540 – 550s

Events in the 540s 1

• 541 – 549 Plague of Justinian -- the first pandemic The Plague of Justinian (541-549, with recurrences to 750) is the first pandemic in recorded history -- bubonic plague that kills perhaps 25-50 million people across the Mediterranean world. It strikes Constantinople at the height of Justinian's power, kills 5,000 people per day at its peak, and fatally undermines the economic and military foundations of the reconquest.