What is the setting of "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe?

This scary
story about how everyone is mortal and death is inevitable takes place in the 14th century in
Europe.  Prince Prospero, the narrator, has gathered 1000 other wealthy people and friends in
the abbey of his castle in hopes of escaping the disease, the Red Death, that is sweeping across
Europe.  He locks them all in the abbey by bolting and welding the doors shut so no one can
escape, and nothing can get in.  In a way, he is hoping that life will stand still by becoming a
prisoner in his own castle.  All goes well for a while, and after a few months, Prince Prospero
holds a masquerade ball for his company in the spooky imperial suites of the abbey.  The rooms
are all different colors and have matching stained glass windows.  One of the rooms is all black
with blood red windows.  During the party, a stranger who looks like a corpse, "tall and
gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave" enters the
masquerade ball.  The visitor's mask is splotchy red, a symptom of the Red Death.  Everything
and everybody stops, and Prince Prospero chases the uninvited out of the room into the all black
room.  As he approaches the stranger, the stranger turns to reveal himself to Prince Prospero.
The Prince drops his dagger and falls over dead. The Red Death has crept into the abbey after
all, and it isn't long before everyone else is dead.  

The moral of the story
is that no one can escape death. Despite Prince Prospero's efforts, he is mortal and cannot
escape his fate.