The catastrophic 14th century

A Certificate of Attendance is awarded to participants who attended daily lectures for the duration of the course.

This tutor-led, in-person course is 3 days in duration and is made up of 7 sessions for a total of 10.5 contact hours.

Dates: 7 - 9 March 2025

Summary of content

The course focuses primarily on England, but comparisons will be made with other regions, such as Ireland, France and Mamluk Egypt. It considers the following subjects:  

1. Global efflorescence and the flowering of civilisations 1000CE to 1250CE.    

2. Mounting impoverishment and climate instability after 1250, including an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.    

3. Escalation of warfare in Britain after 1280 and with France from the 1290s, and its consequences for ordinary people.  

4. Outbreaks of animal diseases and the Great Famine of 1315-22. 
   The Black Death of the 1340s, plus subsequent epidemics.  

5. The medical, governmental and religious responses to, and explanations of, plague.  

6. The reordering of society in the wake of successive plague outbreaks, including opportunities for women and a fall in wealth inequality.  

7. The reasons for the outbreak of the Peasants’ Revolt within the context of post-plague changes. 

A wide-ranging conclusion, considering how the experience of catastrophe set the North Sea region, including England, on the road to liberal modernity. 

Session 1: Introduction: the end of global efflorescence 

Session 2: The gathering storm: warfare

Session 3: The gathering storm: panzootics and famine 

Session 4: The breaking storm: the Black Death 

Session 5: The breaking storm: responses to plague 

Session 6: After the storm: new opportunities 

Session 7: After the storm: the Peasants’ Revolt. Conclusion 

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, students will gain a greater understanding of the subject and should be able to:

• understand the inter- and multi-disciplinary nature of recent historical approaches to medieval history 

• explore how historical climates are reconstructed, and how past climate change impacted upon communities 

• explore how pandemics reveal the habits, attitudes and resilience of human societies, and change the paradigms within which they operate  

• formulate a basic understanding of how the institutions underpinning the modern world socio-economic system were first formulated in north-western Europe  

• understand how historians deploy evidence, theoretical models and a priori reasoning to address complex issues of causation in society