Reply: Out of the West — and neither East, nor North, nor South

Abstract

First paragraph: The article below is a reply to Professor Green’s response to my recent article ‘Out of the West: Formation of a Permanent Plague Reservoir in South-Central Germany (1349–1356) and Its Implications’.1 I should perhaps open with a caveat: I respect ideas that differ from my own views, and firmly believe that it is controversies that advance science and knowledge. Hence, I normally refrain from writing and publishing replies to colleagues’ works. However, given the conceptual and methodological importance of the topic and its relevance for the incredibly fast-growing field of plague history in general, I strongly feel Professor Green’s response merits a rebuttal. It is especially important in the context of the most recent publication of three early fourteenth-century genomes from Kara-Djigach (North Kyrgyzstan), associated with the very early history of the Second Pandemic in general and the Black Death in particular, by Spyrou et al.2 These new findings have a profound impact on the substance of debate regarding the origins and early history of medieval plague; and, moreover, allow an opportunity to discuss further the taxing methodological issues that all medievalists must confront in this field, when bringing palaeogenetic evidence into dialogue with documentary historical sources.