This was not a topic I had expected to write about. I thought the plague in 1349 was a huge onetime jolt for Medieval man. Nor did I expect that in 2020 we would be cooped up at home through a pandemic. Easter was a terrible time for monks here in St Albans in 1349. There is a story to tell, and the connections and parallels with today are uncanny and poignant.
This is my take on what the plague meant to St Albans then and to us now in 2020. You will find it informative and relevant.
 |
| The Abbey in the 1530s. The size in 1349 substantially the same but gatehouse here is a later replacement. |
The so-called Black Death hit us in St Albans in spring 1349. On Maundy Thursday 9 April 1349 (671 years ago to the day) the Abbot of St Albans Abbey, Michael de Mentmore felt unwell. He was a good man and an outstanding Abbot, so he insisted on celebrating High Mass in the early afternoon before dinner. He then washed the feet of the local poor in keeping with the custom of the day. He also presided over the later daily offices and washed the feet of all his monks. This could have spread the disease. Anyway he was worse the next day, made his confession, received the last sacrament and died three days later on Easter Sunday 12 April 1349.
In the days following 47 out of about 100 monks died here in St Albans. The catastrophic death toll was due to all the following factors involving contact with visitors and local people who could be infected. Workers in the local hostelries,servants and lay brothers were open to infection. Being near London, pilgrims in large numbers would have been attracted to pray for help at the shrine of the first English martyr, St Alban. The Abbey was well known for offering hospitality and accomodation to visitors. Monks from the Abbey were also engaged in administration of local justice, ministering to the sick in the Abbey Infirmary, hearing confessions and conducting funerals.All these activities made them very susceptible to infection..Finally living and worshipping in a closed large group put them in great danger. A sad reward for doing good works.
 |
| The author standing beside St Albans Abbey on the site of St Andrew's Chapel which would have been his place of refuge had he lived in the same house in 1349. |
The Black Death originated in China in 1346, travelling across Asia on trade routes to Asia Minor, and then across to Italy and France by 1348. Reports had been received about the awful pestilence in Asia years before, but it was not going to bother us, so it was thought. This has a chilling familiarity for us today.
Where the plague spread in Europe there was a similar pattern of disaster. The appearance of the disease, exaggerated reports of deaths, and serious social and economic consequences. Nowhere escaped but some areas were hit particularly very badly :eg. Florence, Vienna and Avignon, Bohemia and parts of Polan were less affected.. In England there few large towns: London was likely 60-70,00, then Norwich 13,000 and York 10,00. These were hit badly. 90% of England's population lived in villages. Some of these were more fortunate (:or example where I was born, in the Fens near the Wash) Overall the Black Death took as much as 40% of the population of England.
Experts are still arguing over the exact nature of the plague of 1346-50. My tentative conclusion is that there were three forms which have been described :
Bubonic – causing tumours
Pneumonic – attacking the respiratory system
Septicaemic – blood poisoning
Bubonic and septicaemic were passed on by flea bites. Pneumonic through airborne droplets of saliva coughed up by humans infected with bubonic or septicaemic types. These were all due to a bacteria called Yersinia pestis which used rats, fleas and humans as hosts. The bacteria would multiply inside the flea, blocking up the tube to its stomach, leading it to be hungry and to attack a rat or human. In that feeding process the plague bacteria got into the victim’s blood ; the bacteria became present in the victim's saliva, which could be transmitted by coughing or sneezing bacteria - laden droplets could enter a new victim's windpipe and lungs.The flea would die but the plague bacteria had gained a new host. In the pneumonic variety the plague bacteria. The speed at which the Black Death spread astonished contemporaries. The resulting disease was foul smelling, degrading and disgusting.
Our 2020 COVID-19 is the latest virus from the Coronavirus family which can infect animals or humans and cause respiratory problems. Coronavirus is mainly spread by tiny droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose of an infected person who sneezes or coughs. The droplets can then infect someone else immediately or land on surfaces or objects. By touching these and then touching either their eyes, nose or mouth, another person may catch OVID-19. This why we are in lockdown and two metre social distancing has become so important.
Just as there is at present no cure for COVID-19.there was no cure for the 14th century plague - medicine being very much in the dark ages. Medical teaching was on lines specified by the Church. In France the few medics there were often succumbed to the disease themselves. There was no knowledge of germs and no fancy masks or Personal Protective Equipment.. They also worked under the disadvantage of being seen as secondary to the Church. If a victim required their attention he might have to go to confession first. The patient might then treat the value of his advice the same way he would treat going to a priest.
The only cure was to move far away. Only the rich would have the means to do this. Exceptionally Pope Clement VI In Avignon simply holed himself up in his chamber in the Papal Palace in Avignon with two huge fires and saw no-one. Most attempts at quarantine were unlikely to work. Today we note the anger in France and the UK when people with second homes go into the country causing strain on local resources, just as country locals in the 1340s resented the rich leaving the sinking (or stinking) capital cities.
Otherwise there was a raft of peculiar and ineffective remedies which would not save lives. Eating figs before breakfast, filling the house with flowers and sprinkling rose water and vinegar on the floor were some ideas.
Put simply : there was complete ignorance about how the plague spread and how to deal with it. A common view was that it was caused by an evil miasmatic cloud enveloping the area. Others thought it was through person to person contact. Ignorant people look for an explanation they can understand and when they get frightened they find a scapegoat. In particular lepers and Jews suffered frightful persecution as a result in parts of Europe. Where are our scapegoats? Probably politicians.
The Church took the line that the plague was God’s will and a punishment for the sinfulness of man. Unfortunately they had not made enough fuss about this earlier and this did not go down well with dying people all around. Many people will have believed it was God’s will but believed in God’s mercy. The sinfulness would be wiped out by suffering. In St Albans Abbey holy relics would have been brought out and penitential services held to placate God. Some abandoned themselves to eating and drinking for tomorrow we die. The scale of the pestilence and the indiscriminate character of those who died was shocking. Death had always been a preoccupation and now it became an obsession. It was all to no avail. It could not be stopped. The Church was seen to be unable to defend itself or its people.
King Edward III was in his prime and wanted to show leadership and lack of fear in the face of the plague. Despite the Plague he went on a bold adventure to Calais in August 1349 with a group of knights to foil a plot which would enable the French to retake it. Also by the ostentatious tournaments he held throughout the country to show himself and the foundation of the Order of the Garter at Windsor Castle he sought to raise spirits and show who was in charge. Personally he had had to bear heart-breaking deaths in his family. He had lost a three month old son, William in September 1348 and a beloved 14 year old daughter Joan. She had been on her way to marry King Pedro of Castile on 1 July 1348. However I believe this does not mean that he was reckless. He was staying out of the limelight at his palace in King’s Langley (only about 10 miles from here) from February to April 1349. He will doubtless have become aware of the dire happenings in the Abbey here. Kings had regularly visited here in the past.
 |
| Princess Joan |
Monasteries suffered particularly badly over all Europe. Communities living in close quarters were sitting ducks for infection. The monastic orders had about 17500 members in 1348 and lost around 50% in the plague.
St Albans lost 47 including the Abbot and the Prior, Never would they be able to reach 100 brethren again and it was a struggle to keep to 50 throughout the rest of the lifetime of the Abbey. The following years were hard. The good news was we were lucky to have a new Abbot, Thomas de la Mare, who was experienced and destined to lead us through some of our greatest days. At the start of his rule he had to go to Avignon to have his position confirmed by the Pope, as was customary then./ The journey was hazardous, the cost extortionate and two of his companions died en route, Inn his return journey he himself was extremely ill ifor several weeks and only just recovered. Whereas in many places in England the replacement ecclesiastical leaders were of lesser quality in the 1350s we bucked the trend in St Albans. The conduct and liturgy in the Abbey was seen as a prime example of good practice. Thomas was an official Visitor at other Benedictine foundations and on occasion monks from elsewhere were seconded in order to experience good practice.
There were dramatic effects on daily life. The planned Parliament of 1348 was cancelled. There was no facility for virtual meetings then! Historians continue to disagree about the economic effects of the plague. There is a view that the country was overpopulated before the plague for the jobs available, and this helps to explain the quick recovery in some places. There is evidence that in some areas dues were still paid to landlors and agriculture continued. Doubtless it was patchy. We were fortunate in the estates controlled by the Abbot of St Albans to be able to make a good recovery through sufficient labour and good management.
So how disastrous was the Black Death for us in St Albans and the country? I cannot overstress that there was still the fear that the Plague would return. There was an atmosphere of doom and this was fully justified. There were further bouts of plague in 1361/2, 1368/9, 1371, 1375, 1390 and 1405. The 1361 plague was particularly vicious and took as much as 20% of the population , especially younger men. God had not been satisfied. The Church had lost face. Why had so many good churchmen died in 1349/50 and why did it keep returning? How could it be stopped? No wonder some must have adopted a fatalistic view of life. Despite this London seems to have made a good recovery and reached 35,000 by 1377.
Our present experience in 2020 will be more catastrophic economically. The uncertainty of when and how to stop the lockdowns will become acute. The magic vaccine is unlikely to appear for at least a year. Easter will be very different this year. No choir or organ playing for me - the first time for over 20 years! Social distancing of two metres and the closure of churches is new to us. Pope Francis giving us his blessing in an empty St Peter’s Square is an image which will stay with us forever. We will gather round our electronic gadgets this Easter watching streamed services with a lone priest presiding. No foot washing in St Albans Abbey today, Maundy Thursday 2020.
