Keeping the Diseased: Plague workers, policy and the poor in early modern England and Scotland c. 1597-1666

Abstract

This thesis seeks to answer one fundamental question: how would our understanding of the plague change if we centred marginalised experiences? While scholars have long examined the plague's impact, highlighting its medical, economic, and political ramifications, we are yet to fully understand the social impact of the disease. However, outbreaks of plague provide a unique lens to explore society and social relations during times of crisis. By focusing on the experiences of those typically pushed to the margins of the historical record, such as women and the poor, we can observe how these groups navigated and responded to new forms of authority and crisis conditions.

Inspired by the social turn of the 1970s and 80s, as well as recent events during the Covid-19 pandemic, I hope to have written a history of the plague 'from below', one where the voices and experiences of ordinary people, women and the poor take centre stage. Within this broader investigation, my thesis explores several key areas: the experiences of nurses and other plague workers during epidemics, the extent of increased powers wielded by authorities, the responses of ordinary people and the poor to emergency measures, and the processes by which people rebuilt their lives post-epidemic.

Through these inquiries, my research aims to increase our understanding of early modern social relations during periods of immense upheaval. In short, my thesis uncovers new and compelling evidence to support Keith Wrightson's analysis that the plague did not divide early modern society as severely as we once thought. Rather than fracturing communities, my thesis reveals evidence of complex networks of care and solidarity. Neighbours, families and friends often rallied together to ensure the survival of their communities. These findings challenge the notion of social disintegration during crises, highlighting the resilience and strength of communal bonds in early modern society.