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Setting the Scene
📖 Setting the Scene
Over 300 years after the Black Death, plague returned to London in 1665. Samuel Pepys recorded the growing terror in his diary: seeing red crosses painted on doors, hearing the cry "Bring out your dead!" By September, over 7,000 Londoners were dying per week. The King fled to Oxford. The wealthy escaped to the countryside. The poor were locked in their houses, often with infected family members. Had medicine progressed? In terms of understanding the cause, barely. The same theories from 1348 were still being used in 1665.
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
History glossary
- 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
Earn the mark scheme marks
📝 Exam Technique: Continuity vs Change
For comparison questions: The Great Plague shows CONTINUITY in medical ideas but CHANGE in government response.
🏫 Edexcel 1HI0/11, Medicine in Britain (Paper 1, Option 11): This topic is tested on Paper 1 alongside the Historic Environment (Western Front). Edexcel question types differ from AQA:
- Question 3, similarity or difference over time: Compare two periods and support each point with specific evidence. "Describe two features of..." is a Section A (Western Front historic environment) question, not a thematic study question.
- "Explain why..." (12 marks): Explain two or three reasons with specific evidence. Level 3 (7 to 9 marks) requires explained reasons; Level 4 (10 to 12 marks) requires explanation showing how factors connect or reinforce each other.
- "How far do you agree that..." (16 marks + 4 SPaG): Extended writing. Two sides: evidence FOR the statement, evidence AGAINST. Reach a supported judgement. Level 4 (13 to 16 marks) requires a consistently argued judgement. SPaG marks reward accurate spelling of key historical terms.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 8
Approximately how many people died in the Great Plague in London in 1665?
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