The first June issue of Challenges magazine recalls the so-called Great Black Death, which took place in 1720, in Marseille, southern France, a traditional center of immigration and trade.
Almost half of the population was decimated by the bacteria (bubonic plague) that would have entered the country through a cargo from a Syrian ship. It took Marseille at least a decade to recover from the consequences.
General Pierre Joseph Hyacinthe de Rouairoux, marquis de Caylus, severely prohibited circulation and threatened to shoot anyone who failed to comply.
Writer and journalist. Edits Front Pages News, Da Redação and Cura Plena sites,. He is the author of Quer um Conselho? and Museu da Notícia.