Channel 4 - Ken Follett's Journey into the Dark Ages (2013) Part 1 Black Death

Author Ken Follett presents two dramatic historical documentaries in which he explores the facts behind the setting of his fictional works.

No other period in history stirs the imagination like the Middle Ages. It's an era cloaked in mystery, a time when noblemen and priors, master builders and monks dominated society and simple, peasant folk struggled to survive.

Plagues, famines and witch burnings were commonplace. Those who questioned the authority of the Church faced the ultimate penalty - death. Yet there were some who stood up for reason and righteousness, such as the heroes and heroines of Ken Follett's best-selling book, World Without End.

Part 1: Black Death

When the Bubonic Plague arrived from Asia in 1347, claiming its first victims in an Italian port, few would have guessed that this unprecedented epidemic, the Black Death, would claim the lives of up to half Europe's population, killing tens of millions in just over two years.

CH4 Site

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