The Great plague

• The great plague mainly was contained in London, with some minor outbreaks in York and Derbyshire
• The great plague was predominantly bubonic plague
• Symptoms were:

  • buboes filled with pus and blood
  • fever
  • pains
  • coughing
  • death
• 1/4 (100,000) of londons population died, and it had a 15% mortality rate
• To try and contain it, people quarantined victims, burnt aromatic herbs, and took up smoking to get rid of miasma
• Priests raised alarms, people used animals to treat the plague, and people wore charms to ward off evil spirits as superstitious responses
• The government ordered burial in big pits for victims, sent out a bill to kill all the cats and dogs, set up checkpoints at city walls to keep people in, and ordered everyone to keep their houses clean
• It interrupted many trade routes in and out of London
• 1665-1666 - lasted 18 months