The Great Famine of 1315
-Chrissie

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            The Eleventh and Twelfth centuries in Europe were generally good years. The average temperatures were warm, winters were mild, and summers were perfect for growing grain. Yields increased immensely in these decades, which prompted a population increase. This growth came to an abrupt end in 1315. In this year, northern Europe and Britain saw much cooler temperatures and incessant rainfall. This combination prevented grain from growing properly, a disaster for a society whose diet relied on bread.

The peasantry, who lived at the edge of subsistence in the best of times, were the hardest hit. Those who knew the land turned to foraging in order to make up some of the shortfall. Some could also to pasture their livestock to graze on their own during the summer and fall, reducing the need to provide food for them. But, come winter, there was nothing to forage and even the livestock who could eat almost anything were left without. So, logically, people slaughtered their livestock, both to provide food for themselves and to reduce the amount of animal feed needed (the same conditions that prevented grain from growing did the same for hay and straw). This was a short-term solution, not only because they had limited livestock to slaughter but because the price of salt had risen so high that most people could not afford enough to preserve the meat in order to have it for the coming months.

The upper classes, who could afford to buy extra grain in good times and also had the means to store it, were not as badly affected. Those who could afford to do so purchased grain from the Mediterranean region, which did not experience the drastic weather changes. These sellers were aware of the situation and priced accordingly. But even those with money were not entirely protected from the situation: a chronicler at St. Albans, England reported a visit by King Edward II during which he was unable to buy enough food for his party.

A single year of such crop failures would have been bad enough, but 1316 was just as cold and rainy as the previous year. Here we see reports of people killing their horses and dogs to eat. And now, people ate the one thing they would have held out in the previous year: seed grain. To eat this precious resource meant they would have nothing to plant in the next year, a sure sign of lost hope and despair. Most drastically, some chronicles report that people turned to cannibalism.

The cold and wet weather finally abated in the summer of 1317, but it was years before crop yields came close to pre-famine levels and it took until 1325 for the population to begin to increase again. Even after there was sufficient food supply, people were still dealing with the effects of the famine. Alongside hunger comes many illnesses; in this case it was primarily pneumonia and tuberculosis. These diseases spread and kill quickly and often have lasting impacts of the health of those who survive. It is difficult to know the overall death toll of these years, but estimates range from ten to fifteen percent of the population of France and the British Isles, with the peasantry representing a far larger portion than the upper classes.

Children born immediately before and during this time suffered from long-term consequences of malnutrition. The lack of key nutrients at a young age meant they could not grow and develop properly, and left them vulnerable later in life. This generation was just reaching their thirties as the Black Death began its deadly march across the continent.