when did the black death start in the uk
Black Death in England The Black Death was a pneumonic plague pandemic, which reached England in June 1348. It was the first and most severe manifestation of the Second Pandemic, caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria. The term "Black Death" was not used until the late 17th century.
Black Death There appear to have been several introductions into Europe. The plague reached Sicily in October 1347, carried by twelve Genoese galleys,[20] and rapidly spread all over the island. Galleys from Kaffa reached Genoa and Venice in January 1348, but it was the outbreak in Pisa a few weeks later that was the entry point to northern Italy. Towards the end of January, one of the galleys expelled from Italy arrived in Marseille.[21]
Black Death in England During the first half of 1349 the Black Death spread northwards. A second front opened up when the plague arrived by ship at the Humber, wherefrom it spread both south and north.[35] In May it reached York, and during the summer months of June, July and August, it ravaged the north.[36] Certain northern counties, like Durham and Cumberland, had been the victim of violent incursions from the Scots, and were therefore left particularly vulnerable to the devastations of the plague.[37] Pestilence is less virulent during the winter months, and spreads less rapidly.[38] The Black Death in England had survived the winter of 1348â€“49, but during the following winter it gave in, and by December 1349 conditions were returning to relative normalcy.[39] It had taken the disease approximately 500 days to traverse the entire country.[40]
Black Death The disease may have travelled along the Silk Road with Mongol armies and traders or it could have come via ship.[17] By the end of 1346, reports of plague had reached the seaports of Europe: "India was depopulated, Tartary, Mesopotamia, Syria, Armenia were covered with dead bodies".[18]