1348–9
The Black Death
The Black Death reached the shores of England at Melcombe Regis (now Weymouth) in Dorset in June, The National Archives says, perhaps carried by a ship which had crossed from Gascony to Bristol.1 A ship from Calais, Britannica says, carried the plague to Melcombe Regis, Dorset, in August 1348.2
By 1349 it had killed around a third of the population.1 In 1348–9, English Heritage says, the Black Death killed between a third and a half of England's population.3
The Black Death, Britannica says, ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. It is estimated that 25 million people died.2 The French chronicler Jean Froissart's statement that about one-third of Europe's population died in the epidemic may be fairly accurate, Britannica says.2 The population in England in 1400 was perhaps half what it had been 100 years earlier.2 In England alone, the Black Death certainly caused the depopulation or total disappearance of about 1,000 villages.2
June or August 1348?
Both of the sources we checked agree that the Black Death reached England at Melcombe Regis, now Weymouth, in Dorset, in 1348. They do not agree on the month, or on the ship. The National Archives says it arrived in June, perhaps carried by a ship which had crossed from Gascony to Bristol. Britannica says a ship from Calais carried the plague there in August 1348. We report both.
How many people died?
The National Archives says that by 1349 the Black Death had killed around a third of the population in England. English Heritage says that in 1348–9 it killed between a third and a half of England’s population. Britannica, writing about Europe as a whole, cites Jean Froissart’s statement that about one-third of Europe’s population died, and adds that the population in England in 1400 was perhaps half what it had been 100 years earlier, with about 1,000 villages depopulated or gone. These figures are close, but they are not the same wording, and they do not all describe the same place or the same year.
What was it, and what did it change?
It is widely believed to have been the result of plague, caused by infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis.2 Other scientific evidence has indicated that the Black Death may have been viral in origin.2
The most immediate of its many effects was an acute labour shortage. Survivors demanded higher wages and bond men refused to do unpaid 'service' for feudal masters.3 With land prices low and wages high, many who survived the plague experienced a higher standard of living.1
What caused the Black Death?
Britannica says the Black Death is widely believed to have been plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, and that modern genetic analyses link that medieval strain to plague still circulating — but it also records that other scientific evidence has indicated the epidemic may have been viral in origin. English Heritage’s teaching glossary calls it a huge outbreak of bubonic plague carried by the fleas of black rats. We report those wordings and do not treat the rat-and-flea story, or the viral alternative, as the only account.