1. How to tackle these questions
You need to plan out your response to analyse similarities.
When comparing events you should consider:
Causes: why did the event happen?
Development: how did the event develop?
Consequences: events will have results

2. GREAT PLAGUE BLACK DEATH
Cause – Why did the event happen?
Actual cause – Bacteria found on rats and the fleas that feed on them.
The pneumonic plague is when the infection spreads to a persons lungs
Ideas about the cause at the time – Witchcraft, a punishment from God, miasma
Actual cause - Bacteria found on rats and the fleas that feed on them.
Potentially caused by the hot summer of 1665
Ideas about the cause at the time – God, cats and dogs, miasma
GREAT
PLAGUE
BLACK
DEATH
Development – How did the event develop?
On its victims mainly via buboes
Flagellants whipped themselves to avoid the disease
Quack doctors provided ridiculous remedies
Church encouraged prayer
Dirty conditions in medieval towns encouraged the disease to spread
Malnutrition was a big issue due to bad harvests and diet and contributed to the high death rates
Government killed the cats and dogs in London
Watchmen locked and kept guard over infected houses
Quarantine was common
Government banned public gatherings
Dirty conditions in towns encouraged the disease to spread
Malnutrition was a big issue due to war and diet and contributed to the high death rates
Fires in the street to purify the air
Consequences – What were the results?
Mass burials
Mortality rate was 50%
Almost 40% of England was wiped out by the disease
Positive – Due to the high numbers of deaths, peasants could demand better pay and working conditions
7,000 people were dying each week
70,000 Londoners died The Great Fire of London is believed to have stopped the disease

3. Compare the Black Death in the fourteenth century and the Great Plague in the seventeenth century. In what ways were they similar? (8 marks)
The plague appears to have started in the parish of St-Giles-in-the-Fields outside of London's walls in The hot summer seems to have caused it to become an epidemic. While 68,596 deaths were recorded in the city, the true number was probably over 100,000, and other parts of the country also suffered. It was raging in the city by July 1665, and reached a peak of 7,000 deaths a week by August, but then died out during the cold winter.