1346–1353Reputable sourceWell documented
The Black Death Rides the Trade Routes
On the timeline · around 1346–1353 ·
What happened
The same Mongol peace that carried silk and silver across Eurasia also carried plague. Erupting in Central Asia, the Black Death spread west along the trade routes; according to one account it was hurled into the Genoese port of Caffa on the Black Sea when a besieging Mongol army catapulted infected corpses over the walls. From there it reached Europe by 1347 and killed perhaps a third of its people within a few years.
Why it matters
The interconnected world the Mongols built became a highway for pestilence as well as trade. The Black Death was one of the deadliest catastrophes in human history, and it spread with a speed made possible by the Mongol age of exchange.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Black Death · Reputable source
Related timelines
- Pandemics Through History → — The deadliest pandemic of the Middle Ages
- The Silk Road → — Plague travelled the same routes as trade