Online Lecture March 2024: James Belich

Join Professor James Belich, Beit Professor of Global and Imperial History, and Professorial Fellow, for his Balliol Online Lecture - 'Why Europe? Y. pestis. The Black Death and the Rise of West Eurasia'
In 1346, a catastrophic plague beset Europe and its neighbours. The Black Death was a human tragedy that abruptly halved entire populations and caused untold suffering, but that also brought about a cultural and economic renewal on a scale never before witnessed. In this month’s Balliol Online Lecture, Professor James Belich, discusses a panoramic history of how bubonic plague revolutionized labour, trade, technology and culture, setting the stage for one of history’s great paradoxes: why did Europe’s dramatic rise begin in the wake of the Black Death?