Plague of 664

Theplague of 664was anepidemicthat affectedGreat BritainandIrelandin 664 AD, during thefirst recorded plague pandemic.It was the first recorded epidemic inEnglish history,and coincided with asolar eclipse.It was considered by later sources as "The Yellow Plague of 664" and said to have lasted for twenty or twenty-five years, causing widespread mortality, social disruption and abandonment of religious faith. The disease responsible was probablyPlague– part of theFirst Plague Pandemic– or elsesmallpox.

According to the IrishAnnals of Tigernach,the plague was preceded by a solar eclipse on 1 May 664 (the path of thetotal eclipseon 1 May 664 started in the Pacific, crossed the Gulf of Mexico, swept along the eastern coast ofNorth Americacrossed the British Isles and continued on into Central Europe).Bedealso mentioned the eclipse but wrongly placed it on 3 May. The Irish sources claimed that there was also anearthquakein Britain and that the plague reached Ireland first atMag Nitha,among theFothairtinLeinster.Bede claimed that the plague first was in the south of Britain and then spread to the north.

Bede wrote:

In the same year of our Lord 664, there happened an eclipse of the sun, on the third day of May, about the tenth hour of the day. In the same year, a sudden pestilence depopulated first the southern parts of Britain, and afterwards attacking the province of the Northumbrians, ravaged the country far and near, and destroyed a great multitude of men. By this plague the aforesaid priest of the Lord, Tuda, was carried off, and was honourably buried in the monastery called Paegnalaech. Moreover, this plague prevailed no less disastrously in the island of Ireland. Many of the nobility, and of the lower ranks of the English nation, were there at that time, who, in the days of the Bishops Finan and Colman, forsaking their native island, retired thither, either for the sake of sacred studies, or of a more ascetic life; and some of them presently devoted themselves faithfully to a monastic life, others chose rather to apply themselves to study, going about from one master's cell to another. The Scots willingly received them all, and took care to supply them with daily food without cost, as also to furnish them with books for their studies, and teaching free of charge.

According toAdomnan of Iona,a contemporary Irish abbot and saint, the plague affected everywhere in the British Isles except for a large area in modernScotland.Adomnan considered the plague adivine punishmentforsins,and he believed that thePictsandIrishwho lived in northernGreat Britainwere spared from the plague due to the intercession ofSaint Columbawho had founded monasteries among them. Adomnan personally walked among victims of the plague and claimed that neither he nor his companions became sick.

See also

• First plague pandemic
• Plague of Mohill,first recorded Irish plague