The Black Death: Worst Disaster In Human History

The Black Death killed 75–200 million people in Eurasia and North Africa in the span of a meager three years.

Detail of Luigi Sabatelli’s 19th-century etching of the Black Death | Photo Credits: Thought Co.

The coronavirus pandemic halted the entire world, caused numerous deaths, and devastated many. However, looking back at the Black Death of 1346 will make us breathe a sigh of relief. It killed almost 60 percent of the entire population, wiping away humans left and right. The stories penned during the plague still send a horrific chill down the spine.

How Did It Begin?

“Hell on Earth”, the nightmare depicted by Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel in his mid-16th-century painting | Photo Credits: National Geographic

Even though most plague accounts are European, that has more to do with whose narrative lives to tell the story. The plague is said to have originated in Asia 2000 years ago: even then, the world was globalized, connected by trading ships. As a result, the epidemic quickly and worryingly spread worldwide.

By the early 1340s, there were horror stories of the disease wreaking havoc in China, India, Persia, Syria, and Egypt. However, the plague truly peaked in 1346–39. Research has shown that the Black Death might have existed in Europe as early as 3000 BC.