Black Death: Cultures in Crisis

Sacha Kacki (1)

1 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie

Between the years 1346 and 1353 CE, a terrible disease swept across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, bringing death and desolation in its wake. This widespread epidemic, now known as the “Black Death”, caused dramatic losses, surpassing those of any large-scale disaster recorded before. In Europe, the disease killed an estimated 30–60% of the population over a 5-year period (Benedictow 2004). Its impact elsewhere in the Old World is not as well-known, but historical evidence suggests massive depopulation as well (Borsch 2014). By causing such a large demographic collapse, the Black Death initiated or enhanced major social, economic, and political changes throughout Western Eurasia and Northern Africa (Horrox 1994; Borsch 2014). It also constituted the starting point of a period of high mortality, marked by recurrent outbreaks of the disease over the next four centuries (Biraben 1975). Due to its many effects on society and culture, the Black Death is generally considered as one of the most significant events of the late medieval world and as a turning point in European history.

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Anthropologie biologique

Sacha Kacki. Black Death: Cultures in Crisis. Smith C. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, Springer International Publishing, pp.1-12, 2020, ⟨10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_2858-1⟩. ⟨hal-02921695⟩