Plague and fire

Perhaps the Puritans viewed the twin disasters of plague and fire as a punishment from God for what they perceived to be the immorality and corruption of the age. But the outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1665 disproportionately affected the poor. The College of Physicians ordered houses in which plague appeared to be nailed shut, leaving all the inhabitants to their fate. Wealthy people could engineer their escape and pay to leave London. Unlike the plague, the Great Fire of London equally affected both the rich and the poor. The fire raged for four days and continued to smolder for almost two months. An area about one and one-half miles long by a half mile wide was completely destroyed, including most of old London within its medieval walls. The king, who had shown great personal courage and intelligence in fighting the fire, took a vigorous interest in rebuilding the city—in fire-resistant stone—on an elegant and systematic scale. He placed his plan in the hands of Sir Christopher Wren, an astronomer by training, who proved to be the greatest civil architect England has ever produced. On September 2, 1666, fire broke out in a London bakery. During the next four days it spread, destroying much of the city. Fortunately, the flames spread slowly, which enabled Londoners to escape. As a result, few people were killed; contemporary records indicate only five deaths from the fire. Damage to buildings and property, however, was considerable; 100,000 Londoners were homeless.