ABSTRACT
The impact of plague epidemics could vary a great deal by location and social conditions, and different people might experience plague differently, depending upon their geographic location, social status, and type of exposure to the pathogen. Plague had medical and religious dimensions that were often inextricably linked. Similarly, plague was simultaneously perceived through cultural lenses and helped to shape culture itself. Exposure to plague does not appear to lead to “a long-lasting immunological memory that will protect exposed individuals from future plague infections.” Because of the complexity of the immune system, the individual level of immune competence can vary based on biological as well as social and environmental conditions. Plague catastrophes also helped to create and inform communal memory and they often led to civic and religious rituals, including processions and pilgrimages. Theories of resilience note the importance of memory and narrative, as well as communal structures and learning from experience.
