In the year 1665 death came calling on the city of London. Death in
the form of plague. People called it the Black Death, black for the colour of
the tell-tale lumps that foretold its presence in a victim's body, and death for
the inevitable result. The plague germs were carried by fleas which lived as
parasites on rats. The plague first appeared in Britain in 1348, and the
islands were never totally free of the disease. But it was like an unpleasant
possibility that people just learned to live with while they got on with their
business. This time 2).
In 1663 plague ravaged Holland. Charles II forbade any trade with the
Dutch, partly out of wise concern, and partly because his realm was engaged
in a fierce trade war with Holland which eventually erupted into armed
conflict. 3, the early spring of 1665 brought a sudden rise in the
death rate in the poorer sections of London. The authorities ignored it. As
spring turned into one of the hottest summers in memory, the number of
deaths escalated and panic set in.
The nobility left the city for their estates in the country. They were
followed by the merchants, and the lawyers. The Inns of Court were
deserted. Most of the clergy suddenly decided they could best minister to
their flocks from far, far away. The Royal College of Surgeons fled to the
country,. which did not stop several of its members from wiriting learmned
papers about the disease they had been at such pains to avoid. The court
moved to Hampton Court Palace.
By June the roads were clogged with people desperate to escape
London. The Lord Mayor responded by closing the gates out of the city to
anyone who did not have 5). These certificates became a currency
more valuable than cold and n ti.