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In 1665, the plague returned to England and killed thousands of people. Plague had appeared several times since the Black Death in the 14th century. However, there had been very little change in medical understanding of it.

Ideas about the cause

Ideas about the cause of the plague had not changed since the Black Death. Most people still believed that:

• God controlled everything and sent the plague as a punishment for sin.
• an unusual alignment of the planets had caused bad air - miasma theory
• rotten waste had caused miasma
• the disease was spread from person to person

Approaches to treatment

Treatments for the plague were also very similar to those used during the Black Death. These included:

• prayers for the sick
• wearing of magical or religious charms
• herbal remedies such as posies (bunches of sweet-smelling flowers and herbs)
• bloodletting and purging

Attempts to prevent the spread of the plague

The methods used to prevent the spread of the plague were closely linked to the beliefs about its cause. Those who believed that the plague was caused miasma would:

• place strong-smelling herbs and flowers over doorways and windows to prevent bad air from entering their house
• hold posies to their nose when they walked in the streets
• chew tobacco, which was new to England, hoping that the strong smell would fight off any bad air carrying the plague

Those who believed the plague was passed from person to person would stay at home to prevent contact with others. They would soak coins in vinegar to avoid passing on plague when buying food.

Government actions

During the Great Plague, Charles II and his government ordered days of public prayer and fasting to allow people to confess their sins. This was because they believed that God could have sent the illness. The mayor of London also tried to prevent the spread with the following orders:

• Victims and their families were shut in their homes for 40 days and prevented from leaving so that they could not spread the illness by human contact. This was known as quarantine.
• Barrels of tar and bonfires were lit in the streets to clean the air.
• Animals were banned inside the city as it was thought they could spread the illness.
• Events that attracted large crowds, such as plays and games, were banned to prevent the illness spreading through human contact.

However, these rules were difficult to enforce because there were very few authorities in London to check, and punish, the behaviour of individuals. This was before a police force was introduced in England. The mayor of London had to rely on people to follow his orders.