Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

My top priority today is to help guide you through all of our resources and make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on "Renaissance medicine and health" where we've been asking ourselves, "What medical knowledge changed in this period?" By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the impact of the Great Plague and evaluate the effectiveness of responses to it.

There are three keywords which will help us navigate our way through to today's lesson.

Those are epidemic, social distancing, and quarantine.

An epidemic is when a large number of people get the same disease over the same period of time.

Social distancing is the practice of keeping away from other people as much as possible in order to stop a disease from spreading.

And a quarantine is when people are kept away from others because they have or might have a disease.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts, and we'll begin by focusing on the Great Plague and its impact.

Plague outbreaks occurred repeatedly in England during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

One major outbreak of plague occurred in 1665.

This particular epidemic has become known as the Great Plague.

The Great Plague of 1665 was one of many plague outbreaks to affect England and the deadliest since the Black Death, which had struck in the 14th century.

100,000 people were killed in London alone, counting for as much as 1/4 of the capital city's population, and thousands more died elsewhere in England.

However, the Great Plague was the last serious plague epidemic to affect England.

The Great Plague was caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis and was frequently spread by flea bites.

Ordinarily, these fleas lived on black rats.

The unsanitary conditions in many cities created a perfect habitat for black rats.

However, when the rats died, the fleas which lived on them moved to new hosts.

In cases where the fleas moved to human hosts, their bites infected the person with the plague.

The Great Plague could also spread from person to person if someone came into contact with a plague victim's bodily fluids such as their blood.

The Great Plague was incredibly deadly for those who caught it.

One in three people who were infected died.

Cities and towns suffered worse than rural areas, and the poor suffered more than other social groups.

In part, this was because poor areas were usually the most unsanitary parts of 17th century cities.

Inadequate waste disposal left many people living close to black rats, and overcrowding also made it easier for plague to spread between people.

In some areas of London, 1/3 of the population classified as poor were killed by the Great Plague.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, how many people were killed by the Great Plague in London? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was 100,000.

100,000 people were killed by the Great Plague in London, making it the deadliest plague epidemic to affect England since the Black Death in the 14th century.

And let's try another question.

I want you to identify the two ways in which people became infected with the Great Plague.

So you can choose between contact with infected bodily fluids, drinking contaminated water, flea bites, and miasma.

Remember, you're selecting two answers for this question.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were A and C.

Two ways in which people became infected with the Great Plague was through contact with infected bodily fluids and through flea bites which spread the bacteria Yersinia pestis that caused the plague.

And let's try another question.

This time, I want you to identify two reasons why poorer people tended to suffer more from the Great Plague.

So you can choose between they lived in more overcrowded areas, they had less knowledge of the causes of the plague, they lived in more unsanitary areas, or they were more likely to ignore the advice of physicians.

Remember, you're selecting two answers for this question.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were A and C.

Two reasons why poorer people tended to suffer more from the Great Plague than other social groups was because they lived in more overcrowded areas, which made it easier for the plague to spread from person to person, and they lived in more unsanitary areas.

These conditions meant that many poor people found themselves living in close proximity to black rats and their fleas.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the Great Plague and its impact into practice.

I want you to summarize how the Great Plague of 1665 affected England.

You should include the following three terms as part of your summary.

London, poor, and black rats.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to summarize how the Great Plague of 1665 affected England, and your answer may have included, "The Great Plague of 1665 killed 100,000 people alone in London and thousands more across England.

The plague was caused by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis, which mostly infected people through flea bites.

These fleas normally lived on black rats, but could transfer to human hosts and infect them if the rat died.

Partly because many poor people lived in unsanitary conditions where black rats were most common, they suffered the worst from the Great Plague.

In some areas of London, 1/3 of the local poor died during the epidemic." So really well done if your own response looks something like that model we've just seen, especially if you managed to include all three of those terms, which I asked you to.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today where we're going to think about responses to the Great Plague.

Germs had not been discovered at the time of the Great Plague, so people could not understand its true cause.

This led many people to adopt responses to the Great Plague which were ineffective.

No effective cure was available at the time.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, which statement is correct? That an effective cure for plague had already been developed by 1665.

That an effective cure for plague was developed during the outbreak of 1665.

Or that no effective cure for plague had been developed by the outbreak in 1665.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

No effective cure for plague had been developed by the outbreak of the Great Plague in 1665.

As in the Medieval period, many people accepted that the Great Plague was sent by God as a punishment for sin.

For instance, the famous author Daniel Defoe described the epidemic as God's judgment, an illness clearly sent from heaven.

This encouraged many people to try and show penance in the hope that God might lift His punishment.

For instance, King Charles II ordered multiple days of public prayer and fasting during the plague.

Some people also relied on astrology to explain the outbreak of plague.

Just as the Black Death had been blamed on an unusual alignment of the planets, many argued the unusual alignment between Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars and the appearance of a comet in late 1664 were responsible for the Great Plague which struck in 1665.

The theory of the four humors was still a commonly accepted explanation for illness in the 17th century, and so many physicians believed that plague victims were suffering from an imbalance between their humors.

As a result, humoral treatments like bloodletting and purging were often recommended to rid patients of excess humors, just like during the Black Death.

Although one physician, Nathaniel Hodges, concluded that bloodletting was ineffective and sometimes lethal for plague victims, few others followed this advice.

The idea of miasma also continued to influence responses.

Because it was believed that bad air could spread disease, efforts were made to ensure that streets were cleaned regularly to prevent foul smells.

Similarly, fires were sometimes lit with herbs on street corners in the hope of driving away miasma.

On a more personal level, many physicians wore special outfits with bird-like masks.

The beaks of these masks were filled with sweet-smelling herbs which was supposed to protect physicians from miasma.

While this had no real benefit, the waxy cloaks worn as part of physicians' plague outfits did help prevent contact with their patients' puss and blood, which could help to prevent infection.

More desperate measures were also adopted.

Many people turned to the miracle cures offered by quacks, people who sold medicines which were actually useless and untrustworthy.

This included some quacks who claimed to include grounded unicorn horn in their medicines.

Even qualified physicians resulted to unreliable methods to treat the Great Plague.

For instance, after George Starkey caught the plague from one of his patients, he hung a dead toad around his neck.

Starkey hoped this would draw out his infection, but in reality, he died.

People even resorted to killing an estimated 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats due to the mistaken belief that they were helping to spread the plague.

So, let's check our understanding of everything we've just heard.

Why did Charles II order days of public prayer and fasting? Was it as an act of penance, to prevent large crowds from gathering, or to help people restore balance to their humors? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A.

Charles II ordered days of public prayer and fasting as an act of penance.

It was hoped that this would show God that people were sorry for their sins and lead to Him ending the epidemic.

And let's try another question.

This time we have an image of a plague doctor on the screen, and you can see that one part of the doctor's outfit has been circled.

What was the circled feature of physicians' plague outfits usually filled with? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said sweet-smelling herbs.

But we need to think about why that was, so why were the beak-like features of physicians' plague outfits usually filled with sweet-smelling herbs? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the beak-like features of physicians' plague outfits were usually filled with sweet-smelling herbs because it was hoped that the pleasant smell of the herbs would protect the physician from miasma.

And let's try one more question.

This time we have a statement on the screen, which reads, "Most physicians abandoned bloodletting as a treatment during the Great Plague." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that original statement is incorrect? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said Nathaniel Hodges recommended avoiding bloodletting and argued it was ineffective and sometimes harmful to plague victims, but most physicians still supported the practice.

So we're now ready to put all of our knowledge of responses to the Great Plague into practice.

We have a view shared by Alex.

Alex says that "because they lacked knowledge of germs, it was hard for people to respond to the Great Plague effectively." I want you to explain why Alex's view is correct.

You should include at least two examples as part of your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to explain why Alex's view is correct, and your answer may have included, "Alex is correct because the fact people did not know about germs in 1665 meant they could not target their actions against the real cause of the plague.

As a result, some people continued to trust traditional but incorrect explanations and responses.

For example, many people assumed the plague was a punishment from God, and so Charles II declared days of public penance, including prayer and fasting, which had no real benefit.

Similarly, many people became desperate as traditional methods failed to protect them.

It was for this reason that one physician, George Starkey, wore a dead toad around his neck after being infected, as he hoped it would draw out the plague.

As the toad had no impact on the bacteria which had infected him, the physician died." So really well done if your own response looks something like that model which we've just seen, especially if you were also including two examples as part of your response.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we're going to think about social distancing during the Great Plague.

The most effective responses to the Great Plague involved trying to avoid it altogether.

This was achieved through social distancing.

These methods aimed to reduce contact between those who were and were not infected with plague.

Compared to the Black Death, authorities took more action to prevent the spread of the Great Plague.

Authorities in London issued public plague orders designed to enforce social distancing.

In 1665, these orders led to the closure of theaters and also included bans on fairs and even large funerals.

Contact between London and other areas of the country was also restricted.

Anybody who wished to leave the city whilst the plague was at its worst had to obtain a certificate from the Lord Mayor of London saying that they were healthy, and all trade with London and other plague towns was stopped.

These methods were somewhat successful, as the spread of the Great Plague was limited to just a few other towns and cities outside of London.

Authorities in London also worked hard to isolate any plague victims they had identified.

Some were sent to pest houses on the outskirts of the city, but there were not enough to accommodate all of the capital's infected people.

Therefore, authorities also began to quarantine individual houses for 40 days if they received reports that someone living in it had been infected by the plague.

These houses were boarded up and marked clearly to warn passersby, either with red crosses on their doors or messages such as "Lord, have mercy on us." Where possible, watchmen were even positioned outside of these quarantined houses to ensure that those inside did not leave and spread the plague further.

However, household quarantines were controversial.

Many people at the time complained that quarantining all members of a household together regardless of whether they were all ill or healthy was cruel.

Both the author Daniel Defoe and the physician Nathaniel Hodges suggested that the practice led to extra deaths, as healthy individuals quarantined with plague victims were likely to become infected themselves and die.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

Plague orders in London led to the closure of all blank in the city and even a ban on large funerals.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was theaters.

Plague orders in London led to the closure of all theaters in the city and even a ban on large funerals.

And let's try another question.

Who was forced to remain in quarantined households? Was it only those who appeared to have the plague, those who were sick and those who were healthy, or those who tested positive for plague? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

Those who were sick and those who were healthy were forced to remain in quarantined households.

This practice was criticized by some, such as the author Daniel Defoe and the physician Nathaniel Hodges, who said that it led to extra deaths.

And now I want you to study the image shown on the screen.

It's a drawing of a street during the Great Plague.

I want you to identify one detail which suggests there are households under quarantine in the image.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said either that a door is padlocked in the image, showing that people have been locked up in their home, or that we can see on one of the doors it's written, "Lord, have mercy on this house," which was a common sign used in quarantined houses to warn others that there were sick people within.

Not all forms of social distancing were introduced by authorities.

For instance, many of those who were wealthy enough simply fled London for areas which had not been infected by the plague.

The wealthy could afford to move their belongings and often had other properties outside of London that they could relocate to.

At one point in 1665, it was reported that 30,000 people had fled London in just a fortnight.

Amongst them was King Charles II and his royal court, who fled to Oxford.

Similarly, many priests and most physicians also left the capital city.

The death of so many poor people during the Great Plague was partially because they lacked the means to flee infected areas like London in the way that wealthy people could.

So, we now have a statement on the screen, which reads, "Some groups had more ability to socially distance themselves than others." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So how can we tell that that original statement was correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, "Rich people, such as Charles II and his royal court, had enough money to flee infected cities like London, whereas the poor lacked the money to do so and normally had nowhere else to go." So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge from today's lesson into practice.

I want you to answer the following question.

To what extent were methods of social distancing effective at protecting people from the Great Plague? You should explain your answer in two paragraphs, and you should consider both the strengths and weaknesses of these methods.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you, to what extent were methods of social distancing effective at protecting people from the Great Plague? And your answer may have included, "Social distancing strategies were quite effective at protecting people from the Great Plague because the real cause of the plague was unknown, so there were no effective treatments people could rely on.

By contrast, methods of social distancing did help protect people from coming into contact with bacteria-carrying fleas and the bodily fluids of plague victims, which spread the disease.

For instance, the closure of theaters and the quarantining of infected households for 40 days prevented possible contact between healthy people and the infected, thereby limiting the overall spread of the plague.

However, while social distancing methods did provide effective protection overall, some groups benefited less than others.

For instance, quarantines were controversial, as healthy people living in a household were shut in alongside the sick.

Both Daniel Defoe and Nathaniel Hodges complained that whilst this protected the broader population, it allowed many healthy people within shutting families to become infected.

Furthermore, it was harder for the poor to socially distance themselves from the plague than the rich.

For instance, most people who fled, such as King Charles II, were wealthy and had additional homes to go to.

Poorer Londoners couldn't afford to escape, and so remained at greater risk of being infected as they were forced to stay in the city.

So well done if your own response looks something like that model which we've just seen.

And that means we've reached the end of our lesson for today, which puts us in a good position to summarize our learning about the Great Plague of 1665.

We've seen that the Great Plague killed 100,000 people in London alone, most of whom were poor.

The actual cause of plague remained unknown in 1665, so many inaccurate explanations of causes, like divine punishment, were used.

Many methods of treatment, such as bloodletting and wearing dead toads, were used, but there was no access to effective cures.

Authorities had some success in limiting the spread of disease by enforcing social distancing methods such as household quarantines, and many wealthy people survived by fleeing infected areas like London during the epidemic.

So really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources today and I look forward to seeing you again in the future as we continue to think about Renaissance medicine and health.