Summary

The Great Famine of 1315-1317 (occasionally dated as 1315-1322) was the first in a series of large-scale crises to hit Europe in the early 14th century. Most of Europe (extending as far east as Russia and as far south as Italy) was affected. The famine caused numerous deaths over an extended number of years and marked a clear end to the period of growth and prosperity of the 11th-13th centuries.

The Great Famine began with bad weather in the spring of 1315. Crop failures lasted from 1316 until the summer harvest of 1317, and Europe did not fully recover until 1322. Crop failures were not the only problem; cattle disease caused sheep and cattle numbers to drop by up to 80%. The period was marked by extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death and even cannibalism and foeticide. The crisis had consequences for the Church, the state, European society and for future calamities to come in the 14th century.

Famines were relatively normal events in medieval Europe. For example, localised famines occurred in France in the 14th century in 1304, 1305, 1310, 1315-1317 (the Great Famine), 1330-1334, 1349-1351, 1358-1360, 1371, 1374-1375 and 1390. In England, the most prosperous kingdom affected by the Great Famine, there were smaller famines in 1321, 1351 and 1369. For most people there was often not enough food, and life was a relatively short and brutal struggle to survive into old age. According to official records of the English royal family, an example of the best-off in society at the time, for which records were kept, the average life expectancy at birth in 1276 was 35.28 years. Between 1301 and 1325 during the Great Famine it was 29.84 years, while between 1348 and 1375 during the Plague it was only 17.33 years.This shows the steep drop between 1348 and 1375 of about 42%.

During the Medieval Warm Period (the period before 1300), Europe's population exploded compared to earlier eras, reaching levels not reached in some places until the 19th century - indeed, parts of rural France today are still less populated than in the early 14th century. However, wheat production ratios, the number of seeds one could eat per seed planted, have been falling since 1280, and food prices have been rising. After favourable harvests, the ratio could be as high as 7:1, but after unfavourable harvests it was as high as 2:1 - that is, for every seed planted, two seeds were harvested, one for next year's seed and one for food. By comparison, modern agriculture has a ratio of 30:1 or more.

The onset of the Great Famine coincided with the end of the Medieval Warm Period. Between 1310 and 1330, northern Europe experienced some of the worst and longest periods of bad weather in the entire Middle Ages, characterised by severe winters and cold rainy summers. The Great Famine may also have been caused by a volcanic event, perhaps that of Mount Tarawera in New Zealand, which lasted about five years.

Changing weather patterns, the inefficiency of medieval governments in managing crises, and population levels at historically high levels created a time when there was no room for error when it came to food production.

In the spring of 1315 an unusually heavy rain began to fall on the territory of Europe. Throughout the spring and summer it continued to rain and the temperature remained cold. Under such conditions, grain could not ripen, leading to widespread crop failures. Grains were brought indoors in urns and pots to keep them dry. Livestock hay could not be protected, so there was no animal feed. The price of food began to rise; prices in England doubled between spring and midsummer. Salt, the only means of curing and preserving meat, was difficult to obtain because brine could not be evaporated effectively in wet weather; its price rose from 30 to 40 shillings. In Lorraine, wheat prices rose by 320%, making bread unaffordable to peasants. Long-term emergency grain stores were limited to royalty, lords, nobles, wealthy merchants and churches. Due to general high population pressures, even higher than average harvests meant that some people would go hungry; there was little margin for failure. People began gathering wild edible roots, herbs, nuts and bark from the forests.

A number of documented incidents show the extent of the famine. Edward II of England stopped at St Albans on 10 August 1315 and had difficulty finding bread for himself and his entourage; it was a rare occasion when the King of England was unable to eat. The French, under Louis X, attempted to invade Flanders, but in the lowlands of Holland, the fields were waterlogged and the army became so hampered that they were forced to retreat, burning their supplies where they left them, unable to carry them further.

In the spring of 1316 it continued to rain down on a European population lacking energy and reserves to sustain itself. All segments of society were affected, from the nobility to the peasantry, but especially the peasants, who made up 95% of the population and had no food reserves. To provide some measure of relief, the future was mortgaged by slaughtering draught animals, eating seeds, abandoning children leaving them to fend for themselves (see "Hänsel and Gretel") and, among the elderly, voluntarily withholding food so that the younger generation could survive. Chroniclers of the time noted many incidents of cannibalism, although "no one can say whether such talk was not simply rumour".

The peak of the famine was in 1317, as the wet weather continued. Eventually, that summer, the weather returned to its normal patterns. By then, however, people were so weakened by diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis and tuberculosis, and so much seed had been consumed, that it was not until 1325 that food stocks returned to relatively normal levels and the population began to grow again. Historians debate the number of casualties, but it is estimated that 10-25% of the population of many villages and towns died. Although the Black Death (1347-1351) would kill more people, it often swept through an area in a matter of months, while the Famine took years, prolonging the suffering of the population.

Jean-Pierre Leguay noted that the Great Famine "produced high levels of slaughter in a world that was already overcrowded, especially in villages, which were natural outlets for rural overpopulation". Estimates of death rates vary by location, but some examples include a 10-15% loss in southern England. Northern France lost about 10% of its population.

Geography

The Great Famine was confined to Northern Europe, including the British Isles, Northern France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany and Western Poland. It also affected some of the Baltic States, with the exception of the far eastern Baltic, which was only indirectly affected. The famine was confined south of the Alps and the Pyrenees .

The Great Famine is notable for the number of people who died, the vast geographical area affected, its length, and its lasting consequences.

Church

In a society whose final recourse for almost all problems was religion, and Roman Catholicism was the only tolerated Christian faith, no amount of prayer seemed effective against the root causes of famine. This undermined the institutional authority of the Roman Catholic Church and helped lay the groundwork for subsequent movements that were deemed heretical by the Roman Catholic Church because they opposed the papacy and blamed the perceived failure of prayer on corruption and doctrinal errors within the Roman Catholic Church.

Culture

Medieval Europe in the 14th century had already experienced widespread social violence and even acts punishable by death, such as rape and murder, were demonstrably more common (especially in relation to population) than in modern times.

Famine has led to a sharp rise in crime, even among those not normally inclined to criminal activity, as people will resort to any means to feed themselves or their families. Over the next few decades, after the famine, Europe became harsher and more violent; it became an even less friendly place than in the 12th and 13th centuries. This could be seen in all segments of society, perhaps most strikingly in the way warfare was fought in the 14th century, during the Hundred Years' War, when chivalry ended, as opposed to the 12th and 13th centuries, when nobles were more likely to die in jousting accidents than on the battlefield.

Famine also undermined public confidence in medieval governments for their failure to deal with the resulting crises.

Population

The Great Famine marked a clear end to an unprecedented period of population growth that began around 1050. Although some people today believe that growth had already slowed down for decades, the famine was undoubtedly a clear end to high population growth. The Great Famine would later have consequences for future events in the 14th century, such as the Black Death, when an already weakened population would be hit again.

Sources

1. Great Famine of 1315–1317
2. Marea Foamete din 1315–1317
3. ^ a b W. Mark Ormrod (2000). "England: Edward II and Edward III". In Jones, Michael (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 6, c.1300–c.1415. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-1-13905574-1.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Ruiz, Teofilo F. "Medieval Europe: Crisis and Renewal". An Age of Crisis: Hunger. The Teaching Company. ISBN 1-56585-710-0.
5. ^ Note: the average life expectancy figures are inclusive of child mortality, which was naturally high compared to that during the modern era, even during non-famine years.
6. ^ Cantor, Norman L. (2001). In the wake of the plague: the Black Death and the world it made. New York: Free Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-684-85735-0.
7. ^ a b W. Mark Ormrod (2008). „England: Edward II and Edward III”. În Michael Jones. The New Cambridge Medieval History. 6. Cambridge University Press. p. 273.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ruiz, Teofilo F. „Medieval Europe: Crisis and Renewal”. An Age of Crisis: Hunger. The Teaching Company. ISBN 978-1-56585-710-0.
9. ^ Notă: valorile medii ale speranței de viață includ mortalitatea infantilă, care a fost în mod natural ridicată în comparație cu cea din epoca modernă, chiar și în anii fără foamete.
10. ^ Speculum: Vol 5, No 4, s. 345
11. ^ Teofilo Ruiz, Medieval Europe: Crisis and Renewal, ISBN 1-56585-863-8
12. ^ a b c (EN) Fabio Romanoni, Il Libro dei Censi (1315) del Monastero di San Pietro in Verzolo di Pavia. URL consultato l'8 ottobre 2019.
13. ^ (EN) Norman L. Cantor, In the wake of the plague: the Black Death and the world it made, New York, Free Press, 2001, p. 74, ISBN 0-684-85735-9.
14. ^ Nairn I.A., Shane P.R., Cole J.W., Leonard G.J., Self S. e Pearson N., Rhyolite magma processes of the ~AD 1315 Kaharoa eruption episode, Tarawera volcano, New Zealand, in Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, vol. 131, 3–4, 2004, pp. 265-94, Bibcode:2004JVGR..131..265N, DOI:10.1016/S0377-0273(03)00381-0.