The Great Plague (AD 1665-1666) was a massive outbreak of disease in Britain that killed 75,000 to 100,000 people, up to a fifth of London's population. The disease is generally believed to have been bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted via a rat vector. Other symptom patterns of the bubonic plague, such as septicemic plague and pneumonic plague were also present. Events March 4 - Start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. ... Events September 2 - Great Fire of London: A large fire breaks out in London in the house of Charles IIs baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. ... A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. ... Doctor Schnabel von Rom (English: Doctor Beak of Rome) engraving by Paul Fürst (after J Columbina). ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Yersinia pestis under fluorescent staining, 2000x. ... Traditionally in medicine, a vector is an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one host to another. ... Plague redirects here. ... Plague redirects here. ...

The 1665-66 epidemic was on a far smaller scale than the earlier "Black Death", a virulent outbreak of disease in Europe between 1347 and 1353, but was remembered afterwards as the "great" plague because it was one of the last widespread outbreaks in Europe. Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411). ... -1... Events The Decameron was finished by Giovanni Boccaccio. ...

Outbreak

This episode of plague in Britain is thought to have arrived with Dutch trading ships carrying bales of cotton from Amsterdam. The disease had occurred intermittently in the Netherlands since 1654. The dock areas outside of London, where poor workers crowded into ill-kempt districts, such as the parish of St. Giles-in-the Fields, were first struck by the plague. During the winter of 1664-65, there were reports of several deaths. However, the winter was very cold, seemingly controlling the contagion. But spring and summer months were unusually warm and sunny, and the plague spread rapidly. Records were not kept on the deaths of the very poor, so the first recorded case was Margaret Porteous, on April 12, 1665. Picking cotton in Georgia Cotton is a soft fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,298 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 4°54′E 52°22′N Website www. ... Dock can refer to several things: Places for the transfer of people and materials to, from, or between different forms of transport or working with transport: A maritime dock. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... Events March 4 - Start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. ...

By July 1665, plague was in the city of London itself. King Charles II of England, his family and his court left the city for Oxford. However, the Lord Mayor of the city and the aldermen stayed at their posts. Businesses were closed when most wealthy merchants and professionals fled. Only a small number of clergymen, physicians and apothecaries chose to remain, as the plague raged throughout the summer. Charles II (29 May 1630–6 February 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 30 January 1649 (retrospectively de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Councillor Patrick (Pat) John Stannard, Lord Mayor of Oxford (2004). ... An alderman is a member of a municipal legislative body in a town or city with many jurisdictions. ... see also Holy Orders The following terms have traditional meanings for the Anglican Church, and possibly beyond: A churchman is in principle a member of a church congregation, in practice someone in holy orders. ... Physician examining a child The word physician should not be confused with physicist, which means a scientist in the area of physics. ... Apothecary (from the Latin apothecarius, a keeper of an otheca, a store) is a historical name for a medical practitioner who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist. ...

Several public health efforts were attempted. Physicians were hired by city officials, and burial details were carefully organized. Authorities ordered fires to be kept burning night and day, in hopes that the air would be cleansed. Substances giving off strong odors, such as pepper, hops or frankincense, were also burned to ward off the infection. London residents, including young children, were strongly urged to smoke tobacco. Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. ... Binomial name Piper nigrum L. Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. ... (Hops redirects here. ... 100g of frankincense resin. ... Species N. glauca N. longiflora N. rustica N. sylvestris N. tabacum Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005 Tobacco (, L.) refers to a genus of broad-leafed plants of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America or to the dried and cured leaves. ...

Though concentrated in London, the outbreak affected other areas of the country. Perhaps the most famous example was the village of Eyam in Derbyshire. The plague arrived in a parcel of cloth sent from London. The villagers imposed a quarantine on themselves to stop the further spread of the disease. Spread of the plague was slowed in surrounding areas, but the cost to the village was the death of around 50% of its inhabitants. Image:Beautiful Britain eyam17. ... Derbyshire (pronounced Dar-bee-shur) is a county in the East Midlands of England, which boasts some of Englands most attractive scenery. ...

Records state that deaths in London crept up to 1000 persons per week, then 2000 persons per week and, by September 1665, to 7000 persons per week. By late fall, the death toll began to slow until, in February 1666, it was considered safe enough for the King and his entourage to return to the city. By this time, however, trade with the European continent had spread this outbreak of plague to France, where it died out the following winter.

Plague cases continued at a modest pace until September 1666. On September 2nd and 3rd, the Great Fire of London destroyed many of the most crowded housing and business areas of the city, causing 16 deaths. This event seems to have effectively stopped the plague outbreak, probably due to the destruction of London rats and their plague-carrying fleas. After the fire, London was rebuilt on an urban plan originally drafted by architect Christopher Wren which included widened streets, reduced congestion and basic sewage-drainage systems. Thatched roofs (which had provided splendid places for rats to live) were also forbidden within the city, and remain forbidden under modern codes. The second rebuilding of the Globe Theatre in 1997 required a special permit to have a thatched roof. London, as it appeared from Bankside, Southwark, During the Great Fire — Derived from a Print of the Period by Visscher The Great Fire of London was a major confligration that swept through the City of London from September 2 to September 5, 1666, and resulted more or less in the... Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ... Christopher Wren by Godfrey Kneller, 1711. ... This article is about the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare, both the original and its modern reconstruction. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Literary accounts

Accounts of the plague were given by Samuel Pepys in his famous diary (retold musically in Robert Steadman's cantata "Pepy's Diary"), and by Daniel Defoe in the fictional work A Journal of the Plague Year, published in 1722. In some people, wrote Defoe, "...the plague swellings ... grew so painful ... not able to bear the torment, they ... threw themselves out of windows. Others, unable to contain themselves, vented their pain by incessant roarings. Such load and lamentable cries were to be heard as we walked along the streeets that would pierce the very heart to think of."" This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A diary is a book for writing discrete entries arranged by date. ... Robert Steadman (April 1, 1965 - December 15, 2005) was a British composer and conductor of classical music who mostly worked in a post-minimalist style but also wrote lighter music, including musicals, and compositions for educational purposes. ... Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 [?] â€“ 1731) was an English writer, journalist and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ... A Journal of the Plague Year is a novel by Daniel Defoe. ...

A modern fictional story of the plague, Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks, was published in 2001.

Reference

• Bell, Walter George. "The Great Plague in London in 1665." London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1924.
• History of the Plague in England by Daniel Defoe

See also

• Black Death
• Bubonic Plague
• Derby plague of 1665
• Eyam
• Ring-a-ring of roses
• UK topics