Famine

With crops and livestock destroyed, people faced famine. Burning homes also left survivors exposed to winter weather. Many fled the region, while accounts describe desperate attempts to survive, including selling themselves into slavery and cannibalism.

The campaign continued into the early 1960s, but its most devastating consequence was the famine of 1959–61.

Failed harvests in 1315–16, during the Great Famine, show how vulnerable food supplies could be. Peasants were especially exposed because they had fewer resources to fall back on.