Talk:Black Death

Florence: 80% mortality claim contradicts the surviving population figures in the same paragraph

The article gives two different mortality rates for Florence during the Black Death, and they contradict each other.

In the same paragraph of the Regional effects section, the article states that Florence's population fell from 110,000–120,000 before the plague to about 50,000 after it — a loss of approximately 55–64% of the population. The very next sentence in that same paragraph states: "tax records suggest 80% of the city's population died within four months."

A population decline from 110,000–120,000 to 50,000 represents a loss of 55–64%. That cannot simultaneously be described as "80% died." If 80% had died, the post-plague population would have been 22,000–24,000, not 50,000. The two figures are mutually exclusive, yet the article presents them side-by-side in the same paragraph without acknowledging the discrepancy. One of the two figures — either the surviving population count or the 80% mortality claim — must be wrong, but the article gives no indication of which to trust. Rome (talk) 04:16, 6 May 2026 (UTC)