1.5.2

The Black Death

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The Black Death in Britain

The Black Death was an epidemic that hit Britain in 1348. The disease was a mixture of bubonic plague (spread by fleas on black rats) and pneumonic plague (airborne spread by coughing/sneezing). The plagues could cause death within 2 days of the first symptoms.

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Spread of the Black Death

  • The disease began in Asia and spread to Europe on merchant ships.
  • At the time, people thought that the epidemic was caused by supernatural things like the position of the stars (or God’s wrath) or natural reasons such as miasmas or humour imbalances.
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Fleas

  • It was actually caused by bacteria in fleas’ stomachs as they lived off the rats.
    • These fleas passed on the disease to humans when they bit people.
  • As many people lived close to each other, the disease spread quickly.
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Remedies for the plague

  • Suggested remedies for the Black Death included prayers to appease (satisfy) God.
  • Some tried to use herbs to keep them safe from miasma.
  • Others tried purging, vomiting and bloodletting to keep humours in balance.
  • Others tried to move away or avoid those who had become infected.
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Stopping the Black Death

  • Some people thought that the plague was caught from dead bodies. Some towns, like Winchester tried to build cemeteries away from people's homes.
  • Some towns like Gloucester tried to stop anyone outside the town entering but this did not succeed. Towns tried to set up quarantine zones, but they didn’t usually work.
  • Ships were quarantined and had to wait 40 days before unloading in Britain.

Impact of the Black Death

Not only did the plague kill huge amounts of the population, it also led to food shortages (and higher food prices because of this). This made life even more difficult for the people who survived the Black Death.

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Devastation

  • 30-45% of the British population are estimated to have died from the Black Death.
    • Whole towns were killed by the Black Death.
  • The Church was harmed because lots of experienced priests died. New clergymen demanded higher wages.
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Impact on peasants

  • The Black Death killed lots of workers. Peasants asked for higher wages and moved around to earn higher wages.
  • The cost of buying land fell because of the lower population and this allowed some peasants to buy land.
  • The 1349 Ordinance of Labourers tried to stop peasants moving around so much.
    • Some historians think these kinds of measures and the Black Death contributed to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381.
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The end of the Black Death?

  • The worst of the Black Death was over by 1350.
    • But plagues continued for centuries. The worst example was the Great Plague of 1665.

Jump to other topics

1Medicine Stands Still

2The Beginnings of Change

3A Revolution in Medicine

4Modern Medicine

5Themes in Public Health

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