Caragea's plague
Encyclopedia
Caragea's plague or Caradja's plague was a bubonic plague
epidemic
that occurred in Wallachia
, mainly in Bucharest
, in the years 1813 and 1814. It coincided with the rule of the Phanariote
Prince John Caradja.
, the Ottoman
capital. A man in Caradja's retinue
grew sick and died. It is alleged that this was the source of the plague in Wallachia, although the next reported death from plague in Wallachia occurred in June 1813.
The plague was expected and in January 1813, Caradja founded two quarantine
hospitals, one in Teleorman and one in Giurgiu
.
. Quarantine was established, the gates of the city of Bucharest were closed and all the roads from Văcăreşti to Dealul Spirii
were guarded to prevent anyone from entering the city without permission.
Government clerks and priests had to check each house for plague infected people, all the foreigners and non-residents were expelled from the city and the beggars were sent to monasteries outside Bucharest. The money which came from the counties where the plague was spread (Ilfov, Vlaşca, Teleorman and Olt) had to be washed in vinegar and the number of gravediggers was increased to 60.
In spite of that, the plague continued to spread, mostly due to lack of qualified medical care. The July 1813 register books of the Wallachian government show that most of the decrees were related to the plague. Among the restrictions, meetings in pubs and coffee-shops were forbidden, alcohol being only sold for home consumption. The people who died had a simple burial with no attendants. The people who hid sick people or the peddlers ("both Jewish and Christians") were expelled from the city and their belongings were burnt. In August, due to the spread of the plague, the request to allow people to flee the city was approved, Caradja asking the ispravnic
s to take care to avoid contact with the villagers. To avoid crowds, markets and schools were closed down, most judicial proceedings were stopped and the people in the debtors' prison were freed.
Many of the new rules were not respected, despite the rulers' attempts, which included the spread of printed fliers. By August, the city became almost deserted, with even the doctors fleeing, as did Caradja, who moved his residence outside Bucharest, in Cotroceni
. The French consul said that two thirds of the Bucharesters fled.
Initially, sick people were to be committed to the Dudeşti
hospital (later also Cioplea and Băneasa
), but soon the 14 quarantine rooms of the unit were overrun, and the place became a simple mass grave.
People with immunity to the disease were hired as undertakers, and walked from door to door to gather corpses. The corpses were taken to the mass graves in Dudeşti and buried there. Often, dying people were taken also and buried alive, and sometimes beaten to death. An undertaker squad once reported that "we collected 15 dead today, but only buried 14, because one of them ran away". Sometimes, sick people with enough strength fought back, and killed the undertakers.
The highest mortality was in October 1813; the gravediggers couldn't even bury all the dead, and many of them were put in large pits, which were not covered and many "were eaten by dogs and other beasts". In February 1814, the last market still open, Târgul de Afară (Obor
) was closed down, but soon, the people returned to the city. In 1818 the quarantine hospitals of Plumbuita and Văcăreşti were closed down.
At the 1831 census (taken right after another cholera
epidemic), the population of Bucharest was about 60,000 people.
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
that occurred in Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, mainly in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, in the years 1813 and 1814. It coincided with the rule of the Phanariote
Phanariotes
Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar , the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariots were...
Prince John Caradja.
Alleged source
As Caradja came to Bucharest in 1812 after being appointed prince, the plague was already claiming victims in IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
capital. A man in Caradja's retinue
Retinue
A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers".-Etymology:...
grew sick and died. It is alleged that this was the source of the plague in Wallachia, although the next reported death from plague in Wallachia occurred in June 1813.
The plague was expected and in January 1813, Caradja founded two quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
hospitals, one in Teleorman and one in Giurgiu
Giurgiu
Giurgiu is the capital city of Giurgiu County, Romania, in the Greater Wallachia. It is situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda...
.
Outbreak and measures taken
There were reports of people with the plague on the streets of Bucharest as early as in April, but the first death attributed to bubonic plague was on 11 June 1813 in VăcăreştiVacaresti, Bucharest
Văcăreşti is a neighbourhood in south-eastern Bucharest, located near Dâmboviţa River and the Văcăreşti Lake. Nearby neighbourhoods include Vitan, Olteniţei and Berceni. Originally a village, it was included in Bucharest as it expanded...
. Quarantine was established, the gates of the city of Bucharest were closed and all the roads from Văcăreşti to Dealul Spirii
Dealul Spirii
Dealul Spirii is a hill in Bucharest, Romania, upon which, currently, the Palace of the Parliament is located....
were guarded to prevent anyone from entering the city without permission.
Government clerks and priests had to check each house for plague infected people, all the foreigners and non-residents were expelled from the city and the beggars were sent to monasteries outside Bucharest. The money which came from the counties where the plague was spread (Ilfov, Vlaşca, Teleorman and Olt) had to be washed in vinegar and the number of gravediggers was increased to 60.
In spite of that, the plague continued to spread, mostly due to lack of qualified medical care. The July 1813 register books of the Wallachian government show that most of the decrees were related to the plague. Among the restrictions, meetings in pubs and coffee-shops were forbidden, alcohol being only sold for home consumption. The people who died had a simple burial with no attendants. The people who hid sick people or the peddlers ("both Jewish and Christians") were expelled from the city and their belongings were burnt. In August, due to the spread of the plague, the request to allow people to flee the city was approved, Caradja asking the ispravnic
Ispravnic
An ispravnic was, in the Danubian principalities, the title owned by a clerk or a boyar in charge of law enforcement in a certain county. Initially, during the middle ages, ispravnics were people who used to carry out the voivod's commands. Later on, ispravnics became local administrators and were...
s to take care to avoid contact with the villagers. To avoid crowds, markets and schools were closed down, most judicial proceedings were stopped and the people in the debtors' prison were freed.
Many of the new rules were not respected, despite the rulers' attempts, which included the spread of printed fliers. By August, the city became almost deserted, with even the doctors fleeing, as did Caradja, who moved his residence outside Bucharest, in Cotroceni
Cotroceni
Cotroceni is a neighbourhood in western Bucharest, Romania located around the Cotroceni hill, in Bucharest's Sector 6.The Hill of Cotroceni was once covered by the forest of Vlăsia, which covered most of today's Bucharest...
. The French consul said that two thirds of the Bucharesters fled.
Initially, sick people were to be committed to the Dudeşti
Dudesti, Bucharest
Dudeşti is a neighbourhood in south-eastern Bucharest, along the Calea Dudeşti. Nearby neighbourhoods include Vitan, Văcăreşti and Dristor....
hospital (later also Cioplea and Băneasa
Baneasa
Băneasa is a borough in the north side of Bucharest, near the Băneasa Lake . Like all north-side districts of Bucharest, it is relatively sparsely populated, with large areas of parkland...
), but soon the 14 quarantine rooms of the unit were overrun, and the place became a simple mass grave.
People with immunity to the disease were hired as undertakers, and walked from door to door to gather corpses. The corpses were taken to the mass graves in Dudeşti and buried there. Often, dying people were taken also and buried alive, and sometimes beaten to death. An undertaker squad once reported that "we collected 15 dead today, but only buried 14, because one of them ran away". Sometimes, sick people with enough strength fought back, and killed the undertakers.
The highest mortality was in October 1813; the gravediggers couldn't even bury all the dead, and many of them were put in large pits, which were not covered and many "were eaten by dogs and other beasts". In February 1814, the last market still open, Târgul de Afară (Obor
Obor
Obor is the name of a square and the surrounding district of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. There is also a Bucharest Metro station named Obor, which lies in this area....
) was closed down, but soon, the people returned to the city. In 1818 the quarantine hospitals of Plumbuita and Văcăreşti were closed down.
Death toll
An estimated 60,000 people died of the plague in the two years, 20-30,000 of them in Bucharest, which is a large number, as the city population at the time was of about 120,000. According to a church teacher, the church reports say that that 20,000 died in Bucharest by January 1814 (excluding those buried in the backyards), while the personal doctor of Caradja claimed that between 25,000 and 30,000 died.At the 1831 census (taken right after another cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic), the population of Bucharest was about 60,000 people.