The Great Plague, 1665: Case Study (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note

Comparing the Great Plague to the Black Death - Summary

• The Great Plague of 1665 was the worst outbreak of plague in England since the Black Death

• It began in St Giles-in-the-Fields, London, and spread quickly

  • Around 100,000 Londoners died, roughly one-fifth of the population

• People had a better understanding of what caused the Great Plague

  • Transference was generally accepted

    • This belief led to the development of plague doctors, in bird-shaped masks

  • Lawyers, doctors and merchants immediately moved to less populated areas to avoid contact

  • King Charles II left London

• However, without an understanding of germs, they did not know what caused the Great Plague

  • Fleas on rats caused the disease in the same way that the Black Death began

• Treatments for the plague did not improve

  • People prayed or tried bizarre methods, like strapping a live chicken to a bubo

• The government took more responsibility for stopping the spread of the plague

  • Local governments enforced the King’s decree

    • They hired watchmen to guard infected houses and searchers to locate the dead

  • Enforcing quarantine is a method of disease prevention still used today

Ideas about the causes of the Great Plague

Astrology

• People continued to look at astrology for signs of future events

• A comet and strange planet alignment in 1664 were seen as signs of danger

Punishment from God

• 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

• They believed warm weather released bad air from the soil

  • This belief fitted the pattern that plague outbreaks appeared when the weather turned warmer

• In reality, rats bred more in summer, spreading infected fleas

Person-to-person contact

• Some people correctly realised that the plague spread between people

  • This led to imposing quarantine

• During the Renaissance, there was no proof that diseases spread through human contact

  • This idea was still not widely accepted

  • Germ Theory was not discovered until the 19th century

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

• Herbal remedies continued to be popular in the form of:

  • 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'

  • Some were businessmen wanting to make money

  • Some had medical training but did not hold full medical degrees

• The quack doctors sold famous ’cures’ for the plague to the public

  • The cures were mostly ineffective

    • Many remedies contained honey or alcohol, which only eased pain briefly

  • 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

Approaches to prevention in the Great Plague

Advice from physicians

• Physicians advised:

  • Prayer

  • Quarantine

  • Carrying a pomander

  • Fasting

  • Eating sage and garlic

Plague doctors

• Some physicians became plague doctors

  • Each part of the outfit had a purpose

    • For example, birds were considered to attract disease. The doctor's mask was intended to transfer the plague away from the victim

Advice from other healers

• Apothecaries recommended:

  • ‘Plague water' as a herbal remedy

  • Fighting miasma through:

    • Herbs like mint for its strong smell

    • Smoking tobacco to fill the air with that smell

• Some healers thought that catching syphilis could prevent plague

  • Both had buboes as symptoms

  • This theory was incorrect and dangerous

Government action

• Charles II released a royal decree to prevent the spread of the plague

• Local officials enforced the following rules:

  • A 28-day forced quarantine for those people who had the plague

  • Red crosses painted on infected 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 to find plague victims and remove bodies for burial

  • Watchmen to enforce quarantine

• Many people moved away from the cities to avoid catching the plague, as they did in 1348