ABSTRACT
The high medieval period, between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, witnessed a flourishing of trade, travel, and cultural exchange along the silk roads. This proto-globalisation also provided the context for the outbreak of a devastating pandemic of bubonic plague which swept across Eurasia in the 1340s and 1350s, known to historians as the Black Death, killing up to one-half of the population. In the past decade, new scientific evidence has transformed our understanding of the origins of the Black Death, emphasising the interconnections between climate and environmental change, the genetics and epidemiology of plague, and the role of human networks in spreading the disease, making this one of the most exciting and fast-changing aspects of the study of the silk roads.
