Milestone

Great Famine of 1315-1317

Agricultural Famines and Disasters

The Great Famine of 1315-1317 was the first of a series of large-scale agricultural and demographic crises to strike Europe in the 14th century, affecting most of the continent from Poland in the east to the Alps in the south. Unusually heavy rains and unseasonably cool temperatures beginning in spring 1315 prevented crops from maturing, causing successive harvest failures that lasted through 1316 until a normal harvest finally returned in 1317; weakened cattle also fell victim to a subsequent livestock epidemic, the Great Bovine Pestilence, which killed as much as 80 percent of sheep and cattle in affected areas. Between roughly 5 and 12 percent of the population of northern Europe is estimated to have died of starvation or related disease, and the famine marked a clear end to the long period of population growth and agricultural expansion that had characterized the 11th through 13th centuries; full recovery did not come until around 1322.

Facts

Milestone Year

1315 1

When

Crop failures continued through 1316; food supply did not return to normal until 1325 1

Location

Northern Europe, including the British Isles, Northern France, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Germany and western Poland 1

Classification

Type/Classification

Agricultural Famine or Disaster 1

Connections

Associated With

Wheat

Unrelenting rain and cold across northern Europe caused near total losses of the wheat, rye, barley and oat harvests.

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