Laura Wright 
Long before the Black Death devastated Europe, something seemed terribly wrong with the natural world.
Droughts withered crops. Torrential rains drowned cities and farmland. Earthquakes shook entire regions. Mountains collapsed. Locusts descended upon the countryside. Famine and disease followed.
Then came the plague.
For people living through the fourteenth century, the succession of catastrophes must have seemed almost apocalyptic. Without modern knowledge of disease, geology, meteorology, or epidemiology, there was little reason to regard these disasters as unrelated events.
The Black Death, sometimes called the Black Fever, was preceded by nearly two decades of extraordinary natural disasters reported across Europe and Asia.
Were they warnings of what was coming?
Did environmental conditions contribute to the spread of disease?
Or did generations of chroniclers simply preserve an extraordinary collection of unrelated catastrophes that happened to surround one of the worst pandemics in human history?
The following timeline chronicles some of the most notable disasters reported before and during the Black Death.
1333: Drought, Floods, and a New Plague
Severe drought and famine struck China around the Yangtze and Huai rivers.
The Yangtze is the longest river in Asia.
At the same time, violent torrents of rain inundated the countryside near Kingsai, then described as the Chinese capital. Historical accounts claimed that more than 400,000 people died as a result of these extreme weather conditions.
The mountain known as Tsincheai reportedly imploded.
Far to the west, Mount Etna in Sicily also erupted during this period.
Some historians reported that a new and voracious plague made landfall along the Pacific coast that year. According to those accounts, it ravaged China for 13 years before eventually reaching Europe.
Whatever its origins, the disease appeared against a backdrop of strange and brutal weather affecting much of the known world.
1334: Millions Die
The following year brought further catastrophe.
Guangzhou, China, suffered repeated flash floods.
In Zhejiang, another drought was accompanied by a strange plague reportedly responsible for approximately five million deaths.
An earthquake also struck Kingsai.
The mountains at Ki-Ming-Chan collapsed, forming a lake and killing thousands of people.
1335: Drought, Locusts, and Famine
The regions of Houkouang and Hunan endured a drought lasting five months.
Then came the locusts.
Great swarms destroyed the remaining vegetation.
Disease and famine followed.
1336: Storms Over France
In France, tremendous thunderstorms were reported.
Although relatively minor compared with some of the catastrophes occurring elsewhere, the storms became another part of the extraordinary sequence of weather events recorded during the years preceding the Black Death.
1337: Four Million Dead
An estimated four million people died from famine in Chiang.
The region was simultaneously afflicted by flooding, locusts, and an earthquake reportedly lasting six days.
Europe was experiencing its own troubles.
Franconia, Germany, was invaded by locusts.
The insects would continue devouring the region for two years.
1338: Earthquakes and Crop Failure
Another prolonged earthquake struck Kingsai.
This time, the tremors reportedly continued for ten days.
Meanwhile, dramatic changes in the weather caused crops across France to fail.
1342: The Mysterious Floods
By 1342, the long succession of earthquakes, famines, plagues, and unusual natural disasters appeared to come to an abrupt end.
Then something extraordinary happened along the Rhine.
Floodwaters swept through areas of Germany and France.
According to accounts of the event, the flooding could not simply be attributed to rainfall.
Witnesses reportedly could not understand where so much water was coming from.
Natural springs suddenly began pumping enormous quantities of water. Creeks and streams surged from the mountains.
The landscape itself appeared to be releasing water.
1343: Mountains Collapse and Cities Flood
The Chinese mountain Hong-tchang reportedly collapsed, producing a severe flood.
The ancient regions of Pien-tcheai and Leang-tcheou then experienced five months of rain.
Floodwaters destroyed seven cities.
Farther west, earthquakes struck Egypt and Syria.
1344: Earthquake and “Sea Overflow”
Ven-tchiou suffered an earthquake followed by what historical accounts called a “sea overflow,” an event that would now be described as a tsunami.
Canton endured additional earthquakes accompanied by reports of subterranean thunder.
1346: The Plague Approaches
By 1346, reports reaching Prague described a terrible epidemic spreading through China, India, and Persia.
The disease was moving west.
Within approximately a year, Europe would begin experiencing what nations farther east had already endured.
1347: The Black Death Reaches Europe
As conditions in China began to calm, plague reached Constantinople by December.
Italy was already struggling with widespread poverty. Bakeries were constructed in April to provide bread to the population, with average production reportedly reaching 94,000 loaves.
Then came the ships.
In December, a fleet of merchant vessels arrived in the harbor at Geneva, Italy.
Those who investigated discovered that the ships were not deserted.
Their crews were dead.
The people who boarded the vessels subsequently carried the disease into the city, and from there it spread farther into Europe.
By the time the Black Death entered Europe, it was estimated to have already killed well over 30 million people in Asia.
1348: Plague and Natural Disaster
The plague had arrived.
But the natural disasters had not finished.
It is hardly surprising that people living through these events believed something diabolical had been unleashed upon the earth.
On January 25, a powerful earthquake struck Greece and Italy.
Tremors were felt in Naples, Rome, Bologna, and numerous other communities.
Entire villages were reportedly swallowed by the earth.
Thousands of people were buried alive.
Italy also suffered a crop failure after four months of rainfall.
The Carinthia Earthquake
Carinthia, Austria, suffered particularly severe destruction.
More than 30 villages were demolished.
Rescuers reportedly recovered more than a thousand bodies from beneath the rubble.
The earthquake was so destructive that some contemporary scholars claimed entire mountains had shifted from their original positions.
Earthquakes were also reported in France, Poland, Denmark, England, Sweden, and locations farther north.
Minor earthquakes continued to trouble parts of Europe periodically through 1360.
Strange Conditions in Greenland
Massive iceberg formations appeared along the eastern coast of Greenland.
According to accounts, the coastal ground beneath them was never seen again.
This was yet another unusual environmental development occurring while plague ravaged Europe.
Disaster on Cyprus
The island of Cyprus suffered an earthquake followed by a hurricane.
A tsunami destroyed ships in the harbor.
The island’s formerly fertile landscape reportedly became almost desert-like.
Then came something even stranger.
The air filled with a terrible stench.
At the time, people believed the foul atmosphere itself carried disease, and many were said to have died simply from breathing the toxic air.
The Stinking Mist
Witnesses living during the Black Death also described a thick, foul-smelling mist advancing from the east.
Some believed the odor came from decomposing locusts that had plagued the continent.
Such reports fit naturally into medieval ideas about disease.
Long before microorganisms were understood, foul air and mysterious vapors provided a seemingly reasonable explanation for epidemics.
And during the Black Death, there was no shortage of strange things appearing in the sky.
Fire in the Sky
During 1348, massive fiery meteors were reportedly observed traveling eastward across several European nations.
These accounts would much later contribute to theories that the Black Death might somehow have had an extraterrestrial origin.
In August, a fireball was reportedly observed passing over Paris, France.
Then, on December 20, another extraordinary phenomenon appeared above the papal palace in Avignon.
Witnesses described it as a “pillar of fire.”
It appeared at sunrise and reportedly remained visible for approximately an hour.
Something Strange Happened to the Wine
Even Europe’s wine appeared to be affected.
Wine stored in casks across the continent was reportedly becoming “turbid.”
A cloudy sediment appeared in the liquid and refused to clear.
It became one more peculiar observation added to an already extraordinary period of plague, earthquakes, floods, famine, strange atmospheric conditions, and unusual events in the sky.
Countdown to the Black Fever
Looking backward, it is easy to separate these events into familiar categories.
Earthquakes belong to geology.
Floods and droughts belong to weather and climate.
Locusts destroy crops.
Crop failures create famine.
Disease follows weakened populations and disrupted societies.
Meteors belong to astronomy.
But people living through the fourteenth century did not possess the luxury of those neat divisions.
They saw the world around them behaving strangely.
Then millions of people began dying.
For them, the connection must have seemed obvious.
Whether the extraordinary natural phenomena preceding the Black Death actually contributed to the conditions that allowed the plague to spread is another question.
But the historical sequence remains startling.
For years, earthquakes, floods, droughts, crop failures, famine, locusts, strange atmospheric phenomena, and disease struck enormous portions of Europe and Asia.
Then came the Black Death.
Was nature somehow warning of what was coming?
Or had years of catastrophe created the perfect conditions for one of history’s greatest pandemics?
That question has kept people wondering for centuries.
About the Author
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Hey Laura,
I was just wondering if you have further evidence to confirm a connection between the natural phenomena and the black plague? How can the two be associated? Yes, the timing seems uncanny, but is that enough to substantiate a possible relationship between the3 two? What are your thoughts on the ‘extraterrestrial’ theory? Is it possible the earth somehow created or released a deadly virus when such phenomena occurred? What are your thoughts on this?
Please keep in mind, I am not at all disagreeing with you, just seeking more insight on this. I find It is extremely fascinating.
Hello! No, there’s no concrete evidence linking the two, but it’s incredibly suspicious. Most of the disasters stopped when the plague did, too. I suspect that had a lot to do with both the eras of the flagellants and the Inquisition. People had to be terrified, especially since there was no idea of germs or viruses. As far as most laypeople at the time, they genuinely believed it was the end of the world.
Personally, I think it was a superbug that bordered the supernatural in terms of viciousness and speed. I’ve been fascinated with the Black Death for years and have read most of the old books on it. I think the weather played a role in its spread and its adaptation, but I can’t say just how significant it was.
I think I mentioned it earlier, but we still have bubonic epidemics today in lesser developed nations. It spreads at about 15 miles per day with automobiles, trains, and airplanes. In the 14th Century, with only horse and foot traffic, it spread at about 250 miles a day. It was much, much more aggressive. Plus, it seemed to almost have a mind of its own. In Venice and Florence, they sealed up entire households (and all occupants in it) if one single person caught the plague. They would open the house days later and find survivors that the plague didn’t touch, but everyone else in the home would be dead.
Laura,
I am aware of the possibility the natural phenomena involved expedited the transportation of this “superbug” across Europe. I guess I was curious if the former played a creative role regarding the latter.
Needless to say, a connection between the two is apparent, and we still see signs of it today in different forms. Whenever a natural disaster hits, those residing in surrounding areas exhibit symptoms associated with illness, usually life-threatening. This sort of correlation isn’t new, nor is it indigenous to the 14th century. I do agree it was more aggressive at that time because of the human mindset and the lack of knowledge and technology to prevent or address it. This is why such occurrences are seen/experienced less prevalently in the current time. The black plague and the natural phenomena that led to it provided a study for future civilizations there and abroad, so as morbid and ironic as it sounds, these phenomena ultimately served a beneficial role in human survival.
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Yes, I think most things I’m interested in turn out to be morbid…lol.
I am amazed every time I read about that period that the human race not only survived, but replenished the world as they have. I am astounded that our ancestors survived that horrific era and hope it speaks about the strength we might have if we faced the same.