The Black Death, a devastating pandemic of bubonic plague, arrives in Europe via the Crimean port of Caffa in 1346 and reaches Constantinople in 1347. The plague spreads along trade routes, killing an estimated one-third of the European population within a few years. The catastrophe prompts profound religious, social, and cultural upheaval, including persecution of minorities and a widespread crisis of faith.

The Black Death profoundly alters the content and tone of European poetry, introducing stark themes of mortality, futility, and the dance of death. It gives rise to the 'Danse Macabre' literary motif, seen in works like the 'Totentanz' poems, and influences Boccaccio's 'Decameron', set during the plague. The experience of mass death and social collapse shapes the introspective and penitential verse of figures like Petrarch, whose poetry reflects on the transience of earthly glory.