Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2024
First exams 2026
The Great Plague, 1665: Case Study (Edexcel GCSE History)
Revision Note
Comparing the Great Plague to the Black Death - Summary
After the Black Death in 1348, England dealt with outbreaks of plague every 10-20 years. The majority of these had a minor impact on society, until 1665 when a serious outbreak of plague struck England. It began in St Giles-in-the-Fields, a suburb of London, and spread across the country. Fleas on rats were responsible for the disease, the same way that the Black Death began. London presented perfect conditions for the plague to thrive. Filth covered the streets and people disposed of their waste by throwing it out of their windows. In September, 7,165 Londoners died in one week. From June to November 1665, roughly 100,000 people died in London (⅕ of the population). Many people suspected that contact with other people spread disease. This shows they had a better understanding of the cause of disease than during the Black Death. People like lawyers, doctors and merchants immediately moved to less populated areas. King Charles II left London in July and settled in Oxford for the duration of the plague. The poor remained in London along with the Lord Mayor and town councillors. The role of local governments was to enforce the King’s decree to reduce the spread of the plague. They hired watchmen to guard infected houses and searchers to locate the dead. This shows the progression of the government's actions during the Black Death because local governments were taking more responsibility for the safety of their citizens. Enforcing quarantine of infected people within their houses is a method of disease prevention still used today. People’s reaction to the Great Plague was similar to the reaction to the Black Death. Many blamed God, the stars or miasma for their ill health. People prayed or tried bizarre methods of treatment like strapping a live chicken to a bubo. Plague doctors only wore masks because they believed bird-shapes attracted diseases. They believed a mask would remove the illness from the patient transferring it into the mask. To effectively tackle epidemics like the Great Plague, much more needed to be learnt about causes of disease, effective treatments and preventative approaches. |
Ideas About Causes of the Great Plague
Astrology
People continued to look at astrology for signs of future events
In late 1664:
An unusual alignment between the planets occurred
People observed a comet in the sky
People believed that the combination of both these events was unlucky
Punishment From God
Many people believed that the Great Plague was a punishment from God due to people's wickedness
From the reign of Henry VIII to 1665, England’s official religion had changed many times from Catholic to Protestant
People believed that God was angry at them for this and the plague was a punishment
Miasma
Most people believed that miasma was the main reason for the Great Plague
The people thought that:
Bad air vapours gathered in the soil when it was cold, and then when the weather got warmer, miasma was released from the soil into the air
This belief fitted the pattern that plague outbreaks appeared when the weather turned warmer
In reality, the warmer weather attracted more rats
The filth on the streets and warm weather were perfect conditions for bacteria to grow
Other People
Some people correctly believed that the disease spread from person to person
Plague victims were quarantined to stop them from spreading the disease to someone else
During the Renaissance, there was no proof that diseases spread through human contact
This limited the popularity of this explanation
It took until the 19th century to prove that diseases transmitted in this way
Approaches to Treatment in the Great Plague
New Ideas
It was popular to use the idea of transference to treat the plague:
Strapping a live chicken on a bubo to draw out the plague and pass it onto the chicken was a common treatment
Physicians recommended wrapping patients in woollen cloths and laying them by the fire
This was to allow the patient to sweat the plague out of their body
Herbal Remedies
These continued to be as popular in the Renaissance as they had been in the medieval period
Herbal remedies could be in one of the following forms:
Medicine - drunk or swallowed
Poultices - placed on a wound
Rubs - placed on the skin
Most remedies were ineffective because apothecaries did not understand the true causes of the Great Plague
Quack Doctors
Fake doctors with no medical qualifications were called 'quacks'
‘Quack’ is short for ‘Quacksalver.’ The word originates from Dutch:
‘Quacken’ means ‘to croak’, referring to how much they boasted
‘Salve’ means ‘to rub with ointment’, referencing the remedies they would sell
The background of each ‘quack’ would differ:
Some were businessmen wanting to make money
Some had medical training but did not hold full medical degrees
The quack doctors preyed on the general public by selling famous ’cures’ for the plague
The cures were mostly ineffective
Many remedies contained honey or alcohol which relieved pain in the short term but possessed no healing properties
Quack doctors continued to be a problem in the UK into the 20th century
They often gained influence in times of fear and national health emergencies
Exam Tip
When asked to compare the Black Death to the Great Plague, you can see many similarities in treatments and their lack of effectiveness. Understanding the causes of disease had improved in the Renaissance but this had not made much impact on methods of treatment. Britain continued to struggle to treat epidemics until the 21st century.
Approaches to Prevention in the Great Plague
Advice from Physicians
Physicians advised the following actions to remain healthy during the plague:
Prayer
Quarantine
Carrying a pomander
Fasting
Eating sage and garlic
Some physicians became plague doctors
Birds were considered to attract disease so it was believed that the plague would move from the victim to the doctor's mask
Plague doctors wore distinctive outfits with each element designed to protect themselves from catching the plague
Exam Tip
It is common for students to think plague doctors existed in the Black Death. Some TV shows and films include them in a medieval setting. Plague doctors only existed in the Renaissance due to new ideas about transference and person-to-person contact. These ideas were not present in medieval England. Make sure in exam questions you only mention plague doctors from the 1500-1700s.
Advice From Other Healers
Apothecaries recommended ‘plague water' as a herbal remedy
Many apothecaries also advised people of methods to ward off miasma including:
Herbs like mint for its strong smell
Smoking tobacco to fill the air with that smell
A few healers recognised that syphilis and the plague both had buboes as symptoms
Some suggested catching syphilis as a way to avoid catching the plague
Government Action
Charles II released a royal decree
The decree listed rules as well as the actions people should take to avoid catching the plague
Local officials and the mayor enforced the rules and took actions including:
A 28-day forced quarantine for those people who had the plague
A red cross marking plague-infested houses
A ban on theatres, public meetings, fairs and large funerals
Lighting fires in the street to ward off miasma
Killing cats, dogs and pigeons due to their role in spreading disease
The mayor hired:
Searchers - people who found plague victims and removed bodies for burial
Watchmen - people who monitored those in quarantine to ensure they stayed
Many people simply moved away from the cities to avoid catching the plague, as they did in 1348
Worked Example
Explain one way in which approaches to preventing the plague were similar in the 14th and 17th centuries
4 marks
Answers:
One way in which approaches to preventing the plague were similar from the Medieval period to the Renaissance was the importance of miasma (1). In the Medieval period, sweet-smelling herbs and flowers were used (1). People would carry these under their nose and smell them to fight off the bad air (1). Similarly, in the Renaissance, herbs played a key role for a plague doctor whose beak-shaped mask was filled with sweet-smelling herbs (1).
Exam Tip
Students have found this question very difficult to answer. Many students used the same piece of evidence for both the Black Death and the Great Plague. This limits the amount of marks you can achieve for this question. Try to ensure that the two examples that you use are different but show a similar theme.
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