The field of historical climatology has enabled historians to combine analyses of written sources with data about the ecological environment of the past. From the 1340s to the 1350s, the Black Death unleashed a wave of death and devastation across Afro-Eurasia.

The fourteenth century was a time of profound political change across Afro-Eurasia. From the rise of the Yuan dynasty to the emergence of the Il-Khanate, the Mongol Empire began the fourteenth century in a period of growth and expansion.

Black Death — a pandemic of the plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis with far-reaching economic, political, social, and cultural effects that transformed Asia, Europe, and North…. historical climatology — the study of historical temperature and climate changes and their effects on human society. flagellants — penitents who ritually flogged themselves in response to the Black Death as a means of appeasing God and mitigating the spread of the disease. globalization — the interconnectedness of societies and economies throughout the world as a result of trade, technology, and the adoption and sharing of various aspects of culture.