Note on the Poland surviving the bubonic plague in largely one piece–Medieval Poland was kind of a sanctuary for Jews from the rest of Europe, as they were treated more or less equals to everyone else. And apparently these Jews placed a higher premium on bathing regularly, which seems to have become a common practice in Poland, and may have limited the spread of the plague somewhat. Not entirely sure of the accuracy of this, but it wouldn’t surprise me. *shrug*

I read that too, but it felt off to me. For one thing, Milan did even better than Poland, and they weren’t a haven as far as I know. What Milan did was to ruthlessly wall up not just the infected but the houses on either side too, to stop the spread of the infection. 

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