Tudor towns were dirty, smelly and crowded.

 

There was no proper drainage in towns. Open sewers often ran down the middle of streets straight into rivers and wells, from where people collected drinking water. All waste was thrown onto the streets including toilet waste. Diseases quickly spread and were very common.

 

The streets in a town smelled terrible and rich people often carried a little bag of herbs called a pomander to hold against their nose while walking through the streets.

 

The dirt attracted rats and mice which carried fleas. The fleas from the rats bit people and passed on the bacteria which caused the plague. 

 

Only about a quarter of people who caught plague recovered. Rich people could leave the dangerous cities, but poor people had to stay where they were. In 1563, London experienced another outbreak of plague, considered one of the worst incidences of plague ever seen in the city.

 

The bubonic plague took almost 80,000 lives, between one quarter and one third of London's population at that time. Statistics show that 1000 people died weekly in mid August , 1600 per week in September, and 1800 per week in October.Fleeing form the cities and towns was common, especially by wealthy families who had country homes. Queen Elizabeth I was no exception. She took great precautions to protect herself and the court from plague. When plague broke out in London in 1563, Elizabeth moved her court to Windsor Castle. She had gallows erected and ordered that anyone coming from London was to be hanged. She also prohibited the import of goods as a measure to prevent the spread of plague to her court.