Black Death
Also known as: Great Mortality, Great Pestilence
Overview
The Black Death was a bubonic and pneumonic plague pandemic caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that swept through Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 1347 and 1351. It is the deadliest pandemic in recorded history by proportion of population: estimates place the death toll at 30–60% of Europe's population, or 75–200 million people worldwide.
The pandemic originated in Central or East Asia in the 1330s and moved west along trade routes. Genoese ships carried it from the Crimean port of Caffa to Sicily in October 1347; within three years it had reached every part of Europe. Contemporary chroniclers described entire villages emptied and cities reduced to half their population in months.
Beyond mortality, the Black Death transformed European society. Acute labour shortages ended serfdom in many regions, raised wages for surviving workers, and weakened the feudal order. The Catholic Church's inability to prevent or explain the pandemic undermined its authority. Persecution of Jewish, Roma, and other minority communities — accused of spreading the disease — intensified.
Timeline
- 1330Probable origin in Central Asian steppe populations of marmots and other rodents.
- 1347October: Genoese galleys carry plague from Caffa to Messina, Sicily.
- 1348Plague reaches France, England, Spain, and most of Germany.
- 1349Peak mortality across Western Europe; pogroms against Jewish communities.
- 1351Russia reached; European epidemic broadly ends but recurrences follow.
- 1353First wave over; plague returns periodically until the 17th century.
Impact
The Black Death reshaped medieval Europe more profoundly than any single event of the period. Labour scarcity transformed rural economies, accelerated the decline of feudalism, and shifted bargaining power toward surviving peasants. The demographic shock was not recovered for more than 150 years in many regions. Intellectual and religious life was disrupted — flagellant movements, millenarian preaching, and waves of anti-Jewish violence accompanied the epidemic. The pandemic left lasting marks on art, law, urban planning, and medicine.
How it ended
The 1347–1351 wave ended as the population of susceptible hosts collapsed and cold winters disrupted flea reproduction. Yersinia pestis continued to cause recurrent outbreaks in Europe for three centuries, with the Great Plague of London (1665) being one of the last major European episodes. Plague still circulates today in rodent reservoirs on several continents.
Sources
- Benedictow, Ole J. (2004). The Black Death 1346–1353: The Complete History.
- Campbell, Bruce M. S. (2016). The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World.
- WHO Plague fact sheet