Great Plague

• The plague (same as back death) returned to England roughly every 20 years.
• The last outbreak in 1665 ( the great plague) killed 15% of London population
• Still no real understanding of real causes. God was blamed along with miasma.
• National government actually did something this time:

  Henry VIII issued a proclamation that ordered that the ones infected to be identified and isolated. Those leaving isolation should carry a white stick.
• 1578: Elizabeth I issued plague orders. These 17 rules included killing cats and dogs, shutting up infected houses, and burning clothes of victims.
• 1604: The plague act introduced harsh punishments for breaking isolation. Plague victims found outside would be hanged
• Local goverments continued to combat the spread of the disease
• In 1550 York posted watchmen to stop plague victims entering the city.
• In the 1660s many towns built pest houses to house the plague victims away from the city
• In the spring of 1665, travellers and carriers to Cambridge brought news of the plague. The Cambridge aldermen were prepared. Strangers were only allowed into the town with a certificate of health, searchers were hired and stray cats and dogs killed. Even though Cambridge tried its best, the plague still arrived in 1665 and 920 people died.
• After 1667 the plague never returned to Britain, no one knew why