1348

1348 (MCCCXLVIII) was a leap year in the Julian calendar. It is notable for the intensification of the Black Death in Europe, marking a period of widespread mortality and social disruption that followed the pandemic’s initial arrival in 1347. During 1348, outbreaks affected Italy, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and beyond, with urban centers facing dramatic population losses, labor shortages, and economic dislocation. Scholarly estimates of the death toll vary, but the plague’s impact contributed to long‑term demographic and economic transformation across much of Europe.

Education and institutions also reflect the era's upheavals. In 1348, Charles University in Prague was founded by King and later Emperor Charles IV. It is among the oldest universities in Europe and the oldest in Central Europe, illustrating a commitment to learning amid broader social change.

Legacy and cultural response: The plague of 1348–1351 influenced literature, art, and public health thinking. Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, written in the early 1350s, offers a prose account of the plague’s social effects. The crisis accelerated shifts in labor relations, urban life, and governance that helped shape late medieval Europe.