Arriving via trade routes from Central Asia, the Black Death swept across Europe between 1347 and 1351, killing an estimated one-third of the population in one of the deadliest pandemics in recorded history.
Background
The disease, now understood to be caused primarily by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and spread by fleas carried on rodents, moved rapidly along established Mediterranean and overland trade routes.
“A pandemic that emptied villages also, over time, loosened the grip of a centuries-old social order.”
The Key Events
Mortality was so severe in many towns that normal burial practices broke down entirely, while surviving accounts describe entire villages emptied and widespread social and religious upheaval as communities struggled to explain the catastrophe.
Legacy and Lasting Impact
The resulting labor shortage shifted bargaining power toward surviving peasants and workers, contributing over subsequent decades to the erosion of many feudal obligations across Western Europe.
- Estimates suggest the plague killed roughly a third of Europe's population.
- Yersinia pestis, spread mainly by fleas on rodents, is now understood as the primary cause.
- Post-plague labor shortages are widely cited as a factor weakening European feudalism.
References & Further Reading
- Ole Benedictow, *The Black Death 1346–1353: The Complete History*
- Britannica, entry on the Black Death
- World Health Organization, historical notes on plague
- The National Archives (UK), records relating to the medieval plague
