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Plague pit

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A plague pit is the informal term used to refer to mass graves in which victims of the Black Death were buried. The term is most often used to describe pits located in Great Britain, but can be applied to any place where Bubonic plague victims were buried.

Origin

The plague which swept across Europe in the 14th century is estimated to have killed between one-third and two-thirds of Europe's population. Disposal of the bodies of those who died presented huge problems for the authorities, and eventually the normal patterns of burial and funerary observance broke down, usually during the most severe epidemics.

Culture

Throbbing Gristle referred to their studio, which was in fact a trouser factory in Hackney near London Fields, as the "Death Factory" particularly because the basement where they recorded was level with the plague pits.

References

  1. Stéphane Barry and Norbert Gualde, "The Greatest Epidemic of History" ("La plus grande épidémie de l'histoire", in L'Histoire n° 310, June 2006, pp.45-46, say "between one-third and two-thirds"; Robert Gottfried (1983). "Black Death" in Dictionary of the Middle Ages, volume 2, pp.257-67, says "between 25 and 45 percent".
  2. Population Loss
  3. Plague and Public Health in Renaissance Europe
  4. Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter (2009). Synth Britannia (TV documentary). BBC.

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