In 1351 a law was introduced to force wages to go back to the levels they had been at before the Black Death. This led to rapid wage rises as landowners had to compete for workers by paying more. The way the bodies are carefully laid in side by side suggests bodies were treated respectfully and in a dignified way.Ī result of the high mortality rate was a shortage of workers. Mass graves of victims have been found from the Middle Ages. The population of England at the time of the Black Death is estimated to have been around 6 million, so that means approximately 2 to 3 million people died.ĭespite the scale of the fatalities, there is evidence that there was some sort of organised response from local government. Most historians believe between a third and half of the population were killed by the Black Death. There are various estimates of how many people died during the 1348-49 outbreak. I pray to God every night that we will soon find out what causes this deadly disease. I think that clean air, a healthy diet and letting blood flow from the patient will help. I truly hope that some of the people I've been trying to help will soon recover. They sit near fires trying to sweat the disease out.
They sometimes drink poisons or vinegars to try and kill the illness. I even saw a young man rubbing himself with a dead pigeon he had cut up. People rub themselves with onions and herbs. People have been trying lots of different things to try and cure themselves of this terrible disease. Some say it is caused by planetary movement. People are scared and look to religion or other explanations for its causes. The disease is so contagious that people think you can catch it just by looking at someone who is afflicted. Pneumonic, which infects the lungs, making people cough up blood. It usually kills the patient within five days.
Bubonic, which makes the glands in the neck, armpits and groin swell and ooze pus and blood. A French doctor, Guy de Chauliac, has identified two types of the disease. Many other doctors have fled the city for fear of catching the disease, but it seems it is everywhere. I've been caring for patients of this horrible plague these last few months.