jan 1, 1348 - Black Death

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1340 Tatars are ravaged by the bubonic plague – the black death – and they pass the disease on to Genoese merchants returning from China.

1347 A sailing ship returns to Genoa from a trip to the East. Its crew members are dead or dying from bubonic plague.

1348 The black death reaches France, Denmark, Norway and Britain, striking at a population weakened by nearly two generations of malnutrition. Around one-third of the people in affected areas are to die.

1350 Some Europeans are blaming Jews for the plague. Some are blaming the rich and some the Catholic Church. The belief in witchcraft is revitalized. Believing that the end of the world is at hand, some groups engage in frenzied bacchanals and orgies. Those called Flagellants believe that the plague is the judgment of God on sinful mankind. Walking across countryside, men and women flog one another. They preach that anyone doing this for thirty-three days will be cleansed of all sin – one day for every year that Christ lived. The Church is on guard against creative, heretical theology and Pope Clement VI condemns the movement.

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