Beginning in the 12th century, Arab physicians began to prescribe their patients a most unorthodox remedy: the ground remains of mummies procured from Egyptian tombs.
Mummy powder proved so profitable that soon after its introduction, Egyptian tombs were ransacked not only for the riches they might contain, but also for bodies that might be processed into the expensive folk medicine. It wasn’t long before the practice of applying mummy powder was incorporated into medieval Europe’s catalog of dubious medical practices. By the 16th century, the product had become so commonplace in both Europe and the Middle East that the once seemingly endless supply of authentic, mummified Egyptian cadavers quite literally dried up.
Mummy powder, however, was not the only everyday use of the Egyptian dead that arose before the dawn of modern archaeological preservation. In the 16th and 17th centuries, pulverized mummy was the key ingredient in a popular shade of brown artist’s pigment, and preserved human and animal remains of Egyptian origin were used in the production of this “mummy brown” paint until the early 20th century.
Whether this statement was merely jest on the part of the American literary icon, well known for his sense of humor, has been the subject of debate ever since it was published. What is known, however, is that the supply of authentic Egyptian corpses by the beginning of the 1800s was so small only that upper crust Europeans could afford to purchase one whole. In the wake of Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt, it became vogue amongst the aristocracy to hold “unwrapping parties,” where carefully preserved corpses would be haphazardly stripped of their bandages, so that revelers could gaze upon the millennia-old face concealed beneath them. Small burial ornaments concealed in the linens would then be dispensed to partygoers as souvenirs, while exposure to air caused the delicate bodies to crumble into dust, never to be seen again.
The plague took the lives of million of Europeans from the 14th until the 17th century. In England, its destruction stayed mainly in the south of England concentrating around the poor quarters of London. But for one small village in England’s rural north, the plague would be devastating and historic. The case of the small village of Eyam in Derbyshire is famed throughout England and serves in the modern age of an example of the importance of self quarantine in the face of deadly disease.
It all began with the decision of the village tailor, George Viccars to purchase a box of fabric from a London dealer and bring it to Eyam to make clothes for the locals. Viccars didn’t know the box was full of fleas carrying the bubonic plague. Three days later he was dead.
The village knew plague when they saw it and drastic action was taken to ensure it didn’t spread outside of the village. The village went into self induced quarantine under the guidance of the retired vicar and the serving vicar. They asked the villagers to make this sacrifice to save the lives of everyone else. The villages made the difficult moral decision and complied.
The next few months were hard, families, men, women and children became sick and died. One woman lost her husband and six children within the space of a single week. The village lived with the disease throughout September and October of 1665, minimizing contact with each other, receiving provisions from neighboring villages who left food for them at the town boundaries and holding all public ceremonies outside to minimize the spread of the illness.
During that time, the small village of Eyam with a population of approximately 700 people lost 260 of its inhabitants to the plague. The plague affected 76 different families and wiped out a few of them forever. Many households had only a single survivor who lived to tell the tale of those terrible months.
Many people did survive and they recorded the histories and passings of their neighbors on the front of their home and these records still exist. All the villagers learned how to bury their neighbors, friends and family members. It was a time unimaginable for most of us today as these simple country folk showed a spirit of community almost gone in these modern times.
Today, Eyam pays homage to those that lost their lives in 1665 with a plague museum as well as plaques on the house of the victims. The cemetery still keeps their bones and the locals still hold testament to their title of England’s “plague village.” They may have not realized it at the time but those few deaths became famed throughout England, making their way into every child’s schoolbook and taught as an example of ill fate.
Eyam was just one small village of the hundreds affected by the bubonic plague but its history provides a glimpse into the lives of its survivors and victims, making the epidemic more than just statistics of people who live long ago but a testament of human endurance and the belief in the sacrifice of a few to save the lives of many.
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Tags: 14th Century, 15th century, 1665 Plague, 16th century, 17th century, Black Death, Black Death in Eyam, Bubonic plague, deadly disease, Derbyshire, disease in the middle ages, England, fleas and bubonic plague, George Viccars, History DVDs, History Store, London, Plague, replica guns, Replica Swords, scale model kits, self quarantine, the plague
The son of an English revolutionary, William Penn was a central figure in the early days of America and laid the basis for religious freedom in the country. Born October 14, 1644, Penn came to the New World in his 50s after a lifetime of public service and a comfortable domestic life.
Penn’s public life was full of conflict from challenges to his authority, laws and loyalties to his insurmountable debts. He spent a few years in prison because of his allegiance to King James II and because of his economic troubles. Penn didn’t move permanently to Pennsylvania until after the English revolution in 1699.
Many of the phrases we use on a regular basis are well known and they often seem like a cliché. Among these often used sayings is “raining cats and dogs”. We all know that when someone says it is “raining cats and dogs” it means that there is a torrential rainstorm in progress. However, like many other such phrases the actual origin is not commonly known and there are several different theories as to how it began. One of the most interesting is that the notoriously bad drainage and sewage systems of 17th century England would become rivers of debris during rainstorms. Among the debris drowned cats and dogs would be littered. Richard Brome wrote about the phenomenon in the 1652 work The City Witt saying 
There have been reports of whirlwinds dropping frogs, grasshoppers, and fish from the sky but cats and dogs have never been among the creatures actually raining down. Another idea is that an old French word catadoupe (which means waterfall) sounds similar to “cats and dogs”. These are some of the competing theories for the origin of the phrase although there is no definite winner. Regardless of which theory each of us subscribe to the saying that it is “raining cats and dogs” will continue to be a common part of the English language. 
When it comes to historic English writers, one conjures images of Shakespeare, Bacon, Shelly, even Chaucer (for those with a penchant for prolifically pretentious prose), forgetting that some of England’s most historic writings were recorded in the diaries of a less than famous Londoner. Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), son of an English tailor and member of the English parliament, was responsible for some of the most accurate and detailed coverage of London’s great fire and the crowning of Charles II.
Pepys is known for his comments on the plague that was spreading through England at the time. Known as the Black Death, the plague took thousands of lives and resulted in mass grave pits throughout the city. Pepys’ was one of the few on the ground providing descriptions of the deaths and its effect on the people of London.
Christopher Wren rebuilder of London after the fire and architect of Charles II is also noted in Pepys’ diary. Indeed, the coronation of the king is recorded with both detail and opinion by Pepys’. It was the journalist’s nature to record both his life and the life of his city and give his opinion on both.
