How the Black Death Spread Across Europe (1347–1353) | Map Timelapse

In October 1347, twelve Genoese galleys docked at Messina, Sicily. Within six years, the Black Death had swept across Europe and killed an estimated 25 to 50 million people — between a third and half of Europe's population. This timelapse follows it month by month: from the siege of Caffa in Crimea to the ports of the Mediterranean, through Florence, Avignon, Paris and London, across the Holy Roman Empire and Scandinavia, and finally to Moscow in 1353. The final minute shows recorded plague outbreaks in Europe over the next 370 years, based on the historical dataset listed below. Chapters 0:00 1347 0:20 Caffa, Crimea 0:51 Constantinople & Egypt 1:21 Messina 1:49 The Mediterranean ports 2:31 Avignon 2:57 Florence 3:31 Western Europe 4:01 Paris 4:29 The British Isles 5:09 Persecution 5:45 The Flagellants 6:13 Norway 6:43 Milan 7:09 Northern & Eastern Europe 7:51 The toll 8:23 It came back How this was made Arrival months are approximate and compiled from standard chronologies; sources sometimes disagree by a month or two. The death counter is a simple model scaled to the low estimate (25 million). The spreading front between cities is an illustration, not a reconstruction of every village. Sources • Benedictow, O. J. (2004). The Black Death 1346–1353: The Complete History. • Ziegler, P. (1969). The Black Death. • Christakos, G. et al. (2005). Interdisciplinary Public Health Reasoning and Epidemic Modelling: The Case of Black Death. • Büntgen, U. & Ginzler, C. (2019). Digitizing historical plague. EnviDat. doi:10.16904/envidat.181 (ODbL) • Jedwab, R., Johnson, N. & Koyama, M. (2022). Pandemics, Places, and Populations: Evidence from the Black Death. • Relief: GEBCO Compilation Group (2026) GEBCO 2026 Grid. Music (YouTube Audio Library): "Curse Of Old", "Risen", "In Battery" — Density & Time; "A Distant Call" — Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz, Tone Seeker. #BlackDeath #History #Timelapse