Sanitation did not improve much during the Renaissance but there were some attempts to make it better. New laws were passed in the 1600s to clean up the streets but these were not enforced and the towns became filthier as they grew bigger.

The Great Plague hit London in 1665 and around 100 000 people were killed in the city. The Mayor of London successfully prevented the spread of the disease beyond the city:

Searchers were appointed to identify plague victims and then whole houses were quarantined (shut up for a month).
Watchmen prevented victims and their families from leaving and food was brought to the door.
Bodies were collected at night and buried outside the city.
Large gatherings of people were banned, e.g. at theatres, sports matches and pubs.
Rakers were appointed to clean the streets.

However some measures made things worse, e.g. killing cats and dogs as they would have been useful in controlling the rat population.

The Great Plague shows us that people in the 1600s still did not understand the causes of disease. Like at the time of the Black Death in 1348, people blamed God or miasma (bad air). But government was slightly better organised and able to help.

GCSE Health and the People AQA

Renaissance Public Health