York and the North: The Black Death, 1349-1373
Presented by Professor Sarah Rees Jones (Department of History, University of York) on Tuesday 8 October 2024, 5.30pm to 7pm. This FREE lecture is available in-person at Room K/133, King’s Manor, Exhibition Square, and online. It is open to alumni, staff, students and the public.
It is estimated that the first epidemic of the Black Death in the north of England, in 1349-1350, carried away nearly half the population of the region. A catastrophe of that scale is hard to comprehend and, perhaps surprisingly, the immediate impact of plague in the north has rarely been explored in detail.
The region’s experience also needs to be set in a global context as new work in bio-sciences is transforming our understanding of both the scale and the timing of the epidemic and raising new questions about the particular nature of bubonic plague in the 14th century. This talk will pull together some old and some new evidence to suggest future lines of enquiry. In doing so Sarah Rees Jones will draw on over four decades of partnership with local heritage organisations, and indicate the possibilities for new collaborations.
