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Having enough to eat was dependent on good weather and good crop production. Adults were at risk from epidemics - in 1558, influenza was the cause of high mortality and, in 1564, the plague killed about 15% of the population. In 1597, there was an epidemic linked to the very wet summers from 1594-1597 which destroyed the harvests, so poor people had little to eat and were more prone to catching infectious diseases. The shortage of food also caused riots and protests in many towns.