Great Plague of London, 1665


During the plague in London, burials of the dead took place outside of city walls. It was customary for such obsequies to be attended by armed law enforcement officials. This contemporary print shows the last rites of William Wiseman, a plague victim, with longbowmen in attendance. The Great Plague (1665-66) was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in the Kingdom of England (part of modern-day United Kingdom). The Great Plague killed an estimated 100,000 people, about 15% of London's population. The 1664-66 epidemic was on a far smaller scale than the earlier Black Death pandemic but was caused by a particularly virulent strain of the disease; it was remembered afterwards as the "great" plague mainly because it was the last widespread outbreak of bubonic plague in England during the 400 year timespan of the Second Pandemic.


Size: 4005px × 2906px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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