The Black Death obviously had a significant role in destabilizing populations in the fourteenth century. Unfortunately for Western Europe, the Black...

The Black
Death was clearly the most destabilizing factor of the Late Middle Ages, as it reduced the
European population by at least a third, but other crises marked the period. Two were the Great
Famine of 1315€“1317 and the upsurge in peasant revolts during this period.

The Great Famine has been linked to climate changes, notably the Little Ice Age, though
some scholars debate whether the ice age had actually begun at the time. Whatever the cause,
large-scale crop failures led to widespread starvation, crime, and disease. The effects lasted
until 1322 and shook the foundations of medieval society. For example, people began questioning
the effectiveness of the Church, as prayer did not seem to protect the large numbers of people
devastated by the famine. Further, the violence that erupted as a result of hunger, including
murder, theft, infanticide, and cannibalism, showed that the decentralized governing structures
of feudalism were inadequate to protect people. This led to disillusionment with authority.
Finally, the peasantrythe majority of the population and the group which bore the brunt of the
faminebegan increasingly to question wealth inequality.

The growing concern
about wealth inequality contributed to a number of rebellions that further destabilized an
already badly shaken European society. These included, among others, the Jaquerie (a revolt in
France that took place during the Hundred Years War in the 1350s), the revolts in Transylvania
in 1437, and the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381. While the rebelling peasants were defeated in
this period, their revolts set precedents and paved the way for later underclass successes in
achieving rights. More importantly, the rebellions of the period further sapped an already
weakened continent, allowing the Ottomans to conquer Constantinople. This cut off established
trade routes to the "Orient" and led to European exploration to find alternative paths
to trading partners in Asia. European exploration had a profound impact on Europe through the
"discovery" of the North and South American continents.