Author: Alex Brown, Associate Professor of Medieval History, Durham University

Graffiti inscription about the Black Death at St Mary's church, Ashwell Jack1956/Wikipedia, CC BY Memories of pandemics are often contentious. They can be disputed, uncomfortable and politically charged. As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to feel more distant, governments, communities and families have started asking how it should be remembered. Efforts range from personal memorials for […]

The Dance of Death by John of Kastav (1490). National Gallery of Slovenia In our research in the British Library’s medieval collections, we have identified a previously unnoticed document that provides fresh insights into the survivors of the outbreak of plague known as the Black Death (1346–53). The document – a scrap of parchment inserted […]