Great Famine of 1315–1317

The Great Famine of 1315 to 1317 was the first of a series of crises that struck Europe in the fourteenth century, after about two centuries of population growth and good harvests. Unusually heavy and persistent rains ruined the harvests across much of northern Europe, from the British Isles to Poland, and grain prices soared. Livestock also died in large numbers from disease, and many people were weakened by hunger and fell victim to illnesses. Death rates were high, especially in towns and among the poor, and there are reports of crime, abandoned children and extreme measures to survive. The famine is often seen as an early sign that medieval Europe had reached the limits of its farming system, and it was followed by the Black Death.

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