---
title: "Great Plague — AP Euro Definition & Exam Guide"
description: "The Great Plague (Black Death) killed a third of 14th-century Europe; AP Euro tests how population recovery by the 1500s fueled the Price Revolution and Commercial Revolution."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-euro/key-terms/great-plague"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP European History"
unit: "Unit 1"
---

# Great Plague — AP Euro Definition & Exam Guide

## Definition

The Great Plague (the Black Death) was the 14th-century pandemic that wiped out roughly a third of Europe's population; on AP Euro, it matters as the baseline for the 16th-century population recovery that drove rising prices, stagnant wages, and the Commercial Revolution (Topic 1.10).

## What It Is

The Great Plague, better known as the Black Death, was the pandemic that tore through Europe in the mid-1300s and killed an enormous share of the population. Here's the [AP Euro](/ap-euro "fv-autolink") twist, though. The exam doesn't really test the [plague](/ap-euro/unit-4/18th-century-society-demographics/study-guide/rjkMnqoJer0rcF0dDea9 "fv-autolink") itself (that's medieval history, before the 1450 start date). It tests what happened when Europe's population finally climbed back to pre-plague levels in the 16th century.

That recovery is the engine behind a lot of Topic 1.10. More people meant more mouths to feed, so demand for food and goods shot up. Combine that with American silver flooding in, and you get the [Price Revolution](/ap-euro/key-terms/price-revolution "fv-autolink"), where agricultural prices rose sharply while wages stayed flat. A bigger labor supply also meant workers had less bargaining power, the opposite of the post-plague 1300s when survivors could demand better terms. So when you see "pre-Great Plague levels" in a question, translate it as "population is back to full, and the economy is about to change because of it."

## Why It Matters

This term lives in [Unit 1](/ap-euro/unit-1 "fv-autolink") (Renaissance and Exploration), Topic 1.10 (The Commercial Revolution), and supports learning objectives AP Euro 1.10.A and 1.10.B. The CED's essential knowledge on the Price Revolution, subsistence agriculture, and shifting rural power all assume you understand the demographic backdrop. Population recovery is the cause; rising prices, urban [migration](/ap-euro/key-terms/migration "fv-autolink"), a new commercial elite, and pressure on peasants are the effects. It's also a clean example of the Economic and Commercial Developments theme, because it links a demographic fact to economic and social change from 1450 to 1648. If you can explain why recovered population plus silver imports equals inflation with stagnant wages, you've got the core causation move this topic rewards.

## Connections

### [Price Revolution (Unit 1)](/ap-euro/key-terms/price-revolution)

This is the most direct link. Population back at pre-plague levels meant demand for food outran supply, and American silver poured fuel on the fire. Prices rose sharply while wages stagnated, which is exactly the pattern exam questions describe and ask you to name.

### [Commercialization of agriculture (Unit 1)](/ap-euro/key-terms/commercialization-of-agriculture)

Rising food prices made farming for the market profitable. Landlords in western Europe pushed toward [commercial agriculture](/ap-euro/key-terms/commercial-agriculture "fv-autolink") and a free peasantry, while eastern nobles locked peasants into codified serfdom instead. Same population pressure, opposite social outcomes (KC-1.4.II.C).

### [European marriage pattern (Unit 1)](/ap-euro/key-terms/european-marriage-pattern)

When prices rose and wages didn't, couples responded by marrying later and having fewer kids. The [European marriage pattern](/ap-euro/key-terms/european-marriage-pattern "fv-autolink") is basically demographic self-defense against the post-recovery price squeeze, and the exam loves pairing the two.

### [Little Ice Age (Unit 4)](/ap-euro/key-terms/little-ice-age)

The plague is one big demographic shock; the [Little Ice Age](/ap-euro/key-terms/little-ice-age "fv-autolink") is another. Cooler temperatures in the 1600s cut harvests and stalled the population growth that recovery had restarted, feeding the 17th-century economic crisis. Together they show how climate and disease drive European economic history.

## On the AP Exam

You won't be asked to narrate the Black Death itself, since the AP Euro timeline starts in 1450. Instead, "pre-Great Plague levels" shows up in multiple-choice stems as a signal phrase. Practice questions ask things like what was a direct result of population reaching pre-Great Plague levels, or which economic process is illustrated when population recovers, commodity prices spike, and wages stagnate. The answer they're fishing for is usually the Price Revolution or the broader Commercial Revolution. Free-response questions in Unit 1 can use population recovery as a cause in a causation argument about economic and social change from 1450 to 1648, so be ready to connect demography to inflation, urban migration, and the rise of a new commercial elite. No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but it's a strong piece of contextualization for any Unit 1 economics prompt.

## Great Plague vs Great Plague of London (1665)

In AP Euro's Unit 1 context, "Great Plague" means the 14th-century Black Death, the pandemic whose population losses Europe finally recovered from by the 1500s. The Great Plague of London was a much later, localized 1665 outbreak in England. If a question says "pre-Great Plague levels" in a 16th-century economic context, it's pointing at the Black Death baseline, not London in the 1660s.

## Key Takeaways

- The Great Plague is the AP Euro name for the Black Death, the 14th-century pandemic that killed roughly a third of Europe's population.
- European population recovered to pre-plague levels by the 16th century, and that recovery is what Topic 1.10 actually tests.
- Population recovery plus the influx of American silver caused the Price Revolution, where agricultural prices rose sharply but wages stagnated.
- A larger labor supply weakened workers' bargaining power and pushed people into cities, creating urban migration and social tension.
- The same price pressures pushed western Europe toward commercial agriculture and a free peasantry while serfdom was codified in the east.
- Families responded to the price squeeze with the European marriage pattern, marrying later and delaying childbearing.

## FAQs

### What was the Great Plague in AP Euro?

It's the Black Death, the 14th-century pandemic that devastated Europe's population. AP Euro cares about it as a baseline, because population recovering to pre-plague levels by the 16th century triggered the price and social changes covered in Topic 1.10.

### Is the Black Death actually on the AP Euro exam?

Not directly. The course starts in 1450, after the plague, so you won't get questions about the pandemic itself. What's tested is the aftermath, especially how 16th-century population recovery fueled the Price Revolution and the Commercial Revolution.

### Is the Great Plague the same as the Great Plague of London?

No. In AP Euro Unit 1, "Great Plague" refers to the 14th-century Black Death. The Great Plague of London was a separate outbreak in 1665, two centuries into the course timeline, and it isn't what "pre-Great Plague levels" refers to.

### Why did wages stay flat after population recovered from the Great Plague?

More people meant more workers competing for jobs, so employers didn't have to raise pay. Meanwhile demand for food rose with population and American silver inflated prices between 1500 and 1620, so real wages actually fell even though prices climbed.

### How did the Great Plague recovery connect to the European marriage pattern?

When prices rose and wages stagnated after population recovery, supporting a household got harder. Couples adapted by marrying later and delaying childbearing, which is the European marriage pattern the exam pairs with the Price Revolution.

## Related Study Guides

- [1.10 The Commercial Revolution](/ap-euro/unit-1/commercial-revolution/study-guide/MjTh9WrwQoj3Xp9ruFz0)

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