Tudor sisters' plague graffiti found

[SLM]

He is also a US citizen.

It's okay Goobs, the obsessive one hates everyone equally. It's part of that whole "live the anger, be the anger" thing.

 

[Sal]

I don't know why I have a morbid fascination by such things but I do...so roaming around on the net I found this:

Where can you catch the plague today?
Plague continues to surface on several continents today. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1900-2010 in the U.S. alone there were “999 confirmed or probable human plague cases … [and] in recent decades an average of seven human plague cases have been reported each year.” The plague is most common in rural and semi-rural areas of western United States and is acquired in the late spring – early fall. (see a map of reported plague cases in the US) The last case reported in Canada was in 1939.
Every year, between 1,000-2,000 worldwide cases of plague are reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), although actual numbers may be higher. Although plague epidemics have occurred in Asia, Africa, and South America, the CDC reports that since the 1990s “most human cases have occurred in Africa.” (see a map of reported plague cases in the world)

In 2012, on the island nation of Madagascar, 60 people died of plague: the highest number worldwide. In December 2013, The Guardian reported that bubonic plague took the lives of 20 villagers in Madagascar in “one of the worst outbreaks globally in recent years.” According to The Guardian, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned “that the island nation was at risk of a plague epidemic.”

Human cases of plague are very rare in Canada with the last case reported in 1939.

That surprised me.

 

[Blackleaf]

The Plague

The first outbreak of plague swept across England in 1348-49. It seems to have travelled across the south in bubonic form during the summer months of 1348, before mutating into the even more frightening pneumonic form with the onset of winter. It hit London in September 1348, and spread into East Anglia all along the coast early during the new year. By spring 1349, it was ravaging Wales and the Midlands, and by late summer, it had made the leap across the Irish Sea and had penetrated the north. The Scots were quick to take advantage of their English neighbours' discomfort, raiding Durham in 1349. Whether they caught the plague by this action, or whether it found its way north via other means, it was taking its revenge on Scotland by 1350.
It would be fair to say that the onset of the plague created panic the length and breadth of Britain. One graphic testimony can be found at St Mary's, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, where an anonymous hand has carved a harrowing inscription for the year 1349:

'Wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the people alone remain.'
​

The plague's journey across the length and breadth of Britain:

'Sometimes it came by road, passing from village to village, sometimes by river, as in the East Midlands, or by ship, from the Low Countries or from other infected areas. On the vills of the bishop of Worcester's estates in the West Midlands, they (the death rates) ranged between 19 per cent of manorial tenants at Hartlebury and Hanbury to no less than 80 per cent at Aston.... It is very difficult for us to imagine the impact of plague on these small rural communities, where a village might have no more than 400 or 500 inhabitants. Few settlements were totally depopulated, but in most others whole families must have been wiped out, and few can have been spared some loss, since the plague killed indiscriminately, striking at rich and poor alike.'
​

'The World Upside Down', Black Death in England by J. Bolton, ed.Ormrod and Lindley 1996
​

The Arrival

The Black Death entered south-western England in Summer 1348 and by all accounts struck Bristol with shocking force.

'In this year, 1348, in Melcombe in the county of Dorset, a little before the feast of St John the Baptist, two ships, one of them from Bristol, came alongside. One of the sailors had brought with him from Gascony the seeds of the terrible pestilence, and through him the men of that town of Melcombe were the first in England to be infected.' - Grey Friar's Chronicle, Lynn
​

Rumours of a terrible plague sweeping like wildfire across Europe had been rumbling for some time, and it is not surprising that the vibrant trading port of Bristol was the first major town in Britain to be affected, for it had close connections with the continent.

'Then the dreadful pestilence made its way along the coast by Southampton and reached Bristol, where almost the whole strength of the town perished, as it was surprised by sudden death; for few kept their beds more than two or three days, or even half a day.' - Henry Knighton, Chronicon
​

Bristol was the second largest city in Britain and was the principal port of entry for the West Country. Within it lived upwards of 10,000 souls, tightly packed together in conditions that were not altogether sanitary.

'Filth running in open ditches in the streets, fly-blown meat and stinking fish, contaminated and adulterated ale, polluted well water, unspeakable privies, epidemic disease, - were experienced indiscriminately by all social classes.' (Holt and Rosser, The English Medieval Town, (1990))


more here for anyone interested: BBC - History - British History in depth: Black Death

​

An interesting read....thanks BL


I was curious....so
Symptoms

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Plague is divided into three main types — bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic — depending on which part of your body is involved. Signs and symptoms vary depending on the type of plague.
Bubonic plague

Bubonic plague is the most common variety of the disease. It's named after the buboes — swollen lymph nodes — which typically develop within a week after an infected flea bites you. Buboes may be:

• Situated in the groin, armpit or neck
• About the size of a chicken egg
• Tender and warm to the touch

Other signs and symptoms may include:

• Sudden onset of fever and chills
• Headache
• Fatigue or malaise
• Muscle aches

Septicemic plague

Septicemic plague occurs when plague bacteria multiply in your bloodstream.Signs and symptoms include:

• Fever and chills
• Abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting
• Bleeding from your mouth, nose or rectum, or under your skin
• Shock
• Blackening and death of tissue (gangrene) in your extremities, most commonly your fingers, toes and nose

Pneumonic plague

Pneumonic plague affects the lungs. It's the least common variety of plague but the most dangerous, because it can be spread from person to person via cough droplets. Signs and symptoms can begin within a few hours after infection, and may include:

• Cough, with bloody sputum
• Difficulty breathing
• High fever
• Nausea and vomiting
• Weakness

Pneumonic plague progresses rapidly and may cause respiratory failure and shock within two days of infection. If antibiotic treatment isn't initiated within a day after signs and symptoms first appear, the infection is likely to be fatal.
When to see a doctor

Seek immediate medical attention if you begin to feel ill and have been in an area where plague has been known to occur. This includes parts of several states in the western portion of the United States — primarily New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.

Plague Symptoms - Diseases and Conditions - Mayo Clinic

It is thought that the Black Death killed around 2 million people in England. That means a whopping 30-40% of the entire population of England, which was then 5-6 million, was wiped out.

The population of England now is 53 million and the population of the whole of Britain is 64 million (according to the census, at least, but I believe the population of England and Britain are much higher than the census would have us believe).

The equivalent death rate today would mean around 21 million people in England being wiped out, or around 26 million in Britain as a whole.

It would be fair to say that the onset of the plague created panic the length and breadth of Britain. One graphic testimony can be found at St Mary's, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, where an anonymous hand has carved a harrowing inscription for the year 1349:'Wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the people alone remain.'

Here is that graffiti at St Mary's Ashwell Church in Hertfordshire. It is written in Latin:

The large letters tell us about when the Black Death came to the village in 1350, and left the village in 1361 when there were severe gales.

Pestile cia
M.C.T.(er)x penta
miseranda ferox violenta
(discessit pestis) superset plebs pessima testis in fine qevent(us) (erat) valid(us)
(...h)oc anno maurus in orbe tonat MCCCLXI

Translation:

There was a plague
1000,three times 100, five times 10, (1350)
a pitiable, fierce violent
(plague departed); a wretched populace survives to witness and in the end
a mighty wind, Maurus, thunders in this year in the world, 1361


Here's the website: Decoding the Graffiti - St Mary's Ashwell

St Mary's Ashwell Church is full of medieval graffiti.

Here is some other graffiti found on the pillars of St Mary's Ashwell Church. But rather than plague, a lot of this graffiti has a lighter, and humorous, side to it and is very much like a lot of modern graffiti:

'Finis virtutis pro dei Gloria et non factum suum virtutibus'
'The end of virtue is God's glory and not the merit of the virtuous one'

'Quot gratias fontis tot Dolores cruces montis'
'As many joys of the font as there are sorrows of Calvary's cross'.

'Cornua non sunt arto compugenta sputuo'
'The corners are not jointed correctly. I spit on them'
- A criticism written by a disgusted architect.

'Archi(di)aconus Asemnes'
'The Archdeacon is an a ss'

'Ebrietas frangit quicquid sapienta tangit'
'Drunkenness breaks whatever wisdom touches'
This saying has been recorded in medieval Germany as well.

'Barbara filia Barbara est'
' Barbara is a regular young vixen'
possibly the playful insinuation of a boyfriend.

'Superbia precidit fallum'
'Pride goes before a fall'

'Praetereo fini tempori in cello pace'
'I pass at death into the peace of Heaven'.
However, another translation could be:
'Suffer if you want yourself to be seen in Heaven'.
These two versions illustrate the intriguing nature of medieval graffiti - there is rarely just one interpretation!

A simple drawing of a church with western tower and spire.
Just above are two lines of medieval writing, in English but undeciphered.

 

[Sal]

It is thought that the Black Death killed around 2 million people in England. That means a whopping 30-40% of the entire population of England, which was then 5-6 million, was wiped out.

The population of England now is 53 million and the population of the whole of Britain is 64 million (according to the census, at least, but I believe the population of England and Britain are much higher than the census would have us believe).

The equivalent death rate today would mean around 21 million people in England being wiped out, or around 26 million in Britain as a whole.

it's a massive death rate ... it would create fear and suspicion of strangers...travel and trade would fall off

the graffiti was quite interesting, as they said quite often more than one meaning

 

[Blackleaf]

it's a massive death rate ... it would create fear and suspicion of strangers...travel and trade would fall off

the graffiti was quite interesting, as they said quite often more than one meaning

It also led to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. So many people were killed - around 30-40% of the population of England - that more land was available to farm but with a lot less people to work on it. To encourage those who had survived to stay on their manor, many lords had given the peasants on their estates their freedom and paid them to work on their land. In 1381, many peasants feared that the lords would take back these privileges and they were prepared to fight for them. Hence the Peasants' Revolt, when Wat Tylers' mob confronted Richard II at Smithfield.