The Great Bovine Pestilence and its economic and environmental consequences in England and Wales, 1318-50

The present article seeks to identify the nature, extent, and impact of the Great Bovine Pestilence in England and Wales, between 1318 and 1350. The murrain, which killed around 62 per cent of the bovine animals in England and Wales in 1319—20, had a tremendous impact within both the seigniorial and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Economic history review Vol. 65; no. 4; pp. 1239 - 1266
Main Author Slavin, Philip
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2012
Blackwell Publishing
Blackwell
Subjects
Animals
Cathedrals
Cattle
Economic history
Economic impact
Famine
Livestock industry
Mortality
Oxen
Pathogens
Peasant class
Plague
Studies
Ungulates
United Kingdom > UK
England
Wales
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Summary:The present article seeks to identify the nature, extent, and impact of the Great Bovine Pestilence in England and Wales, between 1318 and 1350. The murrain, which killed around 62 per cent of the bovine animals in England and Wales in 1319—20, had a tremendous impact within both the seigniorial and peasant sectors of late medieval agriculture. In particular, the pestilence, which decreased the overall population of dairy cattle, depressed the overall levels of milk supply available for human consumption. Is it possible that the bovine crisis of 1319—20, and the subsequent protein shortage, were instrumental in weakening the immune system of humans and making them prone to the pestilence some 30 years later?
Bibliography:istex:93947F98857C24853C93BC4EEE4678FF11ABA80E
ark:/67375/WNG-517D4B7M-R
ArticleID:EHR625
The author wishes to express his thankfulness (in alphabetical order) to Bruce Campbell (Queen's University, Belfast), John Munro (University of Toronto), and Timothy Newfield (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), for their kind comments and suggestions. All errors remain, naturally, mine.
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ISSN:0013-0117
1468-0289
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-0289.2011.00625.x