Beyond the podcast: the Black Death
In a three-part HistoryExtra podcast series, Dr Thomas Asbridge explores how the Black Death wreaked havoc in the 14th-century, reshaping trade, culture, and governance. Below, I've picked is some essential reading and listening to deepen your understanding of the plague, from its global origins to cultural echoes
- Emily Briffett
Published: April 28, 2026 at 11:27 AM
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The Black Death was not just a European catastrophe. Instead, it was a global calamity that swept across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, leaving millions dead and upending societies on every continent it touched.
In a new three-part HistoryExtra podcast series, available weekly from Sunday 2 May 2026, I spoke to Dr Thomas Asbridge about how this deadly pandemic reshaped trade, culture, and governance across the 14th-century world, forcing communities to face intense fear and uncertainty.
Below, I’ve selected some essential further reading and listening from the HistoryExtra archive designed to deepen your understanding of the plague’s global origins, its rapid spread along trade routes, and its profound social, economic, and cultural consequences. Whether you want to follow the human stories behind the mortality figures, investigate how governments and towns struggled to respond, or explore the enduring cultural echoes of the plague, these features will guide you through one of history’s most transformative and far-reaching episodes.
Showing 1 to 14 of 14 results
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Think the Black Death was bad in Europe? Incredibly, in these countries it was even worse. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
The Black Death is infamous for ravaging the population of Europe – yet it was most lethal in the Muslim world, leaving such a trail of devastation that bodies were left rotting in the streets. Thomas Asbridge investigates why plague took such a heavy toll in the Near East
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Black Death facts: your guide to "the worst catastrophe in recorded history"
The Black Death of October 1347 to c1352 was one of the worst catastrophes in recorded history – a deadly bubonic plague that ravaged communities across Europe, changing forever their social and economic fabric. But how much do you know about the Black Plague? How many died? Did the epidemic really eradicate a third of Europe's population? And did it afflict every town and village?
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“Slapstick and smutty”: the real medieval history behind The Decameron
As the darkly comic tale of 14th-century Florentine nobles escaping the Black Death is brought to life in a Netflix limited series, we investigate the real history behind the bawdy medieval bestseller with expertise from Dr Rebecca Bowen…
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History explorer: the catastrophe of the Black Death. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
As part of our series in which experts nominate UK locations in order to illustrate wider historical topics, John Hatcher visits the Suffolk village of Walsham le Willows, which lost half its population to bubonic plague in 1349
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Beating the Black Death: did medieval medicine help people to survive?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
What did people use for medicine in medieval times? When human understanding of disease was shaped by the movements of the planets in the night sky and everyday infections often proved fatal, how did anyone survive the era at all? Dr Elma Brenner, Wellcome Collection’s medieval specialist, explores the reality of medicine in the Middle Ages
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MembershipaudioDid Black Death trigger the rise of Europe?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
James Belich considers how the Black Death had consequences that stretched far beyond the Middle Ages – and was, in fact, one of the key reasons why Europe rose to prominence
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Black Death quarantine: how did we try to contain the most deadly disease in history?
People across the globe are self-isolating to help stop the spread of coronavirus. But, says historian Helen Carr, the practice of quarantine is nothing new. Here she explores how it was used alongside other measures in the 14th century to curb the disease that became known as the Black Death…
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Black Death: “Oh father, why have you abandoned me?”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
In 1347, chroniclers of the Black Death began reporting incidents of mothers, uncles, brothers and wives deserting their plague-stricken relatives and fleeing for their lives. Samuel Cohn tells the story of a horrifying, yet little known phenomenon: abandonment
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Post pandemic: how the years after the Black Death briefly became a ‘golden age’ for medieval women. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
In the 150 years after the Black Death halved London's population, women enjoyed new economic power in the city. Caroline Barron asks whether this era truly was a 'golden age' for English women
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MembershipaudioPlague, famine and chivalry: a human history of the 14th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Helen Carr explores the tumultuous 14th century through the lives of three different kings
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Late-medieval England courseWeek one quiz. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Discover how much you've learned about religion in the later Middle Ages with our quiz
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The (not so) stinky Middle Ages: why medieval people were cleaner than we think
Did people in the Middle Ages take baths? Did they wash their clothes and hands – or have a general awareness of hygiene practices? If there’s one thing we think we know about our medieval ancestors, it’s that they were mud-spattered, lice-infested and smelt like rotting veg. Yet the reality appears to have been far less pungent. Here, Katherine Harvey digs the dirt on the medieval passion for cleanliness
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A short history of quarantine. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
The practice of quarantining has a long history – from stopping plague outbreaks to preventing the spread of leprosy. And while it’s often been effective in curtailing the spread of disease, its implementation has a darker side. Following the recent outbreak of COVID-19 – countries placed under lockdown and thousands of people self-isolating in their homes – Caroline Rance considers how quarantining has encouraged racial tensions and isolated individuals…
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“The very sight of her hands did almost turn my stomach”: a brief history of hand-washing. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
As the disease known as coronavirus spreads around the world, the public has received one key piece of advice: hand-washing is our best defence. But what would our ancestors have made of this tactic? Katherine Harvey explores for HistoryExtra…
See more Beyond the podcast: the Black Death
Authors
Emily BriffettSenior content producer (podcasts)
Emily Briffett is senior content producer (podcasts) at HistoryExtra
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