The plague, the worst pandemic

In this article I reflects on why we should consider the plague the worst pandemic suffered by western humanity. I then analyse the measures and precautions taken by towns to deal with it, in an attempt to compare them with those taken against COVID. I take into consideration the interpretations of the causes of the epidemic by contemporary doctors and end with the most recent historical research.
The method I followed is therefore that of historical science with archive research and bibliographical consultation. The historical sources used, especially the medical treatises of the time, come from my own research, focusing above all on Catalan and Italian sources. I have also sought out studies by forensic anthropologists, archaeologists, palaeobiologists and doctors of infectious diseases.