The Black Death
The Black Death was a devastating pandemic of bubonic plague that swept through Europe, Asia, and North Africa in the mid-14th century, killing an estimated 25 to 50 million people.
The plague is believed to have originated in Central Asia before spreading along trade routes, reaching Europe in 1347 via merchant ships arriving in Sicily, and rapidly spreading across the continent over the following years.
The disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and spread primarily by fleas carried on rats, killed an estimated 30 to 60 percent of Europe's population within just a few years, causing profound social and economic upheaval.
The devastating population loss led to significant labor shortages, which historians argue contributed to improved conditions for surviving peasants and helped weaken the rigid feudal system across medieval Europe.