AHC: Worst Possible Rabies Outbreak In Pre-Industrial Europe

What is the greatest possible extent of a rabies epidemic in pre-industrial Europe?

I'm trying to create a scenario that establishes Rabies as a byword for horror and destruction, on par with the Black Death. I Know that's not really feasible due to the way the disease spreads, but at what point in European history would it have been most plausible that something like this could happen?
 
Really anytime would work except for the period right after the Plague since population density was so low then. Europe almost always always had lots of rats and dogs and dense populations. I'd pick a period of turmoil with lots of population migration and low law and order. The 30 Years War would work well or maybe the Napoleonic Wars. Since the cause of rabies has always been well known you'd need a situation where rabid animals would go largely undetected and there would be no organized action to stop the disease.
 
Really anytime would work except for the period right after the Plague since population density was so low then. Europe almost always always had lots of rats and dogs and dense populations. I'd pick a period of turmoil with lots of population migration and low law and order. The 30 Years War would work well or maybe the Napoleonic Wars. Since the cause of rabies has always been well known you'd need a situation where rabid animals would go largely undetected and there would be no organized action to stop the disease.

What about the period directly following the fall of the Western Roman Empire? Might that work?
 
Well if Rabies could be mutated to become infectious by fleas, then you might see a nasty Black Death type plague to make a population go on a killing spree.
 
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