Dead and disaster London

Dead and disaster After Elizabeth I died, James I became king. He was the first Stuart king, followed by Charles I. During the time of the Stuarts, there was a civil war and London was hit by disasters. In 1665, plague killed thousands of Londoners, and in 1666, fire destroyed much of the city. Historians know a lot about Stuart London because a man called Samuel Pepys wrote about it in his diaries.

Civil war In the 1640s, civil war broke out between King Charles I and Parliament. The king lost and he was executed in London. His son later became King Charles II.

Plague In the 1665, plague killed about 100,000 people in London – one in three of those who stayed in the city. Many people escaped to the countryside.

Plague Plague was spread by fleas carried by black rats from ships. People with plague were shut in their houses. Their doors were marked with warning crosses.

Plague Nobody knew how to cure plague. People who caught in got black marks on their skin and soon died. Their bodies were collected in carts and buried in pits.

The Great Fire in London In 1666, a huge fire swept across London. It began in a baker’s kitchen in Pudding Lane and lasted four days. The fire destroyed four-fifths of the City, including the old Saint Paul’s Cathedral, which was later rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren.