The History Book

IN CONTEXT

Focus

The Black Death

Before

1315–1319 Famines strike western Europe: 15 percent of Dutch city-dwellers die.

1316 Edward II of England fixes staple food prices as shortages drive them upward.

Late 1330s Bubonic plague spreads gradually westward from western China.

After

1349 Accused of starting the plague, Jews are murdered in the thousands in Germany.

1349 Pope bans the flagellant “Brothers of the Cross.”

1351 Statute of Labourers is passed in England.

1381 Peasants’ Revolt stirs political rebellion across large parts of England.

1424 Dance of Death painted on the cloister walls of the Cimetière des Innocents, Paris.

In late November 1347, a galley ...