Plague, Fire and the Reimagining of the Capital 1600-1720: The Making of Modern London
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| HIST3099 | History | 3 | 40 | Full Year UK |
- Code
- HIST3099
- School
- History
- Level
- 3
- Credits
- 40
- Semesters
- Full Year UK
Summary
In 1665, London suffered the worst plague epidemic since the Black Death, killing over 97,000 people. The following year, the Great Fire destroyed four-fifths of the ancient City of London within three days. This module explores the impact of these events and places them within the context of the 1660s and the city’s past and future history. We will investigate how Londoners across the social spectrum responded to natural disasters and crises, the challenges that these presented to community values and group identities and how the spread of news reflected fears over religious difference and terrorist plots. The course also examines the changing character of the city across the period including concerns over health, the environment and the use of green space.
We also investigate:
• Responses to Plague and Fire, e.g. the desire for urban reform versus nostalgia for an older, ideal ‘London’
• How and why the lived experience of Londoners changed over the period, e.g. new spaces for social interaction such as coffee houses, private clubs and new forms of public entertainment
• London’s emergence as a modern capital and world city—was this a pivotal moment?
We also analyse people’s ambiguous attitudes towards London itself, which sometimes characterised it as a centre of disease, disorder and moral bankruptcy, while at other times celebrating its proud mercantile wealth, overseas ambitions and importance as a royal capital.
Primary sources include the lively diaries of Samuel Pepys, letters, England’s first newspapers, pamphlets, sermons, and the capital’s rich visual sources.
Target Students
Students must have taken HIST1001 or HIST1002.
Classes
- One 1-hour seminar each week for 20 weeks
- One 2-hour seminar each week for 20 weeks
Assessment
- 30% Coursework 1: 3,000 word coursework essay
- 30% Coursework 2: 3,000 word source-based assessment
- 40% Coursework 3: 3,500 word synoptic essay
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
This module explores the human impact of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London and places them within the context of the 1660s capital and of the city’s past and future history. Students will learn how the response to these devastating events revealed the many tensions—political, religious and social-- that beset the capital in the aftermath of the Civil War and the restoration of the monarchy. The themes of the module ask students to engage critically with secondary literature on topics such as urban development, the impact of print culture, medical and environmental history, and the fluctuating political and religious context of the seventeenth century. They will also learn to interpret printed and visual sources, using these to construct arguments for their assessed work.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of the module students will have developed:
- An informed and critical understanding of the ways in which urban culture, religion, and politics interacted in this period
- An understanding of the key debates related to urban society, politics, memory and health in this period
- A sophisticated understanding of the ways in which seventeenth-century people sought to comprehend natural disasters
- The ability to discuss and evaluate the impact of printed and visual materials in this period.
Professional/Practical skills
This module will develop students’ ability to:
- Select, sift and synthesize information from a range of secondary and primary sources.
- Identify and compare key arguments in those materials.
- Plan, research and write sustained pieces of historical research.
- Use IT to access historical sources and information and to complete historical assignments.
Transferable skills
This module will also develop students’ ability to:
- Manage a large and disparate body of information.
- Communicate arguments and ideas effectively in speech and writing.
- Work and learn actively with others.
- Manage and take responsibility for their own learning.