Black Death in England
Originating in Asia, it spread west along the trade routes across Europe and arrived on the British Isles from the English province of Gascony.
Low estimates of mortality in the early 20th century have been revised upwards due to re-examination of data and new information, and a figure of 40–60% of the population is widely accepted.
The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was largely a result of this resentment, and even though the rebellion was suppressed, in the long term serfdom was ended in England.
It is impossible to establish with any certainty the exact number of inhabitants in England at the eve of the Black Death, and estimates range from 3 to 7 million.
[7] Politically, the kingdom was evolving into a major European power, through the youthful and energetic kingship of Edward III.
When the city fell the next year, this provided the English with a strategically important enclave that would remain in their possession for over two centuries.
This is the septicaemic plague, where the flea bite carries the bacteria directly into the blood stream, and death occurs very rapidly.
[18] A study reported in 2011 of skeletons exhumed from the Black Death cemetery in East Smithfield, London, found Yersinia pestis DNA.
Modern medical knowledge suggests that because it was a new strain, the human immune system would have had little or no defence against it, helping to explain the plague's virulence and high death rates.
It is unknown exactly what caused the outbreak, but a series of natural occurrences likely brought humans into contact with the infected rodents.
According to the chronicle of the grey friars at King's Lynn, the plague arrived by ship from Gascony to Melcombe (Weymouth) shortly before the Feast of St. John the Baptist on 24 June 1348.
[32] Conditions in London were ideal for the plague: the streets were narrow and flowing with sewage, and houses were overcrowded and poorly ventilated.
[36] Certain northern counties, like Durham and Cumberland, had been the victim of violent incursions from the Scots, and were therefore left particularly vulnerable to the devastations of the plague.
[43] To provoke sweating, medicines such as Mithridate, Venice-Treacle, Matthiolus, Bezoar-Water, Serpentary Roots and Electuarium de Ovo were used.
[46] Once the swelling rose to a head and was red in appearance and not deep in the flesh, it was broken with the use of a feather from a young pigeon's tail.
[47] Although historical records for England were more extensive than those of any other European country,[48] it is still extremely difficult to establish the death toll with any degree of certainty.
[58] Archbishop Zouche of York issued a warning throughout the diocese in July 1348 (when the epidemic was raging further south) of "great mortalities, pestilences and infections of the air".
The clergy were on the front line of the disease, bringing comfort to the dying, hearing final confessions and organising burials.
"[59] Russell had trusted the IPMs to give a true picture of the national average, because he assumed death rates to be relatively equal across the social spectrum.
[60] This assumption has been proven wrong, and studies of peasant plague mortality from manor rolls have returned much higher rates.
[62] ...destructive Death (who seizes young and old alike, sparing no one and reducing rich and poor to the same level) has lamentably snatched from both of us our dearest daughter, (whom we loved best of all, as her virtues demanded).
The medieval world-view was unable to interpret these changes in terms of socio-economic development, and it became common to blame degrading morals instead.
The revolt started in Kent and Essex in late May, and once the rebels reached London they burnt down John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace, and killed both the Chancellor and the Treasurer.
They then demanded the complete abolition of serfdom, and were not pacified until the young King Richard II personally intervened.
[82] The higher wages for workers combined with sinking prices on grain products led to a problematic economic situation for the gentry.
As a result, they started to show an increased interest for offices like justice of the peace, sheriff and member of parliament.
[71] The clergy were seen to have an elevated status among ordinary people and this was partly due to their purported closeness with God, being his envoys on earth.
It was inevitable that a catastrophe of such proportions would affect some of the greater building projects, as the amount of available labour fell sharply.
[89] The Black Death was the first occurrence of the second pandemic,[90] which continued to strike England and the rest of Europe more or less regularly until the 18th century.
[92] From that point outbreaks became fewer and more manageable, due largely to conscious efforts by central and local governments—from the late 15th century onward—to curtail the disease.
