Black Death in England

The Black Death reaches northern England, Bergen, and Mecca

By November, a Durham official could collect no fines at West Thickley. The record says every inhabitant was dead.

Durham, summer into November

The epidemic reached York on 21 May 1349 and swept the Durham region in late summer. Durham records show panic in July, when peasants at Houghton-le-Spring refused new holdings for fear of the approaching plague.

By November a Durham official could collect nothing at West Thickley: the entry says all its inhabitants were dead. Among the county's Benedictines, 55 of 83 monks are reported dead.

An English cog in Vågen

The near-contemporary Lögmanns-annáll, whose early portion was likely written by the Icelandic priest Einar Hafliðason, says an English cog entered Vågen, Bergen's harbour. After some cargo was unloaded the crew died, and deaths began among the townspeople.

A medical-historical article dates that arrival probably to early September; other summaries suggest August or late summer generally. The annal names Vågen; Askøy belongs to later retellings and should not be stated as fact. In autumn King Magnus Eriksson described plague as having broken out throughout Norway and Halland, and ordered processions, masses, offerings and fasting.

Mecca, and a man who lived

Recent scholarship places plague in northwestern Arabia, including Mecca, during 749 AH — April 1348 to March 1349 — probably carried from Egypt with hajj traffic. That Islamic year straddles both Gregorian years and cannot be assigned wholly to either.

Estimated English population mortality by 1350 runs to 40–55 percent, but medieval annalists' figures contain conspicuous literary exaggeration. Manorial records also preserve what such numbers lose: at Warboys, a laborer named John Flemyng fell ill in the summer outbreak and recovered.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 8 sources 3 audit passes, 1 issue open Date disputed

How this was checked

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Date disputed. Sources disagree about when this happened.

What the sources leave uncertain

This is a bundle of developments across an entire year, not a single dated event.
The Lögmanns-annáll places the English cog in Vågen at Bergen; it does not say that it first landed at Askøy. Askøy appears in later retellings and should not be stated as established fact.
A medical-historical article dates the Bergen arrival probably to early September, while other summaries suggest August or more generally late summer.
The exact first English landing is uncertain. Contemporary writers named different ports, and scholarship allows multiple independent introductions into English coastal communities.