06/01/2026
The Little Ice Age (LIA) lasted roughly from 1250 to 1860 AD and was one of the coldest periods of the last 8,000 years...
The video: “The Great Famine that drove Europe mad”
shows the sociological background, exploitation by feudal lords, and climatic abnormalities...
- https://youtu.be/A0dV25FeC8g
The Great European Famine of 1315–1322 was a catastrophic crisis in the late Middle Ages that affected large parts of Northern and Central Europe and is considered one of the worst famines{Hungersnot} in the history of the continent. It marked a transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age{kleine Eiszeit}.
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Fairy tales such as “Hansel and Gretel” reflect the dramas of that time: hunger, abandonment{Aussetzung} ... and above all the desire for better times, for food and wealth.
The worst crop failures occurred between 1315 and 1317, but the direct consequences (famines, high prices, animal diseases) lasted until around 1322.
The crisis affected large parts of Northern and Central Europe. Persistent torrential rains in the summers of 1315, 1316, and 1317 prevented harvesting and caused grain to rot.
Long, harsh winters and floods exacerbated{verschärfen} the situation.
° Grain harvests fell by up to 50%. Grain prices rose by up to 500% (due to distribution and speculation), making food unaffordable for the majority of the population.
° Several million people died of starvation and the diseases it caused. Entire villages were abandoned and became deserted. Bevor the Great Famine the population of Europe was approximately 54-70 million. In the years after it decreased by one-fourth. It took 200 years to recover.
° There were bread riots, despair, cannibalism (recorded in the chronicles), and a general increase in crime. The weakened population was also more susceptible{anfällig} to the great plague epidemics{Pestepidemie} (Black Death) that followed a few decades later.
