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A bill of mortality for the plague in 1665.

The Great Plague (1665-1666) was a massive outbreak of disease in England that killed 75,000 to 100,000 people, up to a fifth of London's population.^[1] The disease was historically identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted via a rat vector. The 1665-1666 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 England.^[2] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (500x839, 358 KB) Copy of a document greater than 300 years old and taken from an academic web site in the UK. This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (500x839, 358 KB) Copy of a document greater than 300 years old and taken from an academic web site in the UK. This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries... Year 1665 (MDCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1665 (MDCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1666 is often called Annus Mirabilis. ... This article is about the medical term. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. ... 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. ... Binomial name (Lehmann & Neumann, 1896) van Loghem 1944 Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis) is a Gram-negative facultative anaerobic bipolar-staining (giving it a safety pin appearance) bacillus bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. ... In epidemiology, a vector is an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one host to another. ... Events from the year 1666 which occurred in England. ... This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ... Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411). ... Events The Decameron was finished by Giovanni Boccaccio. ...

Possible causes

At the time the outbreak was blamed upon the French. In early April 1665, two infected French sailors were said to have collapsed and died at the junction of Drury Lane and Long Acre. These cases were said to have brought about all subsequent infections. This theory has been largely dismissed as anti-French propaganda. The British outbreak is actually thought to have originated from the Netherlands, where the bubonic plague had occurred intermittently since 1599, with the initial contagion arriving with Dutch trading ships carrying bales of cotton from Amsterdam. The dock areas outside of London, including the parish of St. Giles-in-the Fields where poor workers crowded into ill-kept structures, were the first areas struck by the plague. Personal and public hygiene was very minimal during this period, contributing to the spread of disease. During the winter of 1664-1665, there were reports of several deaths. However, the very cold winter seemingly controlling the contagion. But spring and summer months were unusually warm and sunny, and the plague spread rapidly. As records were not kept on the deaths of the very poor, the first recorded case was a Margaret Porteous, on April 12, 1665. For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Amsterdam (disambiguation). ... St Petersburg Docks in the early morning smog. ... St. ... The term contagion may refer to: Disease Virus Pandemic The Star Trek:The Next Generation episode Contagion The transmission of financial crises across countries (e. ... is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1665 (MDCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Although the disease causing the epidemic has historically been identified as bubonic plague and its variants, no direct evidence of plague has ever been uncovered. Some modern scholars suggest that the symptoms and incubation period indicate that the causal agent may have been a disease similar to a viral hemorrhagic fever.^{[citation needed]} Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a group of illnesses that are caused by several distinct families of viruses: Arenavirus, Filoviridae, Bunyaviridae and Flavivirus. ...

Outbreak

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 the upper-class area of Oxfordshire. 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 (including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London), physicians and apothecaries chose to remain, as the plague raged throughout the summer. Plague doctors would traverse the streets, diagnosing victims, although many of them were unqualified physicians. Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... 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. ... The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader and senior clergyman of the Church of England, recognized by convention as the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... Arms of the Bishop of London The Bishop of London is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. ... For other uses, see Doctor. ... 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. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

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 odours, such as pepper, hops or frankincense, were also burned to ward off the infection. London residents were strongly urged to smoke tobacco. Public health is the study and practice of addressing threats to the health of a community. ... Binomial name L.[1] 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. ... Hop umbel (branched floral structure resembling nested-inverted umbrellas) in a Hallertau hop yard Hops are a flower used primarily as a flavouring and stability agent in beer, as well as in herbal medicine. ... 100g of frankincense resin. ... Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. ...

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 with a merchant carrying 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 75% of its inhabitants. Eyam Hall. ... Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. ...

Records state that deaths in London crept up to 1,000 people per week, then 2,000 people per week and, by September 1665, to 7,000 persons per week. By late autumn, 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 much of the most crowded housing. At about the same time, the plague outbreak tapered off, probably due to most of the susceptible persons having already died. 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, under the idea that rats may have caused or spread the plague. Due to the severe fire hazard they cause, thatched roofs were forbidden within the city, and remain forbidden under modern codes. The second rebuilding of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 1997 required a special permit to have thatched roofs. Detail of painting from 1666 of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist, depicting the fire as it would have appeared on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf. ... For other uses, see Architect (disambiguation). ... Sir Christopher Wren, (20 October 1632–25 February 1723) was a 17th century English designer, astronomer, geometrician, and the greatest English architect of his time. ... A thatched pub (The Williams Arms) at Wrafton, near Braunton, North Devon, England “thatch” redirects here. ... This article is about the original Globe Theatre of Shakespeare and the modern reconstruction in London known as Shakespeares Globe Theatre. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ...

References

External links

• 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
• Plague - Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911

See also

• Loimologia, a first-hand account of the 1665 plague
• Black Death
• Bubonic Plague
• Derby plague of 1665
• Eyam
• Ring a Ring o' Roses