The Black Death Reaches Europe

Setting the scene

In the 1340s, Europe was already weakened by the Great Famine of 1315-1317, the Hundred Years' War beginning in 1337, and overpopulation. Trade routes connected Europe to Asia via Mongol-controlled Silk Roads and Genoese ships in the Black Sea. The bacterium Yersinia pestis had been endemic in Central Asian rodent populations for centuries. Medieval cities lacked sanitation, with waste in streets and rats ubiquitous in homes and granaries.

What happened

The Black Death reached Europe in October 1347 when twelve Genoese trading ships docked at Messina, Sicily, carrying plague from Caffa in Crimea. By 1348 it spread to Italy, France, and England; by 1349 to Germany and Scandinavia; by 1351 to Russia. The pandemic killed 25 to 50 million people—30% to 60% of Europe's population—in just four years. Boccaccio described Florentines abandoning the sick, while flagellants roamed whipping themselves. Doctors wore beaked masks filled with herbs.

Why it still matters

The plague shattered feudalism by killing so many laborers that surviving peasants could demand wages and freedom, ending serfdom in Western Europe. It spurred medical advances, quarantine systems (from Italian quaranta giorni, 40 days), and scapegoating of Jews accused of poisoning wells. The labor shortage accelerated technological innovation and contributed to the Renaissance by redistributing wealth. Recurring outbreaks continued until the 19th century, fundamentally reshaping European society, religion, and economy.

Background

The pandemic killed a large share of Europe's population. Even centuries later, this episode remains a reference point for how empires rise, fracture, and transform.