I'll bet you're thinking it was the Bubonic Plague, but you'd be wrong. The plague epidemic struck Europe in the early fourteenth century and one person in three died. The disease was still around in Shakespeare's day, but it had "hit Europe" two hundred and fifty years before. The deadly disease that his Europe in Shakespeare's time was syphilis, which was brought from the New World by Columbus's sailors and spread through Europe like wildfire in the sixteenth century. Shakespeare's plays are full of references to it.
The disease most often referred to in Shakespeare's plays is syphilis, a deadly STD which spread like wildfire. King Henry VIII is believed to have died from it, as did his successor Edward VI. Queen Elizabeth contracted smallpox, which was usually fatal, but managed to survive, although she lost a lot of hair in the process. The bubonic plague, although outbreaks occured occasionally and caused the theatres to be closed (it is referred to once in a Shakespeare play), was not the deadly killer it was when it first hit in the 14th century, because over two hundred and fifty years people had built up an immunity to it.
There were frequent outbreaks of the plague, but it was not the Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death. There are three different varieties of the plague, and the Bubonic one (identifiable by the formation of black lumps or buboes in the groin and armpits and anywhere where there are lymph nodes) is only one. The epidemic which took place in Shakespeare's day was of Pneumonic Plague which affects the lungs and causes shortness of breath and coughing.
Consumption (Tuberculosis), Smallpox, The Black Death (bubonic Plague), and many others that were caused by malnutrition and poor living conditions.
It was the bubonic plague, of which there were several out breaks over a long period of time - including in Shakespeare's time.
There was a plague epidemic in Stratford that year but young Will didn't catch it.
Black Death Black Death
The black plague.
The Bubonic Plague
Bubonic Plague
There were a couple. Plague was a constant problem, although it had mutated into a different disease from the one it had been when it was the Black Death 300 years before. The epidemic Shakespeare talks most about is syphilis, which was a relatively new disease, introduced to Europe from America about a hundred years before and which caused the deaths of thousands of people, including, it is thought, King Edward VI.
All theatres in London were closed during the years 1592-1593 because of a particularly nasty plague outbreak. During that time, actors had to play in venues outside of London, which were much less profitable. There was a smaller plague outbreak and theatre closure in London in 1596.
Males
Same as it is now, a pharmacist, a druggist.
Bubonic Plague
The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Balck Death.
The Lord Chamberlain's Men was one of the leading acting companies of its day.
There were a couple. Plague was a constant problem, although it had mutated into a different disease from the one it had been when it was the Black Death 300 years before. The epidemic Shakespeare talks most about is syphilis, which was a relatively new disease, introduced to Europe from America about a hundred years before and which caused the deaths of thousands of people, including, it is thought, King Edward VI.
Smallpox was an epidemic during the American Revolution
All theatres in London were closed during the years 1592-1593 because of a particularly nasty plague outbreak. During that time, actors had to play in venues outside of London, which were much less profitable. There was a smaller plague outbreak and theatre closure in London in 1596.
to make all the bad air go up and the good air come down........
Males
Same as it is now, a pharmacist, a druggist.
Queen Elizabeth l
an epidemic
Because your poo was in it