Anyway, let’s forget about the Black Death, Sister Maria said that it’ll only make our worries worse. While out working, Anne and I saw a vivid, red flame, in the direction of the village. We thought something was on fire and hurried to tell Sister Maria. She said that it was some people from the village, trying to clean the air, by burning it. Whoever thought of this must be really clever! I just hope that it works.
Later in church, we were lighting these really tall candles, even taller than Elisabeth (and she’s nearly six-foot)! These days, we do more praying than ever before; it’s all to do with the plague. See, I’m talking about the plague again! I wish I could not think about it, so easily – everything is connected to it!
29th November 1348
Dear diary,
Seems like the fire hasn’t worked after all, Anne’s caught the plague. Why does it have to be her, Lord? What has she done wrong? Anyone, but her! She’s not just my little sister, that I‘ve looked after for my whole my life; she’s also, always been my best and closest friend ever! I’ve never parted from her, in my whole life - we grew up together and came to the nunnery together. Why does it have to be her?
At first she just had headache, a bit of vomiting, diarrhoea and fever, so we didn’t take it too seriously; but then all her joints started aching and her saliva was full of blood, it brought worry into all our minds. It wasn’t until about 2 days after, that the swelling boils came (Sister Maria said they’re called buboes) – they were as big as apples and as hard as rocks, under her armpits and by her groin. Sister Maria was sure it was the plague and told us that Anne had to be locked up in the old shed, it was the only way we could prevent it from spreading. She banned everyone from going in and left my poor, suffering sister alone in the damp, smelly darkness! No matter how hard I begged, she wouldn’t hear of it. I tried to stay by the door and talk to Anne, but Sister Maria spotted me and sent me to my work, warning me that if I did it again, I’d get the whip.
Poor Anne! When we left mother and father, they gave me the responsibility of looking after her, yet I’ve left her in that shed, suffering badly from the awful plague. I have betrayed their trust! The last time I saw her, a rash of black and blue spots was just developing over her body. This is the time she needs me most and I’ve abandoned her!
I’ve decided that I’m going to become a flagellant. If whipping ourselves can gain God’s forgiveness and stop this evil plague and save Anne, then it’s well worth it!
1st December 1348
Dear diary,
Anne’s only getting worse, not better. Please let her be ok, Lord! Sister Maria’s herb mixture which she put applied over the boils, didn’t seem to have much of an effect her, nor did the vinegar and water treatment (washing her with vinegar and rose water). We even made sure she didn’t eat food that goes off easily and smells badly! Nothing worked! So we put together all of our savings, to take her to the doctors. Word of mouth has it that, there’s a doctor in France, who’s saved many people with the plague. This really raised my hopes. Unfortunately, Sister Maria said that we’d raised nowhere near enough money, to go all the way to France; we’d have to go into London. I begged her to let me come with her, to my surprise, she agreed instantly. It must be because she knows how much I loved Anne. However, I afraid the result wasn’t as we’d desired at all.
As we walked through the streets, sick people with the same rash and buboes as Anne were a common sight. There were almost as many of them, as there was filth (and there’s certainly a lot of that)! Swage, dead bodies and grease were littered everywhere.
We had to go to about ten hospitals, before we could find one open! Apparently, they’d all closed, as the doctors were scared of being infected, how irresponsible! And when we did find a hospital, it was absolutely crowded with people; every person had the plague. It made me feel a bit awkward to be odd one out. We waited for about two hours to see the doctor, who seemed worn out and scared of the disease as well. He said that most people died within 3 days, so Anne was pretty lucky to still be alive. There wasn’t a lot he could do, except try to cut open the boils (Yuck!!), but it was too expensive – we hadn’t raised enough money, so we had to go back.
I was talking to Teresa before bed, she didn’t seem as happy as normal – she normally the cheeriest girl you’ve ever met! At first she tried to convince me that it was just a headache, but I got it out of her in the end. They’d taken her best friend away just because she was a Jew. People were saying that the Jews were trying to poison Christians and were taking them away to these camps, where they were all burnt to death. How cruel! I’m not sure about the Jews causing this killer plague, but it doesn’t seem fair to kill them all – they can’t all be bad, I’m sure Teresa’s best friend is innocent. It must have really upset her; I caught her being sick before dinner!
26th April 1349
Dear diary,
I bet you’re wondering about Anne. I don’t really want to talk about her, but I don’t want to keep you guessing either. Let’s just say, I went in, carrying her dinner, the day after I last wrote; her eyes were closed and she didn’t move, she still didn’t move when I shook her. She’d gone to sleep, the final sleep at such a small age. She had her whole life ahead of her, why did it have to be her?
After her death, I’ve feared for a long time to have to write this, though I knew I’d have to do it sometime, so I’ve got this over and done with.
More and more people are dying at the nunnery, it turned out Teresa’s headache and vomiting wasn’t just because she was really upset, she’d caught the pestilence too. She died instantly a couple of days later, after the doctor cut open the veins leading to her heart. Even Sister Maria is getting a headache, but I don’t really care that much any more. True, I’m a bit sad that all my friends are dying; however, it’ll never be the same as Anne.
The end of the world has come and everyone shall die. I’m just living life for the sake of it; all my targets and ambitions that used to be so strong, have dissolved into the infected air. I feel myself slipping into a deep, deep hole of despair. Why bother staying indoors like some people, they’re going to catch it whatever they do. Why not just enjoy the last few days of life? I wouldn’t say that running around the streets and drinking is a good idea though, I shouldn’t forget to remain faithful to God, after all judgement day will soon be here. The bad people will be sent to Hell, while people who’ve remained loyal to God, will obtain the right to Heaven. I just pray to be reunited with Anne there.
This winter has been unusually mild, there’s no wind to blow away the sadness and worry that stains the streets.
1st May 1349
Dear diary,
Sister Maria is getting worse; she stays in bed all day and gives us instructions. Last time I saw her, she was too weak even to move.
Sister Philomena from a nunnery in London suggested on combining. There are just not enough people to do all the work nowadays - there are only 12 out of 20 of us left; in the 12, 4 are infected by the Black Death, so only 8 of us can work and with Sister Maria ill, our nunnery simply cannot manage alone, so we agreed. We all packed our bags to move into their nunnery as it was a little bigger. Sister Maria died on the night before we set off.
We were once again filled with sadness as we walked through the streets. We past a group of people carrying a wheelbarrow full of dead bodies and shouting, “Bring out the dead!” Elizabeth told me that there just isn’t enough land to bury all the people that are dying, so all the grown men left were going to dig a big hole and throw all the dead bodies in. That actually makes me kind of glad that Anne died early. I wouldn’t want her elegant figure being thrown in with all the other bodies; she deserves a grave of her own where people will remember her.
2nd February 1350
Dear diary,
I had a letter from mother today, haven’t heard from them for ages, both her and father were safe and sound. They’d had to raise the workers’ wages as there weren’t enough people. The workers actually threatened them of leaving! Before, it was easy to find someone else, in fact too many people wanted a job; now, there weren’t enough workers! Father’s even had to provide food, drink and other benefits. He was a bit upset that he wasn’t making as much money as before, but I’m just happy that he’s safe.
Mother said that she went to our nunnery, but there was nobody there. The buildings were beginning collapse and wild plants grew everywhere. She thought I was dead, until I wrote last week.
No one else that I know of has caught the plague in the last 2 weeks. Could God really have spared me? Perhaps it has finally stopped …can’t be too sure though!
Epilogue
It is estimated that around one third of the British population died of the Black Death. The exact date it arrived in England is not known, though historians think it was sometime during the summer months of 1348. After 1350, it struck England another six times by the end of the century.
Scientists later discovered that it was bubonic and pneumonic plague, though they are not entirely sure of this. Bubonic plague is caused by fleas that have bit infected black rats, biting humans. This causes the disease to be injected into humans. Pneumonic plague is caused by people breathing in infected air. Both are bacteria born diseases.
Henry Knighton wrote, “In the parish of Holy Cross more than 400 died. After the pestilence many buildings fell into ruins in every borough and village, for lack of people; many places became deserted, all having died who lived there.”
