13. Responsible for killing half of the population of Europe in just five years, the consequences of the Black Death took centuries to recover from
The Black Death, known historically as the Great Plague, stands among the deadliest instances in recorded human history. Originating in the plains of Central Asia, the plague was carried by fleas on rats along the Silk Road into the borderlands of Europe and Mediterranean ports. Enjoying a surprisingly brief peak, lasting from just 1347 until 1351, this outbreak is estimated to have caused the deaths of between seventy-five and two hundred million people across Eurasia and Europe. In total, killing between thirty and sixty percent of the population of Europe, the Black Death reduced the world’s population so much that it would take nearly two hundred years to recover.
Beyond the catastrophic loss of life, the deaths of half of Europe’s population in less than five years resulted in irreversible political, economic, and social upheavals. Religious persecutions, particular of Jews, who were accused of poisoning the water supplies, spiked, with 2,000 Jews murdered en masse in Strasbourg in February 1349. For those who survived the outbreak, however, they enjoyed vastly improved economic opportunities, with available land and cheap property abundant. The Black Death also replenished Mother Nature, with whole forests regrowing in the absence of human industry, even affecting global temperatures and climate.