The concept of Death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. Depending on the culture He was considered to be a natural and necessary force. Depending on the religion, He would even claim the Gods in the end.

• In English, Death is often given the name Grim Reaper and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood.

If I were to posit why around the 15th century, he would acquire a personification and clothing:

• Anthropomorphism, sometimes referred to as personification, is a well established literary device from ancient times. It extends back to before Aesop's Fables in 6th century BC Greece and the collections of linked fables from India, the Jataka Tales and Panchatantra, which employ anthropomorphised animals to illustrate principles of life.

• I would consider the time of the Black Death (1348–50 CE) which occurred three hundred years before as a devastating cultural force laying waste to the countryside and killing everyone. It wasn't just people who suffered, businesses, trade and economic prosperity was also claimed by Death.

• With Death and its effects so prevalent and strongly felt for centuries after that, it was as if people fell "as wheat before the scythe". It would only be after many generations where there was enough distance where people could attempt to personify Death, making him less terrifying and easing the sting of its force-of-nature-like aspects.

• It is also given the name of the Angel of Death (Malach HaMavet) or Devil of Death or the angel of dark and light stemming from the Bible and Talmudic lore.

 
• The Bible itself does refer to "The Angel of Death" when he reaps Egypt's first-borns although he is not connected to Satan. There is also a reference to "Abaddon" (The Destroyer), an Angel who is known as the "The Angel of the Abyss".

 
• In Talmudic lore, he is characterized as archangel Samael. One of Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the angel of death.

The concept of Death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. Depending on the culture He was considered to be a natural and necessary force. Depending on the religion, He would even claim the Gods in the end.

• In English, Death is often given the name Grim Reaper and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood.

If I were to posit why around the 15th century, he would acquire a personification and clothing:

• Anthropomorphism, sometimes referred to as personification, is a well established literary device from ancient times. It extends back to before Aesop's Fables in 6th century BC Greece and the collections of linked fables from India, the Jataka Tales and Panchatantra, which employ anthropomorphised animals to illustrate principles of life.

• I would consider the time of the Black Death (1348–50 CE) which occurred three hundred years before as a devastating cultural force laying waste to the countryside and killing everyone. It wasn't just people who suffered, businesses, trade and economic prosperity was also claimed by Death.

• With Death and its effects so prevalent and strongly felt for centuries after that, it was as if people fell "as wheat before the scythe". It would only be after many generations where there was enough distance where people could attempt to personify Death, making him less terrifying and easing the sting of its force-of-nature-like aspects.

• It is also given the name of the Angel of Death (Malach HaMavet) or Devil of Death or the angel of dark and light stemming from the Bible and Talmudic lore.

• The Bible itself does refer to "The Angel of Death" when he reaps Egypt's first-borns although he is not connected to Satan. There is also a reference to "Abaddon" (The Destroyer), an Angel who is known as the "The Angel of the Abyss".

• In Talmudic lore, he is characterized as archangel Samael. One of Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the angel of death.