Black Death in Poland

The Black Death (Polish: Czarna śmierć), a major bubonic plague pandemic, is believed to have spread to Poland in 1351.

Previously in a weakened state, the reign of Casimir III largely allowed Poland to prosper during a time of relative instability and hardship for the rest of the continent.

[4] Though disputed, the country's lack of depopulation was largely evidenced in a 2019 study, citing the stable amount of cereal grain pollen in the region.

Dr Piotr Guzowski of the University of Bialystok noted "In the cores we have analyzed so far, no significant decreases in the share of pollen of cereals, weeds or other plants related to human activity are recorded, which means that there was no depopulation.

[6] With existing large Jewish communities within Poland's borders, particularly in Poznań and Kraków,[7] Casimir III the Great at the time welcomed an influx of Jews into this population, encouraging this settlement and even giving them personal protection as "people of the king".

Blood libel against Jews became a growing phenomenon and initial tolerance was disturbed, although interfaith relations were still fairly tame compared to other European nations.

[13] One theory via French historians Stéphane Barry and Norbert Gualde suggests that, within the Kingdom of Poland, there was a variety of resistant blood groups in the Polish population that helped to reduce the spread.

These societal changes are widely attributed to the demographic shifts resulting from the Black Death and were documented in both Poland and other European countries.