Records say thousands of Londoners perished during this short period. Their corpses show malnutrition and back injuries, which show times were hard and they would have been susceptible to illness. The bodies, many originating from the north, were dumped in a mass grave outside the City, but its exact location was unknown.
Between 1347 and 1351 the Great Pestilence swept westward across Europe killing millions of people. It later became known as the Black Death. When it arrived on Britain's shores, it wiped out up to 60% of the population. I wrote about rats on Friday, and how the fleas they carried spread the disease.
This is worrying. Recent outbreaks have shown that plague may reappear in areas that have long been free of the disease. Globally the infection kills 2,000 people a year, in countries like Madagascar. Antibiotics are available, but if untreated the disease kills within four days.
So far, excavations from the £14.8bn Crossrail train link, due to open in 2018, have unearthed Roman skulls washed down a lost river, a Bronze-Age transport route, and the largest piece of amber ever found in the UK.
All I can say is I'm glad to live right now in a caring society with access to medicines and not back then.