Evidence of the foulness and cruelty of the greatest catastrophe ever to
hit London is still being unearthed under the streets of the capital
today. The fresh plague pits containing thousands of skeletons uncovered
during the construction of Crossrail are a reminder of the painful,
drawn-out death suffered by Londoners as pustules and abscesses broke
out all over their bodies. Plague has been a scourge of mankind since
its onset in the sixth century. Its distinctive and repulsive symptoms,
the excruciatingly painful effects inflicted on its victims, with a very
high mortality rate, evoked a fear and repulsion that was caused by no
other disease. Attempts to control its spread proved futile. The second
plague pandemic in Europe began when the disease reached Sicily in
October 1347. From there it spread remorselessly across the entire
continent and erupted in London in the autumn of 1348, killing at least
one-third, and perhaps one-half, of its inhabitants. As the largest city
in England, London suffered a higher death-toll than any other community
during the many subsequent outbreaks. Tudor and Stuart London was a city
afflicted by plague, yet its population continued to grow inexorably, as
it drew people from the rest of the country to replace the losses.
Plague's last visitation came in 1665 and was its most destructive,
claiming at least 70,000 victims in the space of just eight months and
becoming known as the Great Plague. The legacy of plague has been a
dread that has scarcely been overcome even today.
