One problem -- the Black Plague didn't start a priori in Venice. It started in Central Asia in the late 1000's/early 1100's and was brought to the Middle East by the Mongol invasion, and then picked up and carried back to Europe by the Cruasders. The reason it went absolutely bonkers in Europe was the population density, especially along the Mediterranean.
So are we saying that the Plague mutated into a Z-virus in Venice, or do we have a scenario where there's been a smoldering zombie problem in Asia for a couple hundred years?
I don't mean the Black Plague directly being a Zombie Virus, I mean that a hypothetical Zombie Outbreak replaced the Black Plague as the major Doomsday Plague in Europe. I'm sure that with the Corpses reanimating the disease would be able to spread beyond Venice fairly quickly. Also, the Bubonic Plague was Bacteria-based, the Zombies are Virus-based.
Is the virus still spread through pests?
No, it isn't. Only Zombies. It wouldn't be an interesting scenario if everybody in Europe who was exposed to fleas suddenly died of a Fever.
Assuming it mutated into a zombie virus in Venice, I think this is late enough in human history that it could be dealt with fairly effectively but early enough that removing it entirely would be very slow going. The actual zombies are unlikely to be all that much of a threat to the heavy cavalry and halberd/crossbow combinations that were fashionable at the time in large numbers, though on an individual level untrained people would be a lot less able to defend themselves since guns aren't a thing and effective melee combat is a skill that requires a big investment of time to not be useless with. I figure it would burn itself out pretty quickly, but linger on in small numbers when zombies get missed (maybe they wandered off after a squirrel or something and got lost in the woods) and occasionally flare up again. That's assuming it makes it out of Venice though. If it doesn't, there's not much room for them to hide and they'd most likely be completely exterminated in a matter of days. Maybe more depending on how quickly they catch on to how it spreads.
I agree with your statement that Armored Calvary and Halberd/Crossbows would be extremely effective against the Zombies but a lot of Calvary's effectiveness depends on the Shock factor, and that Broken Bones will prevent their Enemy from fighting. Zombies will keep crawling even if every Bone in their body is broken or shattered. I think that the Numbers would largely be in the Zombie's Favor, since it takes 10-15 years to train a Knight and it only takes 3 days to make a Zombie. The reload time of a Crossbow would make it largely ineffective against Hordes unless it was deployed in massive numbers.
Could be interesting as a biological weapon in that setting though. Think catapulting corpses - but moving ones!
Yes. Just, Yes.
Assuming it mutated into a zombie virus in Venice, I think this is late enough in human history that it could be dealt with fairly effectively but early enough that removing it entirely would be very slow going. The actual zombies are unlikely to be all that much of a threat to the heavy cavalry and halberd/crossbow combinations that were fashionable at the time in large numbers, though on an individual level untrained people would be a lot less able to defend themselves since guns aren't a thing and effective melee combat is a skill that requires a big investment of time to not be useless with. I figure it would burn itself out pretty quickly, but linger on in small numbers when zombies get missed (maybe they wandered off after a squirrel or something and got lost in the woods) and occasionally flare up again. That's assuming it makes it out of Venice though. If it doesn't, there's not much room for them to hide and they'd most likely be completely exterminated in a matter of days. Maybe more depending on how quickly they catch on to how it spreads.
In terms of military, this is quite sound (based on armchair general assumptions 
), but do you have an army for every city ? Do you have nobles wanting to kill these things and not simply murder every peasants because "Apocalypse !". How would a superstitious medieval soldier (or man) even react to seeing a dead walking ? It's the demons walking ! The end of time ! What kind of medieval man has the willpower and strength to fight as a soldier against a horde of zombies, which are most likely outnumbering them ? And there's no powers politically united enough to set this back. The pope would probably say it's only divine punishment against the filthy Venetians. Even if he called a crusade, by the time it would be organized, it would be way too late.
It's not even taking into account the slowness of communication. If there's a week of travel to the nearest garrison, the pest might be a day away when you arrive, and maybe even already infecting the would-be recruits or soldiers, meaning the garrison is already compromised.
I guess only the English would be safe, if there's no contamination that comes there before zombies appears. Iceland looks safe, and so do the new World.
I think the Slowness of Communication would definitely hinder Human extermination efforts. Most panicking messengers are going to go straight to the nearest Town to try and convince the local Ruler to send an Army to destroy the walking Corpses. They probably aren't going to warn the innumerable tiny isolated Villages who probably wouldn't have any idea that anything's happening apart from the lack of Tax Collectors until there's already a Horde upon them. After a few weeks the Infected Villagers would add up and soon there would be a lot of Zombies.
I've always found the catapulting corpses thing to be bullshitty... not in the sense that it wasn't done, but in the sense that to me it sounds terribly ineffective. Y. pestis is basically transmitted either by fleas or by living, infected people.
I think it was done to destroy the enemy's morale more than anything.
but do you have an army for every city ?
Yeah, that's kinda the point to feudalism.
+1
I suppose that seeing how it can only spread through direct contact it might not even make it out of Italy, though much of that would depend on the initial response.
Combat-wise the 14th century might actually be at an advantage as armor was fairly widespread already, even a simple gambeson and iron helm should keep someone safe from bites and scratches especially since I don't think zombies have much of a notion on how to circumvent armor.
Melee weapons are also more suited for keeping enemies at range, funny as that might sound, as even something simple as a boar spear will physically push a zombie out of range. A horde of zombies who have no notion of self-preservation blundering into a polearm block would just turn into a zombie mincing party, the only way the zombies would even get close enough to take a swing would be if the 'dead' zombies just gunked up the formation got too many weapons stuck in them.
Raising an army at the time happened mostly by levying, rallying together the knightly class from their day-to-day things and hiring mercenaries. Italy at the time was rife with mercenary companies and they were not as busy with the 100-years war as north-west Europe. The Holy Roman Empire stretched out pretty far into Italy and would probably respond fairly quickly to the apocalypse breaking out near its borders.
And should the 'Z-plague' spread further it would give enough cause for the rest of Europe to temporarily stop their bickering and cooperate against the general threat.
...
Yeah this is pretty fun to ramble about
It is pretty fun to ramble about,
I can't see them doing too much damage on a large scale, cavalry charges would pulp their brains and shatter their bones, large headed arrows fired by the hundreds or thousands would sever a few ligaments or tendons crippling them, even quite simple traps could crush a huge number of them. Roll a huge oak tree down a hill and it would probably kill/incapacitate a village worth of zombies.
Even fairly cheap thick padded clothing or soft leathers would stop a scratch or bite, metal armour would be nigh invulnerable against individual zombies, though a horde could probably kill someone through sheer attrition regardless.
The human population at the time was pretty spread out, with a large amount living in isolated villages with infrequent contact with cities, it would require a lot of luck for a large number of zombies to congregate on any given small population, and almost all population centers had walls, gates and guard animals. Given how hard it was for a dedicated group of humans to break into most fortified places a small zombie horde would have an extremely hard time at it, gates that can withstand battering rams and catapult fire are pretty good at surviving mere bodies crashing against them. A large enough number would probably be able to break down a gate eventually, but the pressure inflicted on those nearer the gate would crush them to paste long before the gate broke.
A lot will probably get crippled by their own clumsiness while wandering around, breaking legs and spines, accumulating small cuts and gashes that would heal on a living person. Extended unceasing travel on foot would result in any shoes they had on prior to death wearing out and those with bare feet would gradually wear their own feet to mere bone stumps forcing them to crawl.
Hell, depending on how smart they are it might be possible to make them walk off a cliff to their death with just a little effort. Use a bunch of men with fast horses and loud bells to lure zombies to a clifftop with rope ladders already in place, the men abandon their horses and climb down the cliff still ringing their bells, zombies follow the noise and fall to the bottom of the cliff, shattering bones and possibly pulping brains. The men will probably die if they can't climb down the cliff and get clear before the zombies start falling past them, but even if they do the zombies will keep walking off the cliff until they get distracted by another noise.
You're probably right but in the initial days and weeks they probably wouldn't realize it had anything to do with Bites/Scratches and Fortified locations would be taking in Infected Refugees, since local Rulers don't want to lose their taxpayers, they would die inside the walls and then several more Peasants are infected and it spirals downhill from there. Banditry, Peasant/Noble Revolutionaries, and Rampant Mercenary Companies would be problems as well.
Considering it travels not only to people, but to animals you eventually get flying hordes of zombie ravens and other birds as well( that is just like dwarf fortress) , zombie 800 kg armored angry battle horses or zombie elefants. Every river or ocean becomes full of zombie fish, zombie whales and probably even zombie sponges.
1.)The Zombies can only infect Humans. If a Human dies without sufficient damage to the Brain they reanimate as a Zombie in 12-18 Hours.
But animals might eat infected humans, who in turn are hunted by desperate peasants running away from the walking dead and pillaging vagabonds. Those animals might still have some undigested human bits left, and as they're killed the virus spreads, still dormant, until its eaten by humans.
Probably.... I don't biology, but that's my assumption. :p
Another question to all: If you were a peasant, through sheer luck, who was warned of this impending apocalypse before it started, what would you do? Where would you hide?
I don't biology either but maybe...
If I was a Peasant who was warned beforehand I would try to get to Rome to convince the Pope to start a Crusade on the Zombie Hordes. I might not make it, but I'd have to try.
Honestly even under these extra conditions to create "magic zombies" (don't worry, very few pieces of fiction don't use magic zombies. Even The Walking Dead uses magic zombies)
They would still be resolved rather quickly.
For example #4 deals with them rather quickly. As they might have no restraint but at the same time, they have no restraint and no ability to heal. With just two numbers alone every zombie has a time limit.
Fair Enough, I'm not even going to pretend to justify the scientifically implausible walking corpses. As for #4, Zombies would make more Zombies who would make more Zombies and so on and so on. Corpses reanimating would create fresh Zombies, I don't think that they would be destroyed entirely just by their lack of regenerative ability.
I wonder how much Religious Turmoil this would generate. Also, this would make an awesome RPG setting.
Author
Topic: What if the Black Plague was a Zombie Outbreak? (Read 2862 times)