Around 1339 in northwestern Europe, the population began to outstrip food supplies and a severe economic crisis intensified. The winters were excessively cold and the summers were arid and dry. Due to this extreme climate, few crops could produce and those that did grow were dying. In the wake of these seven agonizing years of bad weather and famine came the greatest plague of all time, the Black Death. In 1347 AD, the Black Death began to spread throughout Western Europe. Over the course of three years, the widespread epidemic killed a third of Europe's population with nearly twenty-five million deaths. The Black Death killed many more Europeans than any other endemic war or war up to that time, with a huge impact on the Church, people and economy. These three social pillars were changed forever. First, when the plague first reached Europe, people panicked. With the thought of surviving, many began to abandon what they had and moved to villages and countryside in the hope of finding a safe haven from the disease. Families living during the Black Death were deprived of the right to call themselves a family. Where there had not been the plague, there the people brought it; if it was already there, the fleeing infected allowed it to increase. The horror that people in Europe felt was alarming to their state of mind. Since the cities were heavily populated, those who left for the countryside brought the disease with them and infected those who previously lived in the countryside. As many continued to flee the plague, the peoples of Europe looked for someone to blame for the desecration. European Christians of the time were xenophobic towards Jews. Jews were boycotted at work... middle of paper... and left the economy in a drastically desolate condition. The hygiene of people in the Middle Ages was already appalling. Bathing was unheard of and eye infections were prevalent due to irrationally unbalanced diets. The animals simply added to the filth. In 1350 AD, the survivors began to realize that their nightmare was coming to an end. A decline in trade occurred because people were afraid to trade goods with a once plague-infested country. This was one of the long-term effects of the widespread epidemic. All these factors contributed to the period of weakening of Europe's prosperity. One-third of a country's population cannot be eliminated in the short period of three years without large shifts in its economy, church life, and family life. Through these losses, a tiny insect overturned the social structure of Europe and altered medieval society forever.