What Is The Plague, Or The Black Death?

The plague or black death was a severe illness that spread across much of the world in great waves or pandemics in medieval times. It was greatly feared and was thought to be a punishment from God.

As plague spread from country to country, very few people escaped its effects. Millions of people, a large proportion of the population died. If you were not a victim yourself, you probably lost several members of your family to the disease.

The plague that swept across England, from south to north, in the 1340s was particularly bad. A few years of excellent harvests and good crops had led to an expansion of the population a few years earlier. But then there was a string of bad harvests and the weather grew colder and wetter ~ perfect conditions for spreading plague. People in England were starving as well, and were weak and unable to fight of the disease.

When the plague came in 1348/9, it was devastating. It then came back in waves every few years, some relatively minor. The last major pandemic of plague in England was in 1666. After that, it became very localised.

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