1315 – 1317★★★★★
Successive crop failures caused by bad weather bring mass famine to northern Europe, killing a significant share of the population.
DisasterEconomy· United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland
c. 1320★★★★★
Dante Alighieri completes the Divine Comedy, a masterpiece of Italian and medieval European literature.
CultureArt· Italy
September 1321★★★★★
The poet Dante, author of the Divine Comedy, dies in exile at Ravenna; his work helped shape literary Italian.
DeathCulture· Italy
1337 – 1453★★★★★
A series of conflicts between England and France over the French throne ends with England losing nearly all its continental lands.
War· France, United Kingdom
August 26, 1346★★★★★
Edward III's English army, relying on longbowmen, defeats a much larger French army in northern France.
War· France
October 1347 – 1351★★★★★
Plague arrives at Messina, Sicily, on merchant ships and spreads across Europe, killing roughly a third of its population.
DiseaseDisaster· Italy