This text is meant for beginners so if you could read it rather slowly it would be nice. I intend to make an activity for my webiste using either Sliderocket or Moegraph.
The Great Plague of 1665.
In 1665 the Great Plague hit the country. This terrible disease was also called Black Death.
In the Spring of 1665, the epidemic started in London. It was brought by rats. The rats had fleas and the fleas carried the germs. In those days, London was dirty and crowded. People got rid of their rubbish in the streets, so the number of rats was very high . The first victims of the plague were found in the poorest districts of London. People had no idea of how the desease spead, they thought it was a punishment sent by God.
In July 1655, King Charles II of England , his family and his court left London.
The popular nursery rhyme of the time tells about the plague:
"Ring-a-ring of roses,
A pocketful of posies,
Attischo, Attischo,
We all fall down."
First the skin gets red, next, big sore spots appear, then the person sneezes because of lungs infection and finally dies.
Several public health efforts were made but with little success.
The theatres and the pubs were closed down.
The dead were quickly buried but the pits were too full.
The epidemic spread and panic was all over the city.
A rumour accused cats and dogs to carry the disease, 200 000 cats and 40000 cats were killed. The number of rats increased and it didn't help at all.
Authorities ordered fires to burn night and day to clean the air but it didn't change anything.
There were "plague doctors" who went from one house to the next. They were usually unqualified. They wore strange clothes, they had a hat to protect their head, a mask that covered their face, a sort of beak that was full of spices and herbs to clean the air. They carried a wodden stick to drive people away if they came too near. They wore gloves to avoid touching anything contaminated. They also had a long black coat and boots. They recommanded to drink hot drinks, smoke a pipe and have a lucky charm, of course nothing worked...
The Great Plague killed about 100,000 people, about 20% of London's population.
By late autumn, the number of death began to slow down.
In February 1666, it was considered safe enough for the King to return to london.
The plague was only finally completely under control in Sept 1666 when the Great Fire of London burned down the areas affected by the disease.
This is great! I am so happy!
I am going to do my activity and will send it to you if you are interested.
Thanks a thousand times, this is perfect!
Renée