The Great Mortality: When England Had a Really Bad Week (Year, Actually)
Ah, the plague. Bubonic, pneumonic, the kind that makes you cough up something resembling a goth's lunchbox. Not exactly a picnic, was it? But you know what's even less fun than the plague itself? Trying to figure out exactly how many people it wiped out.
The Black Death waltzes in (uninvited, of course):
The year is 1348. England is all merriment and mead (well, mostly mead), when a little visitor called the Black Death decides to crash the party. It hitched a ride on some rather unwelcome fellow travelers – rats (and the fleas that called them home).
Counting Corpses: The Medieval Math Meltdown
QuickTip: Skim the first line of each paragraph.
Here's the tricky part: folks back then weren't exactly statisticians. Parish records? Forget about it. So how many became worm food, courtesy of the plague? Historians are left playing CSI: Medieval Edition, digging through scraps of evidence.
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| How Many People Died During The First Outbreak Of The Plague In England |
The Great Guesstimate Game:
QuickTip: Read a little, pause, then continue.
Some scholars reckon a whopping two-thirds of England bit the dust. Others say it was a more "manageable" 30%. Truth is, it probably falls somewhere in between. Imagine your local pub suddenly being half empty – that's the kind of vibe we're talking about.
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London: Ground Zero for Germs
QuickTip: Re-reading helps retention.
Big cities were like germ buffets for the plague. London, being the bustling metropolis it was (think of it as a slightly smellier New York), got hit particularly hard. Estimates suggest up to a quarter of Londoners shuffled off this mortal coil. Yikes.
**So, how many exactly? **
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind (or rather, it's lost in the mists of time). We can say for sure a lot of people met their maker, but a definitive number? That remains a historical mystery.
QuickTip: Stop to think as you go.
FAQ: Your Guide to Not Dying from the Plague (Mostly Tongue-in-Cheek)
- How to avoid plague-ridden rats? Simple! Just become a cat whisperer. Befriend all the felines, and they'll keep those disease-carrying rodents at bay (or at least as a tasty snack).
- How to tell if you have the plague? Well, if you're coughing up blood and look like a giant, oozing raisin, that's a good sign things aren't going well.
- How to treat the plague? Modern medicine says antibiotics, but back then? Leeches and good thoughts were all the rage (spoiler alert: not very effective).
- How to avoid catching the plague from your neighbor? Social distancing wasn't a thing, but a good, solid moat around your house might have helped.
- How to survive a plague? Mostly luck, honestly. But hey, if you do make it, you've got a hell of a story to tell at the pub (assuming the pub is still open, of course).
Remember, folks, this is all in good fun (mostly). The plague was a horrific event, but a little humor can help us learn from the past. Just don't try any of the above medical advice. Seriously. See a doctor if you're feeling unwell.
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