How Climate Change and Epidemics shaped the 14th Century | Terra X | MrWissen2go

In the 14th Century A.C., humankind is challenged by numerous crisis – not dissimilar to the 21st Century. At least seven major earthquakes leave the people of Mid-Europe battered down. For three years, locust plagues invade the historic region of Bohemia and present-day South Germany. And earth’s climate is changing – extreme weather events ruin the crops and diminish the harvests. Catastrophic floods rage during the beginning of the 14th Century. The largest-recorded flooding in Europe, St. Mary Magdalene's flood, kills tens of thousands of people. Vast territories are flooded. Scientists reckon that in a matter of months, the floods washed away as much soil as would naturally erode in centuries. The consequences are grave: Countless people suffer hunger and relocate to the crowded cities; living confined, huddled and under disastrous hygienic conditions. Now, the second mega-crisis of the 14th Century unrolls: The Black Death. It is not the first time Europe gets overrun by the plague – only this time, it is much worse than during the 6th Century. The disease spreads by sea; ships carry it from the Black Sea to Europe. From 1347 through 1353, a third of the population in Europe is decimated – one in three people die due to the epidemic.