Black Death in England

Black Death In England

The Black Death, a bubonic plague pandemic which reached Europe in 1347 spread to England in 1348, and killed between a third and more than half of the nation's inhabitants. The Black Death was the first and most severe manifestation of the Second Pandemic, caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria.

Originating in China, it spread west along the trade routes across Europe and arrived on the British Isles from the English province of Gascony. It is generally believed that The Black Plague was brought to England by people who had been infected on the European mainland who sailed into English ports, and by flea infested ship rats. The rats were the reservoir hosts of the Y. pestis bacteria and the flea principally the Oriental rat flea was the primary vector.

In June 1348 a ship crossed the English channel from Gascony in France and docked at the town of Melcombe in Weymouth Harbour in Dorset. Aboard ship was a seaman infected with the plague and he became the first case of the Black Death identified in England.

The plague reached London in the autumn of 1348, and by the next summer it had covered the entire country. By December 1349 the outbreak was mostly over. Though accurate estimates of mortality are difficult to make, the recent trend has been to adjust the estimates upwards. This is the result of recent scholarship's focus on the peasant society – which made up around 90% of the population – rather than the greater landowners and the clergy. While it was previously assumed that one third or less of the population died, a number of around half is generally accepted, though some have suggested an even higher mortality.

The Black Death struck a prosperous and internationally ascendant nation. Though the loss of life was great, the English government handled the crisis well. The most immediate consequence was a halt to the campaigns of the Hundred Years' War. England did not experience the extreme forms of religious fervour (flagellants, and persecution of Jews to name a couple) that were seen in other areas of Europe, such as France and Germany. In the long term the plague would have great social consequences though. The decrease in population caused a shortage of labour, with subsequent rise in wages. The landowning classes tried to curb this development through legislation and punitive measure, leading to deep resentment among the lower classes. The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was largely a result of this resentment, and even though the rebellion was suppressed, in the long term serfdom was ended in England. The Black Death also affected artistic and cultural efforts, and may have helped advance the use of the vernacular.

In 1361–62 the plague returned to England, this time causing the death of around 20% of the population. After this the plague continued to return intermittently throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, in local or national outbreaks. From this point on its impact became less severe, much due to conscious government efforts. One of the last outbreaks of the plague in England was the Great Plague of London in 1665-66.