Would the disappearance of domestic animals in 15th century Europe cause a famine?
The year is 1492. On one fine day, due to events I won't go into, domestic animals have been temporarily removed from the planet.
Now, I am aware that muscle power of animals is the primary energy source of the premodern world. However, I am not sure about whether animals are invaluable or just valuable for growing and transporting food across richer regions like western Europe.
So will it cause a serious famine on the continent? Or will it simply lead to a spike in food prices that will subside once the animals return?
It will be a disaster. The scale depend on time in the year and time scale (a few days or ten years?).
Oxen were main way to work the fields. Yes, people may pull the plow and were doing in poorest villages but oxen are way more effective. Same for carts etc. So taking them and horses away will crash farming output.
People in 1492 were constantly living on the verge of famine so even a small problem could result in people starving. Taking away animals, both those that help in farming and those that were kept directly for food is a huge interference.
If it is not just a few days in a season when people were not plowing, it will result in a famine, possibly apocalyptic level famine.
The sudden disappearance of a major factor in society will ALWAYS cause massive problems.
We're not just talking farm animals here that pull plows or are kept for meat or milk production, but also the cats that are mousers and keep the rodent population from destroying the stored crops for the winter.
We're talking the disappearance of dogs that are kept for either the same purpose and/or as hunting hounds and guard dogs against thieves.
We're talking the disappearance of horses used by what law enforcement there was.
The societal disruption would go beyond just a famine (people were used to that, to a degree, but the scale of the resulting famines would be much greater as the maximum production volume of agricultural goods would go down a LOT, and thus the maximum population that a farming community can support (both directly and indirectly through trade) would be greatly reduced). Law and order would be in jeopardy, brigands would no longer be effectively hunted down by feudal lords, which in turn may well lead to rebellion against their rule.