The Black Death, or Black Plague, was one of the world’s worst disasters which reached England around 1347, when some two million people in Britain were infected and died. It is believed that this disease came from the Far East and spread along main trade routes. However, major trade routes from the east most always passed through the Black Sea, yet there was no plague epidemic in Eastern Europe.

Reportedly, a Genoese ship that docked at Messina, Sicily, in 1347 carried the deadly cargo. Messina closed its port when it emerged that ships from the east were bringing the disease. These ships sought harbor in other areas of the Mediterranean and the plague spread. At the time, few understood what caused certain sudden deaths, but theories were abundant. Some believed the disease was a Jewish conspiracy to wipe out Christians, resulting in some Jews being killed by mobs. Others claimed that the plague signaled the Apocalypse, of the Bible.

Even without the epidemic, this period would have been a bad year for England. There was no harvest, due to incessant rains and food shortages. The effect of the plague was the most severe in cities, which were overpopulated and primitively sanitised. After London was afflicted, tens of thousands died only in a few months. The death rate was especially high in isolated places, such as prisons and monasteries. Almost 70 percent of the clergy of England died in one year alone. In 1350, the plague gradually began to subside. There were more epidemics in the centuries that followed, and the standard of living fell again by the mid-1400s, but there were no plagues after the 17th Century.

The plague had terrifying consequences. With so little of the population left alive, labor shortages were prevalent, along with increased prices. Employers would offer extra incentives, such as food and drink, to lure workers. The living standard of laborers rose in response to the changing conditions. Farmland was given over to pasturing, which was far less rigorous, and wool and cloth industries rose in importance. Peasants traveled to take work where wages were better and society became more mobile. In turn, market towns disappeared, or declined, notwithstanding the economic boom in the countryside.

The plague killed most of the clergy, and this gap was filled by poorly trained priests, as power and influence of the church waned. The clergy, and all it represented, acquired a satirical tinge, and priests were mocked and derided by such writers as Langland and Chaucer. The Black Death altered the face of British society in an unforgettable way.