1. It was the worst of times… It was…well, the worst of times.

2. How so, you ask…  Whitechurch: - John le Strange died - 20th August 1349. - His oldest son, Fulk, died - August 30 (2 days before inquest) - Before an inquest could be held on Fulk's estate, his brother Humphrey died. - John, the third brother, survived - inherited worthless land because all tenants were dead

3. Plague Recurrences  Avg. 30-45% of the general populace died 1348-50  Some villages, 80% or 90% of population died (in Kilkenny death- rate = 100%  1350 not the end  Plague recurred in 1361-64, 1368, 1371, 1373-75, 1390, 1405 and continued into the fifteenth century

4. How the plague spread around Britain  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  Jan-Feb 1349: Plague spreads into E. Anglia and the Midlands.

5.  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

6.  1361-64: Second Pestilence: 'The Plague of Children'  1367: Birth of Richard II in Bordeaux.  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 - only finally ended at end of the 17th century.

7. 1) Rise of buboes 2) Convulsions 3) Rise of temperature (101 to 107) 4) Vomiting 5) Splitting Headache & Giddiness 6) Intolerance to light 7) Pain in the lower abdomen, back and limbs 8) Insomnia, apathy, and delirium.

8. 9) Eyes turn red 10) Blood dark, thick, greenish pus 11) Skin begins to turn black (blood & pus) 12) Tongue swells and is covered with a white fur except on tip 13) Later tongue turns dry and fur becomes yellow or brown 14) Constipation usual but if diarrhea is worse 15) Death anywhere from 24 hrs. to days from ruptured boils or takeover of bacteria Most common way spread: coughing, spittle

9. Like he’s having a melt down…

11. Medicine in Middle Ages is not exactly helpful People felt a little let down – so they 1)Ran away 2)Tortured + killed Jews 3)Beat themselves – flagellants 4)Soaked boils in vinegar – hot onions 5)Let blood 6)Lanced buboes 7)Stopped bathing 8)Stopped breathing fresh air 9)Abandoned their families

12.  No running water  Rushes on floors health hazard Clay floor strewn with straw – bottom layer sometimes left undisturbed for 20+ yrs. Harbored vomit, expectorate, urine + feces (human, dog, etc…), ale, fish remnants, etc…

13.  Amputations cauterized with pitch  Teeth pulled no anesthetic  Childbed fever – high mortality rate  Dysentery (bloody flux)  Syphilis  Tuberculosis  Influenza

14.  30-50% died before adulthood  Mid-40s = usual life span if didn’t die in war & maintained good health  65 burials (400 to 1000 A.D.) from Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in England and found none who lived past 45  Kings did better – 48 – 51 yrs.

15.  Geoffrey Chaucer – born c. 1340-43 in London  Affluent merchant class family (wine)  Mixed with royalty his whole life.  Died age 60 + first poet to be interred in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey The Father of English Literature