In this 1625 illustration, Londoners fleeing the plague are barred by country dwellers. By Lizzie WadeWhen the Black Death arrived in London by January 1349, the city had been waiting with dread for months.
Londoners had heard reports of devastation from cities such as Florence, where 60% of people had died of plague the year before.
In the summer of 1348, the disease had reached English ports from continental Europe and begun to ravage its way toward the capital.
The plague caused painful and frightening symptoms, including fever, vomiting, coughing up blood, black pustules on the skin, and swollen lymph nodes.