Editing Charles II of England (section)

=== Great Plague and Great Fire ===
In 1665, the [[Great Plague of London]] began, peaking in September with up to 7,000 deaths per week.{{sfn|Fraser|1979|p=238}} Charles, his family, and the court fled London in July to [[Salisbury]]; Parliament met in [[Oxford]].{{sfn|Miller|1991|p=120}} Plague cases ebbed over the winter, and Charles returned to London in February 1666.{{sfn|Falkus|1972|p=105}}

After a long spell of hot and dry weather through mid-1666, the [[Great Fire of London]] started on 2 September 1666 in [[Pudding Lane]]. Fanned by strong winds and fed by wood and fuel stockpiled for winter, the fire destroyed about 13,200 houses and 87 churches, including [[St Paul's Cathedral]].{{sfn|Porter|2007}} Charles and his brother James joined and directed the firefighting effort. The public blamed Catholic conspirators for the fire.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|1979|pp=243–247}}; {{harvnb|Miller|1991|pp=121–122}}.</ref>