It is believed that the Black Death started in China. It then reached rat fleas on merchant ships and was spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed anywhere from 30-60 percent of the European population. It took nearly 2 centuries for Europes population to recover and it is difficult to gage just how much an effect the Black Death had on the course of European history. I.F.C. Heckers The Black Death in the Fourteenth Century provides detail on how the disease spread and its effects on society.