A depiction of people burying victims of the Black Death in Tournai by Pierart Dou Tielt in 1353. Credit: Public DomainIn the fourteenth century, the Black Death spread rapidly throughout Asia and Europe, including in Greece and across the Byzantine empire.
The Black Death is the most fatal pandemic ever recorded, as an estimated 75 to 200 million people died from the plague across Europe, Asia, and North Africa from 1346 to 1353.
The pestilence is believed to have killed 30 to 60 percent of Europe’s population and one third of the population of the Middle East.
The plague caused an unimaginable loss of life, particularly in Europe
The massive loss of life in Europe impacted the continent for centuries. It was not until the sixteenth century that the continent’s population reached the level it was before the onset of the Black Death.
Although it was never quite as deadly as the outbreak in the Middle Ages, the plague resurfaced periodically in Europe until the 19th century, most notably during the 17th century.
