Shutt Up: Bubonic Plague and Quarantine in Early Modern England

Abstract

The outbreak of bubonic plague that struck London and Westminster in 1636 provoked the usual frenzied response to epidemics. The national government republished the books of orders for controlling outbreaks and wrote to aldermen and justices of the peace, urging them to stay at their posts. Parishes assembled physicians, nurses, and surgeons to care for the sick and hired searchers and bearers to find and transport the dead and dying. Thousands fled the city; thousands more were quarantined in their homes or isolated in pesthouses. Though by the end of 1637 the outbreak in London and Westminster proved to be a milder one than those of 1625 or 1603 had been, it still carried off 10,400 individuals—7.5% of the city and its liberties' estimated total population.¹ In addition to nearly decimating the...