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SSM 2: Crisis Mortality in Tudor and Stuart England

One of the most striking features of the historical demography of early-modern England is the frequency of sudden surges in the number of deaths recorded in parish burial registers. The cause of these mortality crises has engendered much debate: were they the result of epidemic diseases, such as plague? Or were they 'subsistence crises', in which starvation (or, at least, heightened vulnerability to disease as a result of malnutrition) played a major part? The chronological and geographical distribution of mortality crises changed across the 17th century: what was the relationship between these changing patterns of mortality and the economic history of the period? This module will enable students to consider the arguments put forward to explain crisis mortality in early-modern England and to explore the social, economic and cultural context in which the crises occurred. Students will also have an opportunity to analyse mortality data from primary sources, using printed editions of parish registers. They wll work under supervision to complete a 3000-word project on an aspect of the topic.

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