British History

The Black Death (1348)

• In 1348, the bubonic plague arrived in Britain through the southern coast ports.
• Known as the Black Death, the disease was spread by fleas living in the fur of rats.
• The plague reached London by September 1348 and Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the winter of 1349.
• Between 10-30% of the population died
• The plague returned periodically until the seventeenth century. The first few outbreaks severely reduced the fertility and density of the population.
• Labour became scarcer
• Poorer land was simply abandoned, and many villages were never re-occupied.