The Great Plague, 1665

• Plague had appeared several times since the Black Death in the 14th century. However, there had been very little change in medical understanding of it.
• Ideas about the cause of the plague

  • God controlled everything and sent the plague as a punishment for sin
  • An unusual alignment of the planets had caused bad air - miasma
  • Rotten waste had caused miasma
  • The disease was spread from person to person
• Treatments for the plague

  • Prayers for the sick
  • Wearing of magical or religious charms
  • Herbal remedies such as posies (bunches of sweet-smelling flowers and herbs)
  • Bloodletting
  • Purging
• Miasma


  Smells from decomposing material, such as animal and human waste, that were thought to cause disease
• Bloodletting


  The process of bleeding a patient, either by using leeches or by cutting into a vein
• Purging


  In historical medicine, the act of getting rid of fluid from the body for the purpose of balancing the four humours. Patients might take substances to make them vomit or empty their bowels.
• Attempts to prevent the spread of the plague


  • Place strong-smelling herbs and flowers over doorways and windows to prevent bad air from entering their house
  • Hold posies to their nose when they walked in the streets
  • Chew tobacco, which was new to England, hoping that the strong smell would fight off any bad air carrying the plague
  • Stay at home to prevent contact with others
  • Soak coins in vinegar to avoid passing on plague when buying food
• Government actions during the Great Plague


  • Charles II and his government ordered days of public prayer and fasting to allow people to confess their sins
  • The mayor of London ordered victims and their families to be shut in their homes for 40 days and prevented from leaving so that they could not spread the illness by human contact (quarantine)
  • Barrels of tar and bonfires were lit in the streets to clean the air
  • Animals were banned inside the city as it was thought they could spread the illness
  • Events that attracted large crowds, such as plays and games, were banned to prevent the illness spreading through human contact
• Quarantine


  A period of time during which a person is isolated due to a contagious disease - to prevent the disease being passed to other people
• These rules were difficult to enforce because there were very few authorities in London to check, and punish, the behaviour of individuals. This was before a police force was introduced in England. The mayor of London had to rely on people to follow his orders.