The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century

How a seven-year cycle of rain, cold, disease, and warfare created the worst famine in European history

In May 1315 it started to rain. It didn't stop anywhere in north Europe until August. Next came the four coldest winters in a millennium. Two separate animal epidemics killed nearly 80 percent of northern Europe's livestock. Wars between Scotland and England, France and Flanders, and two rival claimants to the Holy Roman Empire destroyed all remaining farmland. After seven years, the combi...