Was the Black Death of the 14th century really the bubonic plague?
Read "The Vindicaion of the Rat" for a different theory.
Some new evidence discovered in 2014
may also vindicate the rat (and its fleas) by showing the Black Death
was pneumonic plague. Article from the Guardian
-I'd love to see a paper in a scientific journal
from this investigation. If you know of one, please let me know!
UPDATE (Jan 2016): I still haven't seen anything on this topic coming through the scientific literature, but did find a Popular Science article that shoots down many of the conclusions in the Guardian article.
