Plague, Weather, and Wool

Todd Richardson, MD, is a retired Family Medicine physician, having

practiced for thirty six years in Louisville, Kentucky.

He developed a keen interest in oriental rugs and began studying and

collecting them over forty years ago. Dr. Richardson also has had an

abiding interest in medical history since obtaining his BA in History at

the University of Louisville. Since that time, he has belonged to textile

organizations, given lectures on oriental rugs and previouly owned his

own oriental rug business.

It was while attending a national oriental rug meeting that he noticed the

association between the fi rst appearance of oriental rugs in Europe and

the beginning of the Bubonic plague, now known as the Black Death.