starter activity

The pictures above suggest ways in which people tried to cure the Black Death (1348). Can you remember what they refer to? Do you think people in the C17th were any

better / worse prepared?

How effectively did How effectively did the authorities deal the authorities deal

with the plague?with the plague?TBAT explain & evaluate the TBAT explain & evaluate the reactions of the authorities to reactions of the authorities to the Great Plague of London the Great Plague of London

(1665)(1665)

LOs

Key words: epidemic broadsheet quicklime

Your taskYour task Go around the class in a Go around the class in a

clockwise direction. clockwise direction. Complete your chart as Complete your chart as shown.shown.

Try to reach a judgement Try to reach a judgement on how well the on how well the authorities responded to authorities responded to the Plague.the Plague.

Look out for the Look out for the extension questions on the extension questions on the sources and try to answer sources and try to answer thesethese

Source A

“To draw the poison from the plague sore, take the feathers from the tail of a chicken and apply to the sore. The chick will gasp and fight for its life…when the poison is drawn out by the chicken the patient will recover.. wrap in woollen cloth, make the person sweat, which if he do, keep him warm until the sores begin to rise. Then apply to the sores live pigeons cut in half or else a plaster made of yolk of an egg, honey, herbs and wheat flour”A seventeenth century treatment for the plague

Are there any similarities with treatments you have studied elsewhere in our course?

Source B

In 1665, mortality bills were published each week, detailing the causes and numbers of deaths of citizens across London.

Can you spot any other attempts to improve the health of Londoners on this document?

Source C In 1666, Sir Christopher Wren put forward proposals for new designs for the city of London with large, open roads, radiating out across the city and wooden buildings being replaced by brick and stone. Many of the homeless resisted the plans, because it would have been too costly and time-consuming to rebuild their homes in this way.

Who else opposed Wren’s plans?

Source D“When anyone bought a joint of meat in the market, they would not take it from the butcher’s hand, but took it off the hooks themselves. On the other hand, the butcher would not touch the money, but had it put in a pot full of vinegar. The buyer always carried small money, so that they might take no change.”

Extract from Daniel Defoe’s (author of Robinson Crusoe) ‘Journal of the Plague Year’

Why do you think people used vinegar as a defence against the plague?

Source E

Any house containing a plague sufferer has to be sealed up for 40 days until the person is dead or better

The door of the house has to be marked with a red cross and the words ‘Lord have mercy upon us’

Searchers are to be appointed to examine each corpse for 1p per body to find out the cause of death

Public entertainments are to be stopped

All dogs and cats are to be caught and killed; the dog catcher is to be paid about 1p for each animal

Fires are to be lit in the streets

Bodies are to be buried after dark

The Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Lawrence, issued special orders, drawing on experiences of previous epidemics . They were first published on 1st July 1665. Before the orders were issued 267 Londoners died a week, the week afterwards 1843 died.

Why were they seemingly ineffective?

Source F A plague broadsheet showing bodies being piled into mass graves or plague pits. The pits were 6 feet deep and the bodies covered with quick lime. It’s estimated that 70,000 people died in London (population 400,000). To avoid spreading the plague, burials were often at night or dawn and only family members were allowed to attend.

Do you think sights like the above made people more or less religious?

No changeNo change Regular outbreaks of plague continuedRegular outbreaks of plague continued – –

1604, 30% of York died from plague1604, 30% of York died from plague Over-crowdingOver-crowding Poor sanitationPoor sanitation Limited law enforcementLimited law enforcement – expensive to – expensive to

employ officers; no police forceemploy officers; no police force SuperstitionSuperstition – Samuel Pepys noted red – Samuel Pepys noted red

crosses & ‘Lord have mercy’; prayers; crosses & ‘Lord have mercy’; prayers; public fasting; charmspublic fasting; charms

Planetary movementsPlanetary movements - comets in the - comets in the heavens; conjunctions of the planetsheavens; conjunctions of the planets

Poisonous airPoisonous air – miasmas – miasmas Quack remediesQuack remedies – use of dried toads – use of dried toads

New ideasNew ideas ObservationObservation – bills of mortality helped link dirt with – bills of mortality helped link dirt with

diseasedisease Certificates of healthCertificates of health QuarantineQuarantine – victims enclosed 40 days with red cross & – victims enclosed 40 days with red cross &

guards at door; constables enforced regulationsguards at door; constables enforced regulations ExaminersExaminers – investigated types of sicknesses in each – investigated types of sicknesses in each

parishparish Women searchersWomen searchers – identified causes of death – identified causes of death RakersRakers – to clear away rubbish from streets – to clear away rubbish from streets FumigationFumigation – smoke used to clean bedding – smoke used to clean bedding Regulations Regulations – ale & coffee shops houses closed; plays & – ale & coffee shops houses closed; plays &

public entertainments banned; animals slaughtered or public entertainments banned; animals slaughtered or sent outside city; beggars executedsent outside city; beggars executed

BurialsBurials – mass graves called plague pits, 6ft deep; – mass graves called plague pits, 6ft deep; quicklime; no mournersquicklime; no mourners

This house believes that there was no significant improvement in the way British people responded to the Great Plague of London of 1665 compared to the Black Death of 1348.

HomeworkHomework Imagine you are a Londoner living through Imagine you are a Londoner living through

the plague. Use the information from your the plague. Use the information from your table and the film you saw to write your own table and the film you saw to write your own plague diary. You need to include the plague diary. You need to include the following as separate diary entriesfollowing as separate diary entries Seventeenth century explanations for the plagueSeventeenth century explanations for the plague References to the treatmentsReferences to the treatments Explanations of the different people employed by Explanations of the different people employed by

the city to protect the survivorsthe city to protect the survivors Refer to the return of Londoners and the Great Refer to the return of Londoners and the Great

Fire by conducting your own researchFire by conducting your own research

Room for improvement

Getting better Outstanding

Limited use of technical vocabulary or factual detail

Doesn’t cover all three bullet points

Some use of technical vocabulary and factual detail but could use more

Covers all three bullet points but there is room for development

Detailed and accurate use of technical vocabulary and factual information

All three bullet points are explore in separate diary entries

There is evidence from additional research from textbook or the weblinks

ExtensionExtension

Conduct some research into Daniel Conduct some research into Daniel Dafoe and Samuel Pepys and find Dafoe and Samuel Pepys and find out about their experiences of the out about their experiences of the plague. Produce brief factoids on plague. Produce brief factoids on both men.both men.

Daniel Dafoe, author of Robinson Crusoe

Samuel Pepys, famous diarist