Yersinia pestis is the pathogen causing the plague. In 1340 there plague took almost half of Europe's population. Unlike COVID, it was transmitted not by person to person but by flea to person. Thus if one bathed daily, wore clean clothing, slept in a clean bed, etc then one was left harmless. No matter how many died about you. Think Boccaccio.
Now in an article in Nature some 21st century intellect notes:
Historians estimate that the wave of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s killed about half of the people in Europe, at a time when most lived in rural areas. To investigate the Black Death’s true toll, Alessia Masi at the Sapienza University of Rome and her colleagues analysed ancient pollen from 261 lakes and wetlands across Europe. By assessing the varieties of pollen, the researchers determined whether fields and pastures had been abandoned after the plague and eventually replaced by forests. Levels of pollen from species common in agricultural lands were much lower in Scandinavia, France, western Germany, Greece and central Italy between 1350 and 1450 than during the previous 100 years. This suggests high mortality rates. But in other regions, including Ireland and much of eastern Europe, agricultural activities were stable and even expanded, suggesting that populations there were growing.
The answer is simple. Take Prague. Almost no plague. The plague came in on rats which carried the fleas which carries the pathogen. Thus if one got infected in Venice and was on their way to Prague, they died well before ever reaching there. Also Prague, like Warsaw and other cities inside Europe were protected by distance. This has been known since 1349! So what is new here folks? Now Ireland, well few ports and the English had managed to disperse the Irish after the slaughter by Edward I. Yes the English did the Irish a favor. Kept them away from the coast!
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