An often fatal illness, named from one of its symptoms; probably a true influenza. Between 1315 and 1322 there was a series of epidemics accompanied by bad harvests and starvation. At the same time there were outbreaks of "murrain. The result was that a great many people died, perhaps one in five of the population: all that before the next generation was visited by the *Black Death. -
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.