The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages 1300-1450 Prelude to Disaster The Little Ice Age The Great Famine (1315-1322) Poor harvests as a result of bad weather conditions in the preceding years led to scarcity and starvation as almost all of northern Europe suffered a great famine Many people afterwards referred to it as the ?seven lean years? in reference to the biblical book of Genesis Typhoid epidemic strikes in 1316 In some places like modern day Ypres, Belgium as much as 10 percent of the population died between May and October alone It also struck livestock killing off cattle and sheep, which drastically reduced herds and flocks