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<ul class="no-bullet small"> <li></li> <li>January 16, 2015</li> </ul> <a href="https://wikimedia.org.uk/2015/01/wellcome-library-grateful-for-wikimedia-uk-support/" rel="prev"><div class="prev-post hide-for-small-only"></div></a> <a href="https://wikimedia.org.uk/2015/01/unesco/" rel="next"><div class="next-post hide-for-small-only">Next Article</div></a> </div> <div class="medium-8 cell medium-offset-2 featured-image-container"> </div> </div> </div> </section> </article> <div class="content-page padding-top-4 padding-bottom-4"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en" align="right"><p>A recent article by <a href="https://twitter.com/monicaMedHist" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">@monicaMedHist<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> identifies the disease in Royal 6 E VI, f 301, as leprosy: <a href="http://t.co/PmatI7obgF" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">http://t.co/PmatI7obgF<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> <a href="http://t.co/ysEb3X9VNA" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">pic.twitter.com/ysEb3X9VNA<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a></p> <p>— Medieval Manuscripts (@BLMedieval) <a href="https://twitter.com/BLMedieval/status/554949187562131456" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">January 13, 2015<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a></p></blockquote> <p><script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p><em>This post was written by Richard Nevell</em></p> <p>Mark Twain said “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”</p> <p>The same applies to honest mistakes. The ease with which information spreads across the Internet means the stakes are higher when it comes to getting things right. But with a bit of help, it’s possible to get the genie back in the bottle. Mostly at least.</p> <p>For several years, many sources – including a wide range of academic websites – described the image on the right as depicting people suffering from the Black Death, the pandemic of plague that swept through most of Eurasia in the mid-fourteenth century. The illustration itself dates from 1360-75 and is from an illuminated manuscript, <em>Omne Bonum</em> by James le Palmer.[ref]Royal 6 E. VI; Page Folio Number: f. 301rb[/ref] In fact, the image shows clerics with leprosy being instructed by a bishop. It’s easy to see how the mistake happened: the Black Death affected a huge number of people across Europe, caused visible physical symptoms, and coincided roughly with when the illustration was produced. But the text itself is about leprosy, and that disease was commonly depicted in the medieval period with red spots like those shown in the image.</p> <p>The misinterpretation had become so prevalent the issue became the topic of an article in a new academic journal: <a href="http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=11&article=1000&context=medieval_globe&type=additional" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">‘Diagnosis of a “Plague” Image: A Digital Cautionary Tale’<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> in <em><a href="http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medieval_globe/1/" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">The Medieval Globe<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a></em>. Published just a couple of months ago, it didn’t take long before the paper started to have an effect. This is due in no small part to the fact that the article is freely available – in fact the entire volume of <em>The Medieval Globe</em> is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">open access<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a>. The authors approached the British Library to update its <em><a href="http://imagesonline.bl.uk/en/asset/show_zoom_window_popup.html?asset=12942&location=grid&asset_list=5516,80721,12942,16974&basket_item_id=undefined" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">Images Online<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a></em> website and its <a href="http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=32116" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">Illuminated MSS Online Catalogue<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a>.</p> <p>When used in print, there’s often not much which can be done until a new edition is printed, but online there’s the chance that a correction can spread just as the original error did. A reverse Google image search means that it’s possible to find out how this image is being used, and even approach those websites to get the image replaced. This has already started, and there have been some positive responses.</p> <p>The article specifically mentioned Wikipedia’s use of the <em>Omne Bonum</em> image. It was used on 44 pages across 23 different languages, with another two uses on Wikibooks and Wikiquote. This shows how widely and easily Wikipedia can be used to spread information. In March 2014, the English Wikipedia’s page on the Black Death was one of the 400 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140723054442/http://stats.grok.se/en/top" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">most-visited pages<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> on Wikipedia; over the course of a year, that page alone managed 4.3 million views.</p> <p>The English pages were fixed very quickly once the issue was pointed out. On 4th December an anonymous editor mentioned the issue on the discussion page for the Black Death article. The following day another editor replaced the image in the article, and anywhere else on the English Wikipedia if it was being used to illustrated the plague. I chipped in with more edits myself in my free time, however, the further you move from the source language, the more persistent a mistake can be; the image still appears with the incorrect description on at least 28 pages and, with so many languages to take into account, it helps to have as many people joining in as possible.</p> <p>If you speak and write in a language other than English, please take a look at <a href="https://tools.wmflabs.org/glamtools/glamorous.php?doit=1&category=Omne+Bonum+%28c.1360-c.1375%29+-+BL+Royal+MS+6+E+VI+and+VII&use_globalusage=1&ns0=1&show_details=1&projects[wikipedia]=1&projects[wikimedia]=1&projects[wikisource]=1&projects[wikibooks]=1&projects[wikiquote]=1&projects[wiktionary]=1&projects[wikinews]=1&projects[wikivoyage]=1&projects[wikispecies]=1&projects[mediawiki]=1&projects[wikidata]=1&projects[wikiversity]=1" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">the pages here<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> (look for the image labelled “Leprosy victims taught by bishop”) and check that the image from <em>Omne Bonum</em> isn’t being used to depict the Black Death. If it is, please replace it! I emailed one of the authors of the paper which brought this issue out into the open, and was told that <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burying_Plague_Victims_of_Tournai.jpg" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">this image<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> is a good alternative.</p> <p>Any help would be very much appreciated!</p> </div> <section class="comments-container padding-top-1 padding-bottom-1"> <div class="grid-container"> <div class="grid-x grid-margin-x"> <div class="medium-8 medium-offset-2 cell"> <div id="comments" class="comments-area"> <h2 class="comments-title"> 5 thoughts on “The truth gets its shoes on: the Black Death on Wikipedia” </h2> <ol class="comment-list"> <li id="comment-477" class="comment even thread-even depth-1"> <article id="div-comment-477" class="comment-body"> <footer class="comment-meta"> <div class="comment-author vcard"> <img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/27c18ce1a34061b38f42959b4fe6fd41?s=42&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/27c18ce1a34061b38f42959b4fe6fd41?s=84&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-42 photo' height='42' width='42' decoding='async'/> <b class="fn">Lucy Freeman Sandler</b> <span class="says">says:</span> </div> <div class="comment-metadata"> <a href="https://wikimedia.org.uk/2015/01/the-truth-gets-its-shoes-on-the-black-death-on-wikipedia/#comment-477"><time datetime="2015-01-16T18:37:02+00:00">January 16, 2015 at 6:37 pm</time></a> </div> </footer> <div class="comment-content"> <p>If you would like to learn more about this image, what it actually represents and why, have a look at my book, Omne bonum, A Fourteenth Century Encyclopedia of Universal Knowledge, British Library MSS Royal 6 E VI-6 E VII, 2 vols (London, 1996), II, p. 110</p> </div> <div class="reply"><a rel='nofollow' class='comment-reply-link' href='#comment-477' data-commentid="477" data-postid="2963" data-belowelement="div-comment-477" data-respondelement="respond" data-replyto="Reply to Lucy Freeman Sandler" aria-label='Reply to Lucy Freeman Sandler'>Reply</a></div> </article> </li> <li id="comment-478" class="comment odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1"> <article id="div-comment-478" class="comment-body"> <footer class="comment-meta"> <div class="comment-author vcard"> <img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d78e345b50a3375584f00784a7bbc488?s=42&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d78e345b50a3375584f00784a7bbc488?s=84&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-42 photo' height='42' width='42' decoding='async'/> <b class="fn"><a href="https://webapp4.asu.edu/directory/person/384868" class="url" rel="ugc external nofollow">Monica Green</a></b> <span class="says">says:</span> </div> <div class="comment-metadata"> <a href="https://wikimedia.org.uk/2015/01/the-truth-gets-its-shoes-on-the-black-death-on-wikipedia/#comment-478"><time datetime="2015-01-18T09:30:18+00:00">January 18, 2015 at 9:30 am</time></a> </div> </footer> <div class="comment-content"> <p>Thank you, Professor Sandler, for posting your note! Your masterful 1996 book (which is, of course, cited in our study) is indeed the resource that everyone should be turning to for a general analysis of Richard le Palmer’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omne_Bonum" rel="nofollow ugc" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">Omne bonum<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a>, a still under-appreciated monument of later 14th-century learning and manuscript art.</p> </div> <div class="reply"><a rel='nofollow' class='comment-reply-link' href='#comment-478' data-commentid="478" data-postid="2963" data-belowelement="div-comment-478" data-respondelement="respond" data-replyto="Reply to Monica Green" aria-label='Reply to Monica Green'>Reply</a></div> </article> </li> <li id="comment-481" class="pingback even thread-even depth-1"> <div class="comment-body"> Pingback: <a href="https://arc-humanities.org/blog/2015/03/getting-the-words-out-and-back-in-what-to-do-when-a-plague-image-is-not-an-image-of-plague/" class="url" rel="ugc external nofollow">What to do When a Plague Image is Not an Image of Plague</a> </div> </li> <li id="comment-479" class="comment odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1 parent"> <article id="div-comment-479" class="comment-body"> <footer class="comment-meta"> <div class="comment-author vcard"> <img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2b65235b1e4e6de3d65db31fcca2226b?s=42&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2b65235b1e4e6de3d65db31fcca2226b?s=84&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-42 photo' height='42' width='42' decoding='async'/> <b class="fn">Benny Rees</b> <span class="says">says:</span> </div> <div class="comment-metadata"> <a href="https://wikimedia.org.uk/2015/01/the-truth-gets-its-shoes-on-the-black-death-on-wikipedia/#comment-479"><time datetime="2015-07-20T02:02:32+00:00">July 20, 2015 at 2:02 am</time></a> </div> </footer> <div class="comment-content"> <p>Is there any reason why there are almost no memorial columns erected in Britain to commemorate victims of Black Plague (Winchester being the only one I know of), when such Plague Columns are commonplace in Continental Europe?</p> <p>Any ideas would be much appreciated.</p> </div> <div class="reply"><a rel='nofollow' class='comment-reply-link' href='#comment-479' data-commentid="479" data-postid="2963" data-belowelement="div-comment-479" data-respondelement="respond" data-replyto="Reply to Benny Rees" aria-label='Reply to Benny Rees'>Reply</a></div> </article> <ol class="children"> <li id="comment-480" class="comment byuser comment-author-richardnevell bypostauthor even depth-2"> <article id="div-comment-480" class="comment-body"> <footer class="comment-meta"> <div class="comment-author vcard"> <img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb7952c740513d3d245f5d3211329aee?s=42&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb7952c740513d3d245f5d3211329aee?s=84&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-42 photo' height='42' width='42' loading='lazy' decoding='async'/> <b class="fn"><a href="http://www.wikimedia.org.uk" class="url" rel="ugc external nofollow">Richard Nevell</a></b> <span class="says">says:</span> </div> <div class="comment-metadata"> <a href="https://wikimedia.org.uk/2015/01/the-truth-gets-its-shoes-on-the-black-death-on-wikipedia/#comment-480"><time datetime="2015-08-10T11:25:59+00:00">August 10, 2015 at 11:25 am</time></a> </div> </footer> <div class="comment-content"> <p>That’s a very good question. The best answer I can give comes from a bit of time spent Googling the subject. <a href="http://dhayton.haverford.edu/blog/2013/05/29/plague-columns-in-central-europe/" rel="nofollow ugc" data-wpel-link="external" class="wpel-icon-right">This blog<i class="wpel-icon fa fa-external-link" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> indicates it might be to do with Catholicism in the 17th and 18th centuries.</p> </div> <div class="reply"><a rel='nofollow' class='comment-reply-link' href='#comment-480' data-commentid="480" data-postid="2963" data-belowelement="div-comment-480" data-respondelement="respond" data-replyto="Reply to Richard Nevell" aria-label='Reply to Richard Nevell'>Reply</a></div> </article> </li> </ol> </li> </ol> <div id="respond" class="comment-respond"> <h2 id="reply-title" class="comment-reply-title">Leave a Reply <small><a rel="nofollow" id="cancel-comment-reply-link" href="/2015/01/the-truth-gets-its-shoes-on-the-black-death-on-wikipedia/#respond" style="display:none;">Cancel 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