The great flood that devastated Europe in 1342 and which for centuries was considered a single catastrophic event was, in fact, the most prominent manifestation of an exceptional sequence of 16 major floods that occurred between 1342 and 1343. This is one of the main conclusions of an international study published in the journal Nature , in which Lothar Schulte, professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Barcelona and ICREA researcher, participated. The study, coordinated by the Vienna University of Technology , reconstructs with unprecedented detail one of the most extraordinary sequences of floods documented in Europe over the past 700 years.
Historical flood marks at the Packhof in Hannoversch Münden, at the
confluence of the Werra and Fulda rivers. The highest mark indicates the
level reached by the water during the Magdalene flood on 24 July 1342.
The study substantially modifies the interpretation of the Magdalene flood, which particularly affected Central Europe in July 1342 and is commonly considered the largest flood of the last millennium in this region. The analysis shows that this flood was not an isolated event but part of a succession of 16 major floods across various regions of Europe. Four of these episodes reached exceptional magnitude, with estimated return periods of between 500 and 1,000 years.
The year 1342 was, in fact, the year with the highest number of major and extraordinary floods recorded in Europe over the past seven centuries. To reach this conclusion, the international team has gathered more than 1,000 records from original sources - chronicles, annals, administrative documents, correspondence and other contemporary testimonies - and combined them with sedimentary and archaeological evidence and modern hydrological methodologies. This approach enabled the team to reconstruct the chronology, magnitude and geographical extent of the events and compare them with more recent floods. The consequences were devastating.
The floods of 1342 and 1343 caused thousands of direct deaths and many more indirect ones, due to famine and disease. They also destroyed or damaged settlements, bridges, mills and communication routes, disrupted transport networks on a continental scale and caused crop losses that contributed to food shortages and rising prices.
