至以後黑死病反覆肆虐的時期，波蘭大多處於統一狀態。更加寒冷的北歐，瑞典於11世紀形成統一王國，經過幾次戰爭和宗教信仰變遷，1399丹麥女王成為三國共主。（挪威，瑞典，丹麥）

俄羅斯國家直到15世紀末才擺脫蒙古人的控制。曾經讀過一個觀點，蒙古人對於黑死病的認知或許比歐洲人高。對於游牧民族，沒有固定生活地點，而且蒙古人也遵守弱者病者扔了算了那一套嘛，可能如此吧。俄羅斯國家地區和北歐地區本就苦寒，按道理老鼠和病毒都死光了吧…應該是他們太不注意啦哈哈

克拉科夫很美，聖誕假期要去那裡走走，還要去奧斯威辛，希望下雪??！好像這個話題下寫這個不太合適…