“They are all dead, except a few”: Social complications and royal reactions to death in England, 1348-1350

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The initial outbreak of plague, later called the Black Death, in England in the winter of 1348-1349 parallels the actions and reactions to the current health crisis of COVID-19. King Edward III closed the courts, regulated travel in and out of the country, ordered larger cities-especially London-to clean their streets to avoid further contamination from “bad air” or contagious miasma. Many inheritance records of deceased landholders speak to the thousands of dead peasants and farms and businesses left untended. This paper addresses the actions of the crown during and just after this first outbreak of the plague in light of the contemporary pandemic, COVID-19.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationReconsidering Extinction in Terms of the History of Global Bioethics
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages112-135
Number of pages24
ISBN (Electronic)9781000380262
ISBN (Print)9780367619329
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 22 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Arts and Humanities

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '“They are all dead, except a few”: Social complications and royal reactions to death in England, 1348-1350'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this