Changes

[[File:56-3625983-800px-pieter-bruegel-the-elder-hunters-in-the-snow-winter-google-art-project.jpg|thumb|left|Figure 2. Paintings such as the "Hunter in the Snow" became more common in the Little Ice Age.]]

In the 1300s-1500s, the climate was somewhat stable, but colder conditions began to become evident. This though did mean many of the settlements became harder to continue in regions such as Greenland. Winemaking began to retreat southward to central and southern Europe. Populations did recover and expand after the Black Death of the 14th century, in part, this was helped by the favorable climate conditions in the 14th century. Climate events elsewhere in Asia may have triggered the Black Death itself. By the 16th century, it became even more decisively colder. The so-called Little Ice Age began around the 14th century and continued well until the 19th century at around 1850, resulting in about 550 years of generally colder conditions. Prolonged colder conditions began to lead to more crop failures as well as increased rates of disease.

This cooling may have contributed to some of the peasant revolts and increased activities of rebellion that gradually reduced the power of the nobility and gave greater power and freedom to the lower classes that is evident in late Medieval Europe. Another result of this period was the association between witchcraft and weather-making. From the late 14th century and through the Little Ice Age, witchcraft became a significant accusation and increasingly used in Europe, with women in particular targeted with accusations. Witchcraft soon became associated with the power to shift the climate and the fact that rivers froze and crops failed led these accusations to become more common. Marginalized groups, such as Jewish communities, were also sometimes blamed for the turn in the climate.<ref>For more on the Little Ice Age and its effect in Europe, see: Fagan, B. M. (2002). <i>The little ice age: how climate made history 1300-1850 (1st. paperback ed. 2002)</i>. New York: BasicBooks.</ref>