Case study: the Great Plague

Question 1

What was the Great Plague?

Answer 1

An outbreak of bubonic plague in 1665-6 which killed 1 in 5 people. In one peaking week in September, there were 100 deaths. It was carried by the germ yersinia pestis, in the blood of fleas, although people were ignorant of this.

Question 2

Name 4 things people thought caused the Great Plague.

Answer 2

1) Miasma most common theory, e.g. dunghills in cites releasing a plague vapour in warm weather
2) Dogs & cats spreading it
3) God punishing mankind
4) An unusual alignment of Mars & Saturn in 1664

Question 3

Name 7 ways people prevented the Great Plague.

Answer 3

1) Prayer and repentance
2) Quarantining the sick. Searchers/wardens found infected people in their homes; the house was either quarantined for 28 days or people were taken to a pest house
3) Carrying a pomander as perfume to drive away miasma
4) Heavy garlic and sage diet as well as regular fasting
5) Public places closed by government and events banned
6) Tar burned to purify the air
7) Around 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats killed

Question 4

Searchers/wardens found infected people in their homes; the house was either quarantined for __ days, or people were taken to a pest house.

Answer 4

28.

Question 5

How many dogs and cats were killed in an effort to prevent the spread of the Great Plague?

Answer 5

Around 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats.

Question 6

Name 4 ways people treated the Great Plague.

Answer 6

1) Sweating it out by wrapping in thick woolen cloths by the fire
2) Strapping a live chicken to a buboe, or lancing it with a chicken feather
3) Exotic spices from the New World, e.g. nutmeg
4) Some doctors offered empty advice for money