In this episode, we begin our Black Death narrative arc with a look at the plague itself. We will cover what causes the plague and what made the Black Death so destructive in Medieval Europe. 

In this supplemental episode, we take a whirlwind tour of Europe at roughly the year 1350, when the plague will begin to hit Europe. We cover quickly which kingdoms were where and who was rising or declining. Then, we take stock of the huge period of history we have covered since the fall of the Western Roman Empire before moving on to the Late Middle Ages.