Autumn 1348 - Autumn 1349, England

Princess Joan was the first prominent English victim of the Great Mortality, but the country couldn't escape the plague that had swept from Asia across Europe and killed millions. The death toll was similarly devastating in the 500 days it took to spread through the country.

Both of Edward and Philippa's youngest sons Thomas and William perished that autumn. They were 3 months and a year old and the most vulnerable to disease. It was hard on their parents to lose both the same month, but they were able to isolate their other children in country estates.

The plague arrived at the seaport, but the pandemic started in London and quickly spread due to the dense population and free-flowing sewage. It slowly spread north through the countryside, lessening in the winter but returning in full force the following spring once people came back into close contact.

Death tolls were impossible to find because of the rapid toll and no standards set to keep track of it. Some sources said 90 percent of the population perished. Edward had to halt his campaigns in France to mitigate the disaster at home. Labour shortages ensued, creating higher demands for wages, and discord between classes. Edward focused on internal strife before he could turn back to his larger goals of conquering France.

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By the end of 1349, the spread greatly lessened, and life returned to almost how it had been. It was not the only plague the nation had ever faced, but it was the most intense and permanently altered the social landscape. Edward passed an Ordinance of Labourers to fix wages to what they had been before the plague, but the law went largely ignored as peasants demanded higher pay for their work. His focus on domestic policy crested new turmoil within England. He couldn't make life return to what it has been.

The progress he had made in so many hard-fought battles on the Continent fell apart as he had neither the money, the time, nor enough soldiers to fight more for France, at least not for many years afterward. That war by necessity continued on much longer than any previous war had.

Things returned to normal in many ways by the end of autumn 1349, but life couldn't ever be the same as it was. There were too many losses.

Never for the rest of their lives did the King and Queen stop mourning the loss of Princess Joan.