The author is MOST LIKELY describing
A the Fourth Crusade.
"Father abandoned child, wife husband, one brother another, for this illness seemed to strike through the breath and sight. And so
they died. And none could be found to bury the dead for money or friendship. Members of a household brought their dead to a
ditch as best they could, without priest, without divine offices... great pits were dug and piled deep with the multitude of dead. And
they died by the hundreds both day and night... And as soon as those ditches were filled more were dug...."
--Agnolo di Tura, 1348