4.30 Europe: a.d. 1601 to 1700  (Page 18/30)

The population of England and Wales in 1660 has been given at about 5,000,000 and it probably increased to 5,500,000 by 1700. Five-sevenths of the people lived in the towns with 1 out of every 10 Englishmen living in London, with its 750,000 people. Of about 800 market towns in England and Wales, at least 300 were for single trades: 133 for grain; 26 for malt; 6 for fruit; 92 for cattle; 32 for sheep, with others for horses, swine, fishy poultry, dairy products, leather, linen and whatnot. Livestock could be driven to market, sheep much farther (up to 70 miles) than cattle, while grain was carried overland no more than 5 to 10 miles. Leadenhall may have been the largest wholesale market in Europe after about 1666, when 100 stalls sold beef and another 140 were reserved for other meats, not even including fish. (Ref. 292 ) Child labor was the rule and people were proud to say that any child of 5 years could make his own way. Beer was cheap and everyone drank it, even children, as it was easier to find than decent water. Coffee came in from Turkey about 1650 and tea came from China about the same time. Household staples were dear and the price of grain rose 500% between 1500 and 1700. The historian Nussbaum has stated that a Gregory King estimated in 1696 that 1/4 of the English people were dependent upon alms and that money collected for poor relief equaled 1/4 of the whole export trade. Air pollution was already a problem because of the immoderate use of coal. (Ref. 53 )

A very severe epidemic of plague broke out in 1665, with 70,000 Londoners dying of the disease. Tobacco was widely considered to be prophylactic against the plague and even children were encouraged to smoke. (Ref. 214 ) In 1666 a fire burned for three days, destroying most of London north of the Thames. 200,000 people lost their homes, as 2/3 of the City went up in flames. After this disaster, though, the Corporation of London organized a fire department, fireplugs were placed in the main water pipes, streets were made wider and straighter and sanitation was improved. (Ref. 53 ) The fire had also destroyed rats, fleas and germs and f or this or perhaps some unknown reason, plague soon disappeared and it was 253 years before native cases of the infection again caused death in England. As a matter of fact, from this time on plague left all of northwestern Europe, although it remained active in the eastern Mediterranean and in Russia. Although quarantine and other public health measures may have helped some, probably the chief reasons lay elsewhere. Wood shortages had resulted in more stone and brick houses