Black Death

Page 10 of 10

• 1. The Plague
• 2. The Arrival
• 3. The plague spreads
• 4. Plague reaches London
• 5. London death toll
• 6. Spread of the Plague: Durham and Scotland
• 7. The Plague spreads: Wales
• 8. The spread of the Plague: Ireland
• 9. Plague recurrences
• 10. How the plague spread around the British Isles
• Print entire article

How the plague spread around the British Isles

Most historians are willing to agree that the Black Death killed between 30-45% of the population between 1348-50.

• 1317: Great Famine in England
• May 1337: Declaration of the Hundred Years War by Edward III.
• June 1348: Black Death arrives at Melcombe Regis (Weymouth)
• Aug 1348: Black Death hits Bristol
• Sept 1348: Black Death reaches London
• Oct 1348: Winchester hit - Edendon's 'Voice in Rama' speech
• Jan 1349: Parliament prorogued on account of the plague.
• Jan-Feb 1349: Plague spreads into E. Anglia and the Midlands.
• April 1349: Plague known in Wales.
• May 1349: Halesowen hit.
• 18th June 1349: Ordinance of Labourers.
• July 1349: Plague definitely hits Ireland.
• Autumn 1349: Plague reaches Durham. Scots invade northern England and bring back plague with them.
• Spring 1350: Massive outbreak of plague in Scotland.
• Sept 1350: First pestilence dies out.
• 9th Feb 1351: Statute of Labourers.
• 1361-64: Second Pestilence: 'The Plague of Children'.
• 1367: Birth of Richard II in Bordeau.
• 1368-69: Third Pestilence
• 1371-75: Fourth Pestilence (variously dated 1371 or 1373-5)
• 1381: The Peasant Revolt

The plague returned in a series of periodic local and national epidemics. The plague only finally stopped at the end of the Seventeenth century.

About the author

Dr Mike Ibeji is a Roman military historian who was an associate producer on Simon Schama's A History of Britain.

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Published: 2001-01-01