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Plague of 664

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The plague of 664 was a local plague that affected the British Isles. It was the first recorded plague in English history, and coincided with a solar eclipse. It was referred to by later sources as "The Yellow Plague of 664" and said to have lasted for twenty to twenty-five years, causing widespread mortality, social disruption and abandonment of religious faith.

According to Irish sources (the annals of Tigernach), the plague was preceded by a solar eclipse on May 1 664 (a total eclipse indeed did occur on May 1 664 over North America in the vicinity of Long Island, and a partial eclipse would have been possibly visible from Ireland). The Venerable Bede also mentioned the eclipse but wrongly placed it on May 3.

The Irish sources claimed that there was also an earthquake in Britain and that the plague reached Ireland first at Mag NItha, among the Fothairt in Leinster. Bede claimed that the plague first was in the south of Britain and then spread to the north.

According to Adomnan of Iona, a contemporary Irish abbot and saint, the plague affected everywhere in the British isles except for a large area in what would now be modern Scotland. Adomnan credited the plague as a divine punishment for sins, and he believed that the Picts and Irish who lived in northern Great Britain were spared from the plague due to the intercession of St Columba who had founded monasteries among them. Adomnan personally walked among victims of the plague and claimed that neither he nor his companions became sick due to God's protection.

References

Plague of 664 Wikipedia