The Great Plague 1665

• The Great Plague of 1665 was an epidemic, not a pandemic, and was centered on London
• The Great Plague of 1665


  Was caused by infected fleas causing Bubonic plague, similar to the Black Death
• The Great Plague of 1665 took place purely in London, not the whole of Europe, and happened 300 years after the Black Death
• Common beliefs and causes of the Great Plague of 1665


  • God's punishment
  • Bad air or miasma
  • Contact with the dead
  • Cats and dogs spreading the disease
• Responses to the Great Plague of 1665

  1. Prayer

  2. Bonfires burning tar

  3. Burying the dead outside the city

  4. Marking infected houses

  5. Spreading news of the plague

  6. Killing cats and dogs
• Plague doctor costume


  • Beak of sweet smelling herbs to combat bad air
  • Stick to ward off victims and check on the dead
  • Heavy gloves to avoid contact
  • Long coat to restrict contact
  • Mask with glass eye holes
• The plague doctor costume was probably rare and may not have appeared during the Great Plague of 1665
• Causes of death recorded in bills of mortality


  • Bleeding to death
  • Execution
  • Lung condition (rising of the lights)
  • Plague
• The plague accounted for 63,596 deaths in London by the end of 1665
• Measures taken by the government to combat the Great Plague


  1. Street cleaning and rubbish collection

  2. Banning large gatherings

  3. Recording deaths

  4. Closing and marking infected houses

  5. Arresting beggars

  6. Appointing plague doctors

  7. Clearing sewage

  8. Lighting bonfires

  9. Guarding infected houses

  10. Examining the dead

  11. Stopping public entertainments

  12. Killing animals

  13. Burying bodies at night
• The Great Fire of London in 1666


  Did not end the Great Plague, which was already declining by that time
• The plague wiped out around a fifth of London's population, around 100,000 people, in just seven months
• Many scientific advances during the Renaissance period did not help stop the plague, as the actual cause of the disease was still not known