Government Measures 1665

Part of The Great Plague · Section 3 of 13

Deep DiveUnit: Medicine Through TimeGCSE

This deep dive covers Government Measures 1665 within The Great Plague for GCSE History. Revise The Great Plague in Medicine Through Time for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 3 of 13 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

🧠 Government Measures 1665

  • Quarantine: Infected houses locked for 40 days with red cross painted on door. Watchmen prevented escape.
  • Bills of Mortality: Weekly death counts published. First systematic disease tracking.
  • Searchers: Old women examined bodies to determine cause of death.
  • Public Health: Banned public gatherings, ordered fires lit in streets, killed dogs and cats (wrong target — should have been rats!).
  • Burial: Bodies buried quickly in mass graves. No church bells at night (to avoid panic).

    • Practice questions for The Great Plague

    Approximately how many people died in the Great Plague in London in 1665?

    • A. 10,000
    • B. 100,000
    • C. 500,000
    • D. 2 million
    1 markfoundation

    What were Bills of Mortality introduced during the Great Plague of 1665?

    • A. Laws banning public gatherings
    • B. Fines imposed on households that broke quarantine
    • C. Weekly published counts of deaths from plague
    • D. Orders to kill dogs and cats in infected areas
    1 markfoundation

    Quick recall flashcards

    What were the Plague Orders?
    Government rules during the Great Plague: infected houses marked with a red cross, residents locked inside for 40 days, watchmen posted to enforce quarantine
    What were Bills of Mortality?
    Weekly death counts published by the government — first systematic disease tracking

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