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The Black Death

The Black Death was a serious disease that killed millions over people around the world over a period of several hundred years. It was named after the colour of the sores that grew under the skin of the people infected by it.

In 1348 the Black Death arrived in England and by 1349 it had spread to Wales. Carmarthen, an important port, had the first cases but the disease soon spread across the whole country. Caldicot, Pembroke and Haverfordwest were all badly hit, while the lead miners of Holywell were virtually wiped out.

Across Britain it killed between a third and half of the population. It was not only the number of deaths that terrified people. They were also frightened because the disease was very painful and it affected rich and poor people alike.

Medical professionals at the time could not correctly explain the cause of the plague. Various causes were put forward.

Today we know that there were two main forms of plague:

• Bubonic plague produced painful swellings - buboes. This form was mainly spread by fleas carried by rats.
• Pneumonic plague attacked the victim’s lungs and was spread by personal contact.

However, there is still some debate about which type of plague was most serious. Some scientists believe that bubonic plague was most serious because it was spread by rat fleas. Others think that pneumonic plague was most serious because of the way it spread rapidly from human to human. In either case, death usually happened within three days.

The plague returned seven more times before 1405. Over the next three centuries, plague epidemics visited Britain on numerous occasions.

The Great Plague

One of the biggest outbreaks of the bubonic plague was the Great Plague of 1665. This was the worst outbreak for over 300 years and claimed around 65,000 victims, one-sixth of the city’s population.

People still believed in a variety of causes of the plague, eg the position of the planets, comets, miasma or sinful behaviour. This time, however, the authorities did try to stop the plague spreading. Houses containing people with the plague were marked with a red cross. Sentries were placed outside and the inhabitants were told to observe a 40-day quarantine. Searchers of the dead were employed to determine cause of death and the dead were collected at night.

However, doctors had no real idea about what caused the plague. In fact, it was only the onset of winter that brought it to an end.