AI Historical Figure

The Black Death

Picture by Pierart dou Tielt (fl. 1340-1360) Public domain Wikimedia Commons

Pandemic in Eurasia and North Africa

Chat with The Black Death via text or voice — in 42 languages, drawing on a curated biography and 80 historical sources. Available 24/7.

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Lived: 1346–1353
Known for: Science & medicineEveryday life & roles
Sources: 80 historical

The Black Death

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Talk to The Black Death in 42 languages

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Also in German (Austria), German (Switzerland), English (UK), English (Australia), English (Canada).

The sources behind this AI

80 sources · 37 paintings · 20 books · 12 artifacts · 7 documents · 4 sculptures

The Black Death doesn’t improvise from thin air. The AI is grounded in 80 curated historical sources students can inspect. Open any of them to see what informs the conversation.

Book

Secondary source

The Decameron

Giovanni Boccaccio · 1351

Document

Primary source

Statute of Labourers 1351

1351

Illuminated manuscript page with a gold-background miniature showing barefoot penitents in white robes and dark hats, hands clasped, processing past a figure carrying a crucifix and a banner. Below, two columns of Latin text in black ink with red initials.

Painting

Primary source

Depiction of the Flagellant Processions

Pierart dou Tielt · c. 1350

Medieval illuminated manuscript page with a painted scene of men with helmets and a figure holding a flag near a tower, while figures are burned at a stake among flames on the right. Latin text in columns surrounds the image.

Painting

Primary source

Execution of Jews

c. 1350

Book

Primary source

The Annals of Ireland by Friar John Clyn

John Clyn · 1348-1349

Medieval silver coins displayed on dark blue cloth in a museum case, with black placards reading 'Frankreich, Philipp IV' and 'Holland, Floris V'. Stacks of coins are visible at the top of the image.

Artifact

Primary source

Erfurt Treasure

buried 1349, found 1998

Marble relief panel showing a bearded prophet in a circular medallion, holding a scroll and raising one hand in a gesture. Flanking it are inlaid colored glass and mosaic panels with geometric patterns and rosettes, and carved foliage at the edges.

Sculpture

Secondary source

Orsanmichele Tabernacle

Andrea di Cione (Orcagna) · 1352–1360

Close-up photograph of pale stone church wall blocks carved with medieval graffiti in angular Gothic-style lettering and inscriptions, arranged in horizontal rows across several blocks.

Artifact

Primary source

Medieval Graffiti, Ashwell Church

14th century

Book

Secondary source

Muqaddimah

Ibn Khaldun · 1377

Book

Primary source

Cronica of Matteo Villani

Matteo Villani · c. 1348–1363

Faded fresco on a red background. A central woman in a long red robe and dark veil holds bundles of arrows in both hands. Figures on the left and right, some kneeling or seated, are being struck by arrows. Letters are painted at the top.

Painting

Primary source

Fresco of Plague Personified, Lavaudieu Abbey

Unknown author · 14th century

Painting

Secondary source

The Triumph of Death

Pieter Bruegel the Elder · c. 1562

An open large manuscript book on a dark surface showing two pages: the left page has columns of gothic black and red text with illuminated initials; the right page has a painted miniature of a pink castle with red roofs, and a woman in a yellow gown with a red mantle gesturing toward a man in armor.

Painting

Primary source

Toggenburg Bible

Dietrich of Lichtensteig · c. 1411

Six small lead crosses, roughly cross-shaped with irregular, slightly rough edges, lying on a dark gray background. They vary in size and show a silvery-gray, pitted surface. One cross has a white paper tag with small printed text at its lower left.

Artifact

Primary source

Lead Mortuary Crosses from a London Burial Site

1300s (traditionally; possibly 1600s)

Carved dark wooden statue of St Roch standing on a base, wearing a hat and a cloak with a pilgrim's staff and gourd, with a small dog at his feet and a halo-like carved disc behind him. Carved in a medieval style.

Sculpture

Secondary source

Statue of St Roch

1401–1500

Gilded Gothic multi-panel altarpiece with pointed arches. Central figure of Christ in a dark robe with an arched halo, flanked by saints and angels, with predella scenes of narrative below.

Painting

Primary source

Strozzi Altarpiece

Andrea di Cione (Orcagna) · 1354–1357

Illuminated manuscript miniature of a man in a red robe and red hat riding a brown horse, holding a cross-topped staff. Handwritten gothic text lines appear at the left and top edges of the page.

Book

Secondary source

The Pardoner's Tale

Geoffrey Chaucer

Manuscript page of Middle English verse in brown ink with red rubrics and underlining, on aged vellum, numbered 169 at top right. Beside it is a grey colour scale and library credit text.

Book

Secondary source

Piers Plowman

William Langland · c. 1370

Illuminated manuscript page: a text column in Latin on the left-center, with a procession on the right. Red-robed cardinals kneel and pray on a brick street, a figure in gold vestments raises arms, and a golden reliquary is carried. On the left, a crowd of townspeople gathers at a city gate, some figures lying on the ground. An angel with wings sheathes a sword atop a tall tower under a blue sky.

Painting

Secondary source

The Procession of Saint Gregory

Limbourg brothers · c. 1411-1416

A long horizontal painted panel showing a procession of living figures alternating with skeletal dead figures, including a pope, a king, a lady in red, a cardinal, and others, set in a landscape with trees and a town. Scrolls with inscriptions run along the bottom edge.

Painting

Secondary source

The Danse Macabre

Bernt Notke · 1475

Painting

Secondary source

Saint Sebastian Interceding for the Plague Stricken

Josse Lieferinxe · 1498

Black-and-white woodcut titled 'Der Apt' (The Abbot). A skeleton, holding a staff and a mitre-topped crozier-like object, pulls a robed abbot by the arm toward a tree with a hanging hourglass. The abbot wears a hooded robe and looks alarmed.

Painting

Secondary source

Dance of Death woodcuts

Hans Holbein the Younger · 1526 (published 1538)

Book

Secondary source

Liber pestilentialis

1500

Black and white engraving titled 'Doctor Schnabel von Rom' showing a figure in a long coat, wide-brimmed hat, and bird-like beaked mask, holding a cane. Latin and German text fills the side panels; a town and figures appear in the background.

Painting

Secondary source

Doctor Schnabel von Rom

Paul Fürst · 1656

Museum display case showing a plague amulet: a small cord of white beads with a red cloth pouch, two dark metal medals, a metal cross pendant, and a round metal disc. A label reads 'Pestamulett, mit Stoff überzogenes Metallstück.' Other amulets and objects are visible in the background.

Artifact

Secondary source

Plague Amulet

Book

Primary source

Poème sur la grande peste de 1348

Olivier de La Haye · 1888 edition of a 1348 manuscript poem

Book

Secondary source

The Enforcement of the Statutes of Labourers, 1349-1359

Bertha Haven Putnam · 1908

The Black Death in the Fourteenth Century

Book

Secondary source

The Black Death in the Fourteenth Century

J. F. C. Hecker · 1833

Book

Secondary source

The Black Death on the Estates of the See of Winchester

Ada Elizabeth Levett · 1916

Der schwarze Tod im vierzehnten Jahrhundert

Book

Secondary source

Der schwarze Tod im vierzehnten Jahrhundert

J. F. C. Hecker · 1832

Book

Secondary source

The Epidemics of the Middle Ages

J. F. C. Hecker

Medieval manuscript miniature on gold background showing people burying plague victims. Figures carry wooden coffins and biers, dig in grass, and a kneeling man in red sits at the lower center. Decorative blue and red borders frame the scene.

Painting

Primary source

Miniature of Plague Victims Being Buried in Tournai

Pierart dou Tielt · c. 1353

Book

Secondary source

The Black Death and the Dancing Mania

J. F. C. Hecker · 1888

Book

Secondary source

The Influence of the Black Death on the English Monasteries

Peter George Mode · 1916

Artifact

Secondary source

Animation Showing the Spread of the Black Death, 1346-1351

Timemaps · 2010

Polish-language map titled 'Rozszerzanie się dżumy w Europie' showing the spread of plague across Europe by period from 1347 to after 1351, shaded in colors from dark orange (1347) to pale yellow (after 1351), with green areas of few or no cases, blue dots for urban outbreak centers, and black dots for orientation cities.

Artifact

Secondary source

Map of the Spread of Plague in Europe, 1347-1351

Book

Secondary source

A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume 1

Charles Creighton · 1891

Grey outline map of Europe and nearby lands with black dots marking cities and the label 1346 in the upper left. Labeled cities include Stockholm, Copenhagen, Moscow, Kiev, London, Cologne, Cracow, Paris, Vienna, Milan, Marseilles, Barcelona, Rome, and Constantinople. Iceland appears at upper left.

Artifact

Secondary source

Black Death Strikes Europe, 1347-1353

ArdadN · 2007

Color-coded map titled 'Spread of the Bubonic Plague in Europe (1347-1351)' showing the progression of plague across Europe by period, from brown for 1347 to pale yellow for after 1351, with green areas for minor outbreaks and purple dots for centers of uprisings. Black dots mark cities such as London, Paris, Rome, and Warsaw.

Artifact

Secondary source

Map of the Bubonic Plague Spreading in Europe, 1347-1351

Roger Zenner, edited by Jaybear · 2005

Etching titled 'La Peste di Firenze, Dal Boccaccio Descritta' showing plague victims in a city square. Naked and draped corpses lie on the ground in the foreground while hooded monks and robed figures stand at left. A procession with a crucifix banner rises at center, and people dig in a pit near a stone archway on the right, with a tower visible in the distance.

Painting

Secondary source

The Plague of Florence in 1348

Luigi Sabatelli

Book

Secondary source

Landholding in England, Chapter IV: The Black Death

Mary Marks · 1908

Map titled 'Spread of Bubonic Plague in Europe' showing Europe colored by the year the plague arrived, from dark orange for 1347 through shades for 1348, 1349, 1350, 1351 and after, with grey areas for minor outbreaks. Blue dots mark centres of uprisings and black dots mark orientation cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Prague and Warsaw. A legend box is at top left.

Artifact

Tertiary source

Map Showing the Spread of the Black Death from Asia towards Europe

Bunchofgrapes · 28 September 2006 (original upload date)

Color-coded map of Europe titled 'Diffusion de la peste noire en Europe' showing the spread of the Black Death from 1347 to 1351. Colors range from dark orange (1347) through red (mid 1348), orange (early 1349), light orange (late 1349), yellow (1350), pale yellow (1351), and pale cream (after 1351). Green patches mark areas spared or nearly spared, notably around Warsaw and Milan. Legend and city markers appear throughout.

Artifact

Tertiary source

Map of the Spread of the Black Death in Europe, 1347-1351

Etching titled 'La Peste di Firenze, Dal Boccaccio Descritta' showing plague victims, many nude and lying dead or dying in the foreground, a monk holding a cross and a friar in a hooded robe, a city gate with an arch, and gravediggers at work in the background, with a tower of Florence in the distance.

Painting

Secondary source

The Plague of Florence in 1348 (Sabatelli Etching)

Luigi Sabatelli

Black-and-white etching of a rider on a horse in rain, with a pale, dead-looking figure draped over the horse's neck and a dark bird flying above. Below are three columns of Norwegian verse and a small skull-and-scythe emblem.

Painting

Secondary source

Illustration from Svartedauen (The Black Death)

Theodor Kittelsen · before 1901

Monochrome drawing of a forest path at dusk with tall thin trees. A figure lies sprawled on the ground at left, with a pale ghostly shape rising above and dark birds flying overhead. Light streaks across the path.

Painting

Secondary source

Pesta Plate 1 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

A dark, hatched monochrome print showing a large black bird with spread wings flying above a misty landscape of silhouetted pine trees and a faint glowing band of light along the horizon.

Painting

Secondary source

Pesta Plate 2 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Dark etching-style illustration of a rowboat on grey water. A bearded man in a cap on the left holds his hands together in prayer. On the right, a hooded, cloaked figure hunched over and reads an open book, with a reed or oar lying across the boat.

Painting

Secondary source

Pesta Plate 5 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Pen-and-ink style lithograph of a dark hooded figure, resembling Death with a scythe raised overhead, walking through tall grass beside a stream. A wooden house sits on a hill behind, with birds flying among birch trees and rocks nearby.

Painting

Secondary source

Pesta Plate 4 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

A dark monochrome print of a Norwegian village by a fjord with wooden houses and snow-capped mountains behind. In the foreground a cloaked, hooded black figure with pale eyes stands between buildings on a grassy slope.

Painting

Secondary source

Pesta Plate 6 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Dark etching of a night scene: a narrow path winds between steep grassy banks toward a faint light in the distance. In the foreground, a dark silhouetted figure carries a long-handled tool over one shoulder, with a hooded head.

Painting

Secondary source

Pesta Plate 7 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Dark etching of a dim interior with wooden posts and a plank bench or bed covered in dark spots, with scattered spots on the floor. Rats or fleas are suggested by the small dark marks; the scene is somber and shadowed.

Painting

Secondary source

Plate Pesta10 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Dark etching-style print of an altar or table draped with a cloth in a dim church interior. Columns and a carved figure are faintly visible in the background. A large black, rounded mass, possibly a pile of hooded or cloaked forms, sits in the foreground below the table.

Painting

Secondary source

Plate Pesta11 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Black-and-white pen-and-ink print of a dark wooden interior. A pale, wide-eyed, frightened face peers out from a shadowy corner beneath slanted floorboards. Light streams through gaps in the wooden ceiling above. Thick wooden posts frame the left and right edges.

Painting

Secondary source

Plate Pesta12 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Monochrome drawing of a rocky coastline under a cloudy sky. A cloaked, hooded figure stands on a boulder holding a staff topped with a cross-like shape, with a flock of birds flying overhead. Calm sea and a distant island are at left.

Painting

Secondary source

Plate Pestya8 from Svartedauen

Theodor Kittelsen · 1901

Black-and-white photograph of a large decorative map titled Black Death. A globe-shaped world map sits at center, with allegorical figures, banners, and small vignettes of medical and historical scenes around its border.

Document

Secondary source

Map of the Black Death's Spread

Munro Scott Orr

Medieval manuscript miniature in a painted border. Left: a rolling landscape with a walled city, river, and mountains; several richly dressed men in red and green gather outdoors. Right: a stone loggia with a wooden ceiling where women in red and blue gowns stand before a lectern.

Painting

Secondary source

Boccaccio and Florentines Fleeing the Plague

Bruges Master of 1482 · circa 1485

Color map titled 'Ausbreitung der Pest in Europa' showing the spread of the Black Death across Europe from 1347 to after 1351, with color-coded time bands, a legend, and labeled cities such as London, Paris, Warschau, and Athen.

Document

Secondary source

Map of the Black Death's Spread in Europe, 1347-1351

uploaded 3 April 2005

Book

Tertiary source

Plague Entry, 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica

Arthur Shadwell, Harriet L. Hennessy and Joseph Frank Payne · 1911

Black-and-white woodcut in an ornate bordered frame. A skeletal figure with a scythe stands on a landscape. A horse-drawn cart piled with skulls is driven by a horned beast. Many people lie fallen on the ground in the foreground.

Painting

Secondary source

The Black Death (Woodcut)

Map titled in Greek 'Spread of the Bubonic Plague in Europe'. Colored zones show spread by period from 1347 to after 1351, with blue dots marking plague centers such as London, Paris, Florence and Thessaloniki, and black dots marking major cities. Legend in upper left.

Document

Secondary source

Bubonic Plague Map, Greek Translation

Lord Makro · 5 June 2007 (original upload date)

Four grey lead cross-shaped objects on a white background. Three are cross-shaped with varied arms, one at top center, one at left, one at right, and one larger cross at bottom center. Surfaces are rough and dull.

Artifact

Primary source

Four lead mortuary crosses from Grey Friars, Newgate Street

Book

Secondary source

The Predicted Plague

Hippocrates Junior (pseudonym) · 1900

Scan of a medieval manuscript folio on aged parchment. Red decorated initial and rubric heading at top left, with dense brown handwritten Latin-script text in two columns. A red circular library stamp reads Biblioteca Reale Berolinensis near the bottom center. Dark background surrounds the page.

Book

Primary source

Boccaccio Decameron manuscript page, Ms. Hamilton 90

Giovanni Boccaccio · c. 1370

A medieval manuscript miniature in bright colours: a skeletal figure with a spear-like pointer stands at right beside a table, while a skeleton-like figure hovers over a red bed where a man lies. A seated man holds a cup, a woman kneels in prayer, and a standing young man in blue watches at left, all on a tiled floor with a patterned blue tapestry behind.

Painting

Secondary source

Black Death depicted in a 15th-century manuscript miniature

15th century

Pencil and colored-crayon drawing of a wild landscape: a hooded, dark-cloaked figure with pale, wide-eyed face clutches a rake and walks down a grassy slope past turf-roofed wooden huts toward a fjord and snow-streaked mountains under a gray, cloudy sky. Signed Th. Kittelsen 1904.

Painting

Secondary source

She covers the whole country

Theodor Kittelsen · 1904

Painting

Secondary source

Bernard Tolomei and the Plague in Siena

Giuseppe Maria Crespi · c. 1735

Black-and-white engraving of plague scenes: a man at left tends a fire near dead cattle and bodies, a bust sits atop a tall pillar with an inscription, and people in the foreground lie sick or dying beside a town.

Painting

Secondary source

Il Morbetto

Marcantonio Raimondi · 1515/16

Watercolor and ink drawing of a stone church in snowy, dusky landscape under a streaked orange and grey sky. Cross on the gable, separate wooden bell tower on the right, bare tree, and two small dark figures walking in the snow. Signed and dated 1906 at lower right.

Painting

Secondary source

Black Death

Hugo Simberg · 1906

Black-and-white etching titled 'La peste di Firenze dal Boccaccio descritta'. Plague victims lie nude and clothed on the ground in the foreground while figures in robes and a monk with a cross stand near a stone archway and fortified walls. A banner with a skull and cross hangs above a group on a mound; a tower and city are visible in the distance.

Painting

Secondary source

Sabatelli etching of the Florentine plague of 1348

Luigi Sabatelli

Sculpture

Secondary source

Intercession Sainte Parentèle, plague-stricken burgher detail

late Middle Ages, Swabia region

Engraved print of a plague scene in a walled city. Robed figures attend to many naked and dying bodies piled on the ground in the foreground. A tall banner and a gateway with an arch frame the scene, with a church tower in the background. An Italian inscription runs along the bottom margin.

Painting

Secondary source

The Plague of Florence in 1348, after Boccaccio's Decameron

Luigi Sabatelli · 19th century

A decorative watercolour titled 'Black Death' showing a world map in blue and cream at centre, surrounded by vignettes: a skeletal angel with wings over Asia, a robed figure in the top centre, medieval scenes of plague victims and physicians, a bird-masked doctor, rats, a bearded figure in a lower panel, and banners reading 'Black' and 'Death' across the top.

Painting

Secondary source

The Black Death, watercolour map by Munro Scott Orr

Munro Scott Orr

Reverse side of a large, aged, cream-colored sheet of paper with faint marks, creases, and a small orange label near the top edge. Some pale brownish streaks appear near the bottom right. No printed image is visible.

Painting

Secondary source

The Plague of Florence in 1348

Luigi Sabatelli

Black-and-white photograph of the Piazza del Campo in Siena showing the tall Torre del Mangia with a bell, the Palazzo Pubblico, and a small domed loggia structure at left of the square. Handwritten caption below lists dates and mentions the 1348 plague.

Artifact

Secondary source

Loggia of the Piazza del Campo, Siena

1376

Black and white reproduction of a pictorial map titled 'Black Death'. A world map shows Europe, Africa and Asia with allegorical figures, a skeletal angel with wings, a hooded figure, a bishop, and small vignettes of plague scenes around the border. A caption at the bottom reads 'Pictorial Diagram showing the history and distribution of the Black Death'.

Document

Secondary source

The Black Death

Monro Orr

Engraving of a violent street scene in a medieval town. Armed men with axes and clubs attack a bearded older man in a dark robe. A woman raises her arms in distress, and several bodies lie on the ground among scattered books. Church spires and timber houses fill the background.

Painting

Secondary source

Jewish Persecution in Krems, 1349

Carl Swoboda · c. 1862

Colored map of Europe showing the spread of the Black Death from 1347 to 1351, with bands of color from yellow to brown indicating timing, a green region in Central Europe, and purple and black dots marking locations. Legend box in top left has no text labels.

Document

Secondary source

Blank Map of the Bubonic Plague in Europe, 1347-1351

Roger Zenner (original); Jaybear (enlargement and readability editing) · 5 February 2014

Carved and painted wooden relief of the Last Judgement. Christ with a bare chest and crown of thorns stands center, with the Virgin and angels in clouds above. Crowds of people kneel and gesture on both sides, and a figure lies on the ground in the lower right.

Sculpture

Secondary source

The Last Judgement

Workshop of Master of the Biberach Holy Kinship · c. 1520

Map of Europe showing the spread of the Black Death from 1347 to 1351 by colored zones. Legend lists 1347 (dark brown), 1348, 1349, 1349 onward, 1350, 1351, and areas not affected (green). The 1347 zone covers Turkey and the Black Sea area and Sicily. Zones move northwest across Italy, France, Spain, Britain and Scandinavia, reaching Scandinavia and Russia by 1350-1351. Cities marked with black dots include Copenhagen, London, Paris, Prague, Vienna, Athens and Toledo. Blue dots mark ports. Two large years are labeled 1348 over France and Spain and 1349 over Germany.

Document

Secondary source

Black Death spread in Europe map, Basque version

Roger Zenner · 25 April 2023

Want the full shelf? Chat with The Black Death in the app and open the Sources panel — every quote links back to the original.

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Roger Campbell

7th-grade World History, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Been using Humy in his classroom since 2024

“Humy has helped me bring historical figures, sometimes long past, to life. When my students interact with these figures in real-time, it eliminates some of the perceived “ancient” characteristics of my curriculum. This has shifted my students’ thinking away from viewing history as abstract or irrelevant. Real-time interactions make historical figures relatable, even allowing students to ask off-topic questions that help put historical lives in a more relevant context for 13-year-olds. The feature I use the most is the interview feature. After teaching a topic, most recently Gandhi and Joan of Arc, I have the students ask pointed, focused questions. We practice good conversation techniques beforehand, teaching them to listen (or read) carefully and formulate thoughtful follow-up questions rather than just interrogating. It helps students practice effective conversation skills.”

Dr. Michael Calvert

Assistant Superintendent, South Allegheny School District, Pennsylvania

Been using Humy in his district since 2024

“We enjoyed the program last year and used it frequently.”

Jacob Chisom

World and American History, Monticello High School, Arkansas

Been using Humy in his classroom since 2024

“My students say it’s a welcome change of pace. I’m not a fan of the “sage on the stage” model, so I try to incorporate research-oriented and self-paced activities. With Humy, students have to take charge of their learning. They’ve become more adept at critical thinking, forming better questions, and improving their reading comprehension. The interview feature has been my go-to tool. I create assignments where students must ask historical figures a set number of questions, then summarize the responses to ensure they’re truly absorbing the material. This approach lets them actively explore the past rather than passively consuming information.”

Roger Campbell

7th-grade World History, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Been using Humy in his classroom since 2024

“Humy has helped me bring historical figures, sometimes long past, to life. When my students interact with these figures in real-time, it eliminates some of the perceived “ancient” characteristics of my curriculum. This has shifted my students’ thinking away from viewing history as abstract or irrelevant. Real-time interactions make historical figures relatable, even allowing students to ask off-topic questions that help put historical lives in a more relevant context for 13-year-olds. The feature I use the most is the interview feature. After teaching a topic, most recently Gandhi and Joan of Arc, I have the students ask pointed, focused questions. We practice good conversation techniques beforehand, teaching them to listen (or read) carefully and formulate thoughtful follow-up questions rather than just interrogating. It helps students practice effective conversation skills.”

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Who is The Black Death?

Pandemic in Eurasia and North Africa On Humy.ai you can chat with an AI version of The Black Death that draws on a short biography and 80 historical sources during the conversation — by text or voice, in 42 languages.

Is The Black Death AI free?

The Black Death is part of Humy's full library of more than 100,000 figures, which comes with a paid plan. A free account (no credit card) includes 20 messages a month with the free library's figures, so you can try how the conversations work first.

What sources does the The Black Death AI use?

It draws on a short biography and 80 historical sources (paintings, books and artifacts), including “The Decameron”, “Statute of Labourers 1351” and “Depiction of the Flagellant Processions”. Each source has its own page on Humy.ai.

How historically accurate is the AI version of The Black Death?

Each figure uses a short biography and a small set of selected historical sources as context (retrieval-augmented generation), so answers stay closer to known material than the model's general knowledge alone. It isn't a citation-grade research tool — like any LLM, the AI can get details wrong or extrapolate. Treat it as a strong starting point for inquiry and cross-reference important claims.

Can I talk to The Black Death by voice?

Yes. In addition to text chat, you can call The Black Death and hear their voice respond in real time — useful for auditory learners, interview practice and Socratic dialogue.

Is Humy.ai safe and compliant for schools?

Yes. Humy.ai is used by more than 100 schools, universities and organisations. The platform is FERPA- and GDPR-aligned, supports SSO, and offers an IT-approval pack tailored for school procurement teams.