How was economics in Europe before the black death

Between 1347 and 1352, the Black Death killed more than 20 million people in Europe. This was one-third or more of Europe's population. 1 The plague began in Asia and spread to Europe on trading ships. At the time, no one knew what caused the plague. Many years later, the source was found to be bacteria from black rats and fleas. The fleas infected rats, and the rats infected people after they hopped aboard ships and sailed to Genoa, Venice, Messina, and other European ports. From these cities, the plague spread quickly through - out Europe. "So lethal was the disease that cases were known of persons going to bed well and dying before they woke ... So rapidly did it spread from one

to another that to a French physician ... it seemed as if one sick person 'could infect the whole world.'"2