How Did the Black Death Affect What People Ate in the Middle Ages?
Social, political and culinary revolutions
While the Black Death is not the deadliest disease in human history, it’s certainly one of the most impactful. The pestilence slammed into Europe in 1346, wiping out as much as 50% of the population in some parts. For many in the Middle Ages, it must have felt as if the end times were here and Hell had come to them.
When the dust settled in 1353, the survivors found themselves in a very different world to the one they had begun the pandemic in. The old laws of the land were beginning to break down and for peasants and lords alike, it was a tumultuous time. Nowhere is this more prevalent than medieval England.
Eroding the hierarchy
The Black Death was at its most potent in Europe from 1346–1353, it would not be the only outbreak of the disease, with many more following in later centuries, it is the one that had the greatest impact on society. The Black Death arrived in England via the port of Bristol in June, 1348. It quickly devasted the country, killing at least 1/3 of the population.
