Fatal and memorable: plague, providence and war in English texts, 1625-6

• Published in: The Seventeenth century Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 293 - 314
• Main Author: Rolfe, Kirsty
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Durham Routledge 03.05.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: 17th century; epidemic; Epidemics; Historical text analysis; Plague; print; Thirty Years' War; War; Germany
• ISSN: 0268-117X; 2050-4616
• DOI: 10.1080/0268117X.2019.1599999

For politically-inclined English readers, 1625 saw a startling conjunction of events: the death of James VI and I, the marriage of his son Charles, and the embarkation of English land and naval forces intended to intervene in the ongoing conflict in Germany, in support of James's daughter and son-in-law. Most terrifyingly, the year saw one of the most deadly outbreaks of plague of the seventeenth century. This article examines texts that deal with the epidemic, arguing that writers represented plague and war as interconnected parts of Protestant providential history. In these "plague texts", the sufferings of plague-stricken London are aligned with those of Germany through anti-Catholicism and ideas of divine chastisement. The article concludes by examining sermons of thankfulness published after the plague's abatement, arguing that ideas of duty to the monarch's kin and to German Protestants were key to how the epidemic was memorialised.