Great Plague

What was the Great Plague?

The Great Plague was the last major epidemic of bubonic plague in England.

When was the Great Plague?

The Great Plague lasted from 1665 to 1666.

How many people died during the Great Plague?

The Great Plague killed 100,000 people, almost a quarter of London's population.

What did people believe were the causes of the Great Plague?

Due to a lack of medical understanding at the time, there were 3 main theories about the causes of the Great Plague.

• ❖ People believed that God had sent the disease as punishment.
• ❖ People believed that miasmas or bad smells caused the disease.
• ❖ Many believed that an unusual alignment of planets caused the disease.

What were the remedies used against the Great Plague?

Measures and cures for the plague were often unusual and extreme and included 5 main measures.

• ❖ Physicians tried to balance their patients' humours, for example by bloodletting.
• ❖ Fires were lit in the streets to purify the air.
• ❖ Infected houses were quarantined. A red cross, and the words 'God have mercy upon us', were painted on the door.
• ❖ Public prayer and confession.
• ❖ Transference was also carried out: for example, by attaching a live chicken to the buboes.

How were quack doctors involved in the plague?

Quack doctors were people who had no medical training, but who charged people for treatment as if they were a physician or apothecary.

What were the quack cures during the Great Plague?

Due to a lack of medical understanding, there were a number of quack cures for the Great Plague. Quack doctors sold different pills or herbal remedies that supposedly cured people, or protected them from the disease.

How did the government intervene to try to stop the spread the Great Plague?

The government enforced 5 key measures to try and prevent the disease spreading.

• ❖ They banned public meetings, fairs, and large funerals.
• ❖ Streets and alleyways were regularly cleaned.
• ❖ Dogs and cats were killed, because people believed they were spreading the disease.
• ❖ Plague victims had to be quarantined for 40 days.
• ❖ Carts travelled through the city to collect dead bodies.

What event is believed to have helped end the great plague?

Some people believe the Great Fire of London killed much of the plague bacteria, by killing the rats who carried the fleas which transmitted the disease.

What new methods had been made since the Black Death to limit the spread of the Great Plague?

There were 5 important improvements made since the Black Death, that helped fight the Great Plague.

• ❖ People began to recognise the connection between dirt and disease.
• ❖ Trade was stopped, and mass gatherings were banned.
• ❖ The England-Scotland border was closed, helping to limit the spread of the disease.
• ❖ Quarantine was more effective, as people stayed in their houses to stop the disease spreading.
• ❖ Dead bodies were collected, and buried in 'plague pits' that were six feet deep.