Francesco da Montefeltro

The church and a multitude of other people from every nation have come to the conclusion that the reason this merciless plague has struck us is because God is unleashing his wrath upon us, punishing us for our sins. It is believed that the disease is in the air, and in order to put an end to this madness we must purify the air and cleanse it of all disease. For that reason many of my fellow neighbors have been lighting enormous fires, day in and day out.

On my way to another patient, I stop dead in my tracks when I see smoke in the sky. I think it’s one of those purification fires, until the smell hits my nostrils and terror sinks deep into my stomach. The overwhelming scent of smoke and burning flesh encapsulates me, and I quickly understand what is happening. I have only heard whispering rumors and baseless allegations, but it seems that the masses have concluded that this horrible plague that has struck our nations is the fault of none other than the Jews. The story that they’ve poisoned our wells in order to strike us while we’re down has unfurled, but I would have never imagined that they would take action based on those rumored words. I follow the smoke and peek around the corner, to witness the abominable scene.

It devastates me to state that this was be my first encounter of such a horrific display of violence but not my last. The burning of Jews was an act quickly spread everywhere, with massacre after massacre occurring. In the February of 1349, I had heard the worst of news concerning this matter. Our neighboring Parisians rounded up all the Jews of Strasbourg, brought them forth to a burial ground where every last one except the few that agreed to conversion were burned alive. Two thousand died that day. To make matters worse, there is word that the plague had not even reached that area yet.

I do not know how this is possibly an effective preventative measure, or whether what any of us are doing is going to save us from this damnation. All I can do is pray that those who we've lost and those in danger right now may find peace. Meanwhile, I will continue to do what I can to help my patients, although I sense a strange feeling of fatigue and pulses of inflammation course through my body... something does not feel right.