October 1347

Black Death

Plague-bearing Genoese galleys arrive at Messina

Messina's first response was to drive twelve galleys back out of the harbour — but the disease stayed behind.

Early October 1347: twelve galleys in the harbour

The Sicilian chronicle traditionally attributed to Michele da Piazza reports that twelve Genoese galleys entered Messina's harbour near the beginning of October 1347, carrying a deadly disease. The account gives the month but no exact day.

The galleys arrived from the already affected eastern Mediterranean and exposed the residents of a major Sicilian port.

Swellings, blood, three days

According to the chronicle, Genoese passengers and Messinese who interacted with them developed painful swellings, spat blood and died rapidly — the chronicler reports three days from violent blood-spitting to death.

That language records contemporary observation, including a belief in transmission by breath and contact. It cannot identify the biological vector by modern standards.

Expelled too late

When Messina's inhabitants connected the mortality with the arriving galleys, they expelled the ships from the harbour and city. Transmission had already occurred: plague remained, deaths multiplied, and residents began fleeing, carrying the danger beyond the port.

Two framings deserve care. Messina was a crucial entry point into Latin Western Europe, not the first European city affected — Constantinople had already suffered plague — and the twelve galleys should not automatically be described as a single direct refugee fleet from Kaffa.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 3 audit passes

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

The month and approximate beginning-of-month timing are directly stated by the Sicilian chronicle, but no exact day is given.
The chronicle calls the vessels Genoese but does not establish that all twelve sailed directly from Kaffa without intermediate stops.
The source describes perceived breath and contact transmission; it cannot identify the biological vector by modern standards.
The chronicle is traditionally attributed to Michele da Piazza, but Treccani notes that the surviving Historia Sicula is actually anonymous.