Biomaterial Database

Plague mortality and demographic depression in later medieval England. 1981

L R Poos

Both direct and indirect evidence implies that England experienced a lengthy period of stagnant or declining population during the later fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Black Death of 1348-1349 had brought about profound changes in England's agrarian economy, and this subsequent demographic depression is most commonly interpreted by historians as the result of plague mortality, recurring in severe outbreaks after the disease's introduction into the country. This paper reviews the evidence and assumptions behind this interpretation, in light of recent research by historical demographers and epidemiologists into bubonic plague epidemics and general mortality crises during the post-medieval period.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010930	Plague	An acute infectious disease caused by YERSINIA PESTIS that affects humans, wild rodents, and their ectoparasites. This condition persists due to its firm entrenchment in sylvatic rodent-flea ecosystems throughout the world. Bubonic plague is the most common form.	Bubonic Plague,Meningeal Plague,Pneumonic Plague,Pulmonic Plague,Black Death,Black Plague,Septicemic Plague,Yersinia pestis Infection
D003710	Demography	Statistical interpretation and description of a population with reference to distribution, composition, or structure.	Demographer,Demographic,Demographic and Health Survey,Population Distribution,Accounting, Demographic,Analyses, Demographic,Analyses, Multiregional,Analysis, Period,Brass Technic,Brass Technique,Demographers,Demographic Accounting,Demographic Analysis,Demographic Factor,Demographic Factors,Demographic Impact,Demographic Impacts,Demographic Survey,Demographic Surveys,Demographic and Health Surveys,Demographics,Demography, Historical,Demography, Prehistoric,Factor, Demographic,Factors, Demographic,Family Reconstitution,Historical Demography,Impact, Demographic,Impacts, Demographic,Multiregional Analysis,Period Analysis,Population Spatial Distribution,Prehistoric Demography,Reverse Survival Method,Stable Population Method,Survey, Demographic,Surveys, Demographic,Analyses, Period,Analysis, Demographic,Analysis, Multiregional,Demographic Analyses,Demographies, Historical,Demographies, Prehistoric,Distribution, Population,Distribution, Population Spatial,Distributions, Population,Distributions, Population Spatial,Family Reconstitutions,Historical Demographies,Method, Reverse Survival,Method, Stable Population,Methods, Reverse Survival,Methods, Stable Population,Multiregional Analyses,Period Analyses,Population Distributions,Population Methods, Stable,Population Spatial Distributions,Prehistoric Demographies,Reconstitution, Family,Reconstitutions, Family,Reverse Survival Methods,Spatial Distribution, Population,Spatial Distributions, Population,Stable Population Methods,Technic, Brass,Technique, Brass
D004196	Disease Outbreaks	Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.	Outbreaks,Infectious Disease Outbreaks,Disease Outbreak,Disease Outbreak, Infectious,Disease Outbreaks, Infectious,Infectious Disease Outbreak,Outbreak, Disease,Outbreak, Infectious Disease,Outbreaks, Disease,Outbreaks, Infectious Disease
D004739	England	A part of Great Britain within the United Kingdom.
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D049668	History, 15th Century	Time period from 1401 through 1500 of the common era.	15th Century History,15th Cent. History (Medicine),15th Cent. History of Medicine,15th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 15th Century,History of Medicine, 15th Cent.,History, Fifteenth Century,Medical History, 15th Cent.,Medicine, 15th Cent.,15th Cent. Histories (Medicine),15th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 15th (Medicine),Cent. History, 15th (Medicine),Century Histories, 15th,Century Histories, Fifteenth,Century History, 15th,Century History, Fifteenth,Fifteenth Century Histories,Fifteenth Century History,Histories, 15th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 15th Century,Histories, Fifteenth Century,History, 15th Cent. (Medicine)
D049691	History, Medieval	The period of history from the year 500 through 1450 of the common era.	Medieval History,History of Medicine, Medieval,History of Medicine, Renaissance,Medicine, Medieval History,Medicine, Renaissance,Medieval History (Medicine),Renaissance Medicine,Histories, Medieval (Medicine),History Medicine, Medieval,History, Medieval (Medicine),Medieval Histories (Medicine),Medieval History Medicine