What You Need to Know About the Black Death

When historians refer to "The Black Death," they mean the specific outbreak of plague that took place in Europe in the mid-14th century. It was not the first time plague had come to Europe, nor would it be the last. A deadly epidemic known as the Sixth-Century Plague or Justinian's plague struck Constantinople and parts of southern Europe 800 years earlier, but it did not spread as far as the Black Death, nor did it take nearly as many lives.

The Black Death came to Europe in October of 1347, spread swiftly through most of Europe by the end of 1349 and on to Scandinavia and Russia in the 1350s. It returned several times throughout the rest of the century.

The Black Death was also known as The Black Plague, the Great Mortality, and the Pestilence.

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