The Black Death
(bubonic plague) in England raged from 1348-1350 and it is estimated around 30 - 40% of the population of England were killed(approx 1.5 million people) during that time. The plague had started in Europe in 1328 and lasted until 1351 although there were sporadic outbreaks over the next sixty years and reappearances in England in the 16th and 17th Centuries. It was called the Black Death due to the painful swellings (buboes) of the lymph nodes (armpits, legs, neck or groin) changing from red to purple/black.
June 1348 it arrived in Melcombe Regis (Weymouth), Bristol in August, then it hit London in September and spread into East Anglia all along the coast early during the new year. By spring 1349, Wales and the Midlands, were being ravaged and by late summer, it had crossed the Irish Sea and had entered the north of England (Durham). No where was safe and by 1350 Scotland was also being ravaged by this terrible disease.
The disease was spread by fleas that lived on rats or other small rodents. The squalid living conditions in the 1300's and the lack of any medical knowledge of how to counter the disease made it very difficult for the general population to protect themselves, hence the large death toll.
Symptoms of the Black Death
Victims died quickly, most died within 2 to 4 days after contracing the disease.
Death Cart
The death cart depicted in this picture was in constant use during the time of the plague, bodies would be loaded on and driven to the plague pits for burial.