N.Germany 1350 1358 1367 1376 1387–88 1396 Denmark 1350 1360 1368 1377 1387–89 1396 1349 1363 1370–71 1379–80 1389 England 1348–49 1360–62 1368–69 1379–83 1389–93 Sweden 1350 1359–60 1367–69 1374, 76–79 1389 1398 Norway 9 A very useful tool is now available to Swedish medievalists. The dataset SDHK(anonline resource at the National Archives since 2003) presents information on all known Swedish medieval documents. The SDHKwas initiated by Claes Gejrot and is now managed by Sara Risberg at the National Archives. 10 Myrdal 2003a, pp. 127, 251–54, and p. 139 on last wills made on the sickbed. 11 Myrdal 2003a, p. 160; Myrdal 2006, p. 154. Most peaks in testaments can be verified as plagues in three to six other sources, the exception is at the end of the 14th century, due to the paucity of other sources such as chronicles or tombstones. For Norway I am reworking the totality of sources, so the results are preliminary. 12 Source: Bisgaard 2009, p. 97; Myrdal 2012a, p. 223; for Norway also theRegesta Norvegica. – The numbers for Sweden have been adjusted following Björklund’s investigation. table2: Recorded outbreaks of plague in the second half of the fourteenth century.12 testaments as a source for everyday life timated the numbers for most of the period, but for the end of the fourteenth century and the decades around 1500 Björklund has identified a number of testaments not before registered as such inSDHK.9 Fromthe peak in the plague year (1350), a series of outbreaks followed.10 Thesewere compared with other sources in a source-pluralistic approach: chronicles, tombstones, miracle stories, etc. The match between these sources and the testaments was significant for the first two major outbreaks and for the plagues in the fifteenth century.11 To fortify the results, they can be compared with other countries in northern Europe. The lists for Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Lübeck are mainly based on testaments or deeds of gifts. For England the list is based on other sources, and for Norway the number of testaments in the second half of the 14th century is limited, but at least the years 1380 and 1389 can be investigated in this way. The plague bounced back and forth in northern Europe after the first three major outbreaks, and in the 15th century more localised plague out362
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