The Plague in Bristol, Dorset, and London

Edwin Edou

Spread of Plague within Europe

Dorset

The arrival of the Plague at Bristol (Part I) “In 1348, about the feast of St. Peter in

chains [1 August] the first pestilence arrived in England at Bristol, carried by merchants and sailors, and it lasted in the south country around Bristol throughout August and all winter. And in the following year, that is to say, in 1349, the pestilence began in the other regions in the other regions of England and lasted for a whole year, while the result that the living were hardly able to bury the dead”. – The Anonimalle Chronicle

The arrival of the Plague at Bristol (Part II) Heavy rain Large mortality Mortality of animals After-effects

The arrival of the Plague at Dorset (Part I) “In 1348 two ships, one of them from Bristol,

landed at Melcombe in Dorset a little from Midsummer. In them were sailors from Gascony who were infected with an unheard of epidemic illness called pestilence. They infected the men of Melcombe, who were the first be infected in England. The first inhabitants to die from this illness of pestilence did so on the Eve of St John the Baptist [23 June], after being ill for three days at most” – Brief account taken from chronicle by the Franciscans of Lynn

The arrival of the Plague at Dorset (Part II)

“Arrived from across the sea…”

Result of deaths Shortage of workers

The arrival of the Plague at London (Part I) “… The pestilence arrived in London at about the

feast of All Saints [1 November] and daily deprived many of life. It grew so powerful that, between Candlemas [2 February, 1349] and Easter [12 April], more than 200 corpses were buried almost every day in the new burial ground next to Smithfield, and this was in addition to the bodies in other churchyards in the city. It ceased in Londn with the coming of the grace of the Holy Spirit, that is to say at Pentecost [31 May], proceeding uninterrupted towards the north, where it also stopped about Michaelmas [29 Septmber] 1349.” – Chronicle of Robert of Avesbury

The Arrival of the Plague at London (Part II) Visited every place Progress No favour

Citation Babington, C., and J. R. Lumby. "The Arrival of the Plague near

Bristol." Trans. Rosemary Horrox The plague in the British Isles. Ed. Rosemary Horrox. 1st ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1865. 62-63. Print.

Gransden, Antonia. "The Arrival of the Plague in Dorset." Trans. Rosemary Horrox The plague in the British Isles. Ed. Rosemary Horrox. 1st ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1957. 63. Print.

Haydon, F.S. "The Plague Spreads." Trans. Rosemary Horrox The plague in the British Isles. Ed. Rosemary Horrox. 1st ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1858-63. 63-64. Print.

Thompson, E. M. "The Plague Spreads to London." Trans. Rosemary Horrox The plague in the British Isles. Ed. Rosemary Horrox. 1st ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1858-63. 64-65. Print.