Arrival, Spread, & Effect of the PlagueThe plague came to Europe from the East, most probably via the trade routes known as the Silk Road overland, and certainly by ship oversea.
Explanation:
The Black Death – a combination of bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague (and also possibly a strain of murrain) – had been gaining momentum in the East since at least 1322 CE and, by c. 1343 CE, had infected the troops of the Mongol Golden Horde under the command of the Khan Djanibek (r. 1342-1357 CE) who was besieging the Italian-held city of Caffa (modern-day Feodosia in Crimea) on the Black Sea.
