1. medieval britain (1250 - 1500)

Question 1

what percentage of the population lived in the countryside in medieval england?

Answer 1

90%

Question 2

what was medieval society like?

Answer 2

hierarchal & unequal, rich landowners & bishops ruled over a big population of poor peasants

Question 3

king

Answer 3

believed to be God’s representative on earth

Question 4

peasants

Answer 4

-the bulk of the population
-did all the hard work on the land to ensure a good harvest

Question 5

what was the religion?

Answer 5

almost everybody was christian and attended church regularly

Question 6

what did the catholic church teach?

Answer 6

-God was all powerful & omniscient
-he responded to prayer
-purgatory before heaven
-the church taught that time spent in purgatory could be reduced by doing good things on earth

Question 7

4 humours

Answer 7

-human body was of four liquids: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile
-the body only worked when these humours were in balance

Question 8

what was farming like for peasants in the countryside?

Answer 8

they only produced what they needed to survive (subsistence farming)

Question 9

a bad harvest could mean…

Answer 9

starvation

Question 10

what did the people who lived near rivers or the sea eat? (countryside)

Answer 10

they could catch fresh fish

Question 11

how was fish preserved?

Answer 11

preserved with salt or cured

Question 12

what did peasants usually eat?

Answer 12

-pottage & bread (a thick veg soup)
-grew fruit & veg

Question 13

what did the rich eat?

Answer 13

meat (preserved by smoke)

Question 14

dangers to health due to rye

Answer 14

the poor used rye to make bread, but, a fungus grew on rye when it was damp -> could lead to ergotism

Question 15

what animals did peasants keep?

Answer 15

-cows for dairy products
-chickens for egg

Question 16

houses in the countryside

Answer 16

-simple timber hut made w wattle & daub
-thatched roof (straw -> attracted vermin)
-floor was hard earth
-open fire (heating & cooking)
-only rich had glass windows other had holes
-one or two rooms

Question 17

water in the countryside

Answer 17

-every village was near a stream or river
-springs fed a well that everyone shared

Question 18

waste in country

Answer 18

-thrown into the street
-midden in each garden (household waste)
-cesspit or holes in the earth

Question 19

food in towns & how it got there

Answer 19

-street vendors sold hot food, herbs, spices, made pie from rancid meat

-market had grain, fruit, cheese
-carts used to take rubbish from middens also brought food to the market

Question 20

water in towns

Answer 20

-conduits carried water from springs to the town
-water carriers sold water door to door

Question 21

waste in towns

Answer 21

-at the end of market days dung from animals on streets
-by 1500 most towns got rakers & carters to throw rubbish outside town walls
-ppl fined for keeping rubbish outside their house for more than 4 days

-barrel lined a cesspit (some made from stone = watertight & more effective)
-gong fermers would scoop out the mess
-waste was sold to farmers or dumped into streams

Question 22

houses in towns

Answer 22

-upper floors jutted out for more space (blocked light)
-houses closer together at centre of town, gardens further out for the rich
-thatched roofs (vermin stayed)

Question 23

when did the black death arrive in england?

Answer 23

-1348
-from ships with rats that infested the ship & carried fleas that carried the germ (bubonic plague)

Question 24

bubonic plague: symptoms

Answer 24

-buboes underneath the skin, underneath the armpits and in the groin
-a high temperature
-severe headaches
-victims usually died within a few days

Question 25

pneumonic plague

Answer 25

spread through coughing & sneezing

Question 26

what amount of those who got the black death died from it?

Answer 26

2/3

Question 27

what did people think caused the black death?

Answer 27

-Unusual movements of planets
-miasma (bad smell & invisible poison in the air)
-4 humours out of balance
-punishment from God for sinning

Question 28

impact of black death

Answer 28

-3.5 million people died in 2 years
-lodgers displaying any symptoms were thrown out of houses
-rich people left the towns when the disease hit

Question 29

ordinary people’s response to the black death:

Answer 29

God:
-prayed for healing & fasted
-confessed sins
-flagellants

miasma:
-people carried bunches of flowers or burned herbs to purify the air
-people avoided hot baths, spicy food and exercise to stop miasma from sweat
-priests ran away from their parishes -> they refused to give funerals to infected bodies as they thought the bodies gave off miasma

imbalanced humours:
-bloodletting and purging to try to rid people of the plague

home-made remedies:
-applying camomile lotion to buboes (relief)
-placed live chickens and toads on buboes (soften buboes)

Question 30

flagellants

Answer 30

people who whipped themselves to cleanse their sin

Question 31

how did the church respond to the black death?

Answer 31

-priests urged people to confess their sins
-processions of priests through cities

Question 32

responses of the authorities to the black death

Answer 32

-in 1349, the king wrote to the mayor of london ordering him to clean the city’s streets
-the king ordered bishops to organise parades of priests in cities to publicly display prayer
-some local governments tried to close of their towns

Question 33

why was public health good in monasteries?

Answer 33

-having pure water was very important in a monastery
-the church was rich so abbeys & monasteries could afford to lay water pipes over long distances & construct things like latrine buildings
-monks and nuns believed that caring for the poor and sick was one of their most important duties as christians
-monasteries were in isolated areas, it was easier to keep water clean and get rid of waste
-monks & nuns were educated & had access to texts that taught them about herbal remedies and healing techniques

Question 34

features of public health in monasteries

Answer 34

-infirmary where the monks or nuns cared for the sick from the local community
-most monasteries were built next to rivers & had drains and water pipes
-water could be used to flush the latrines, this helped to stop disease
-wash houses were important for keeping clean and helping to prevent illnesses that were spread by touch or by fleas
-monasteries were usually high-quality stone buildings, these easier to keep clean than buildings made of wood etc, this made it harder for disease to spread
-their wealth meant monks and nuns had a balanced diet & good food

Question 35

examples of york trying to improve public health:

Answer 35

-by 1500, york’s aldermen banned people from dumping waste in the street & ordered businesses to move outside the city walls
-dunghills were moved to the outskirts of the town.

Question 36

examples of london trying to improve public health:

Answer 36

-from 1293, rakers were cleared rubbish off the streets
-from around 1300 onwards, the city introduced rules about where latrines were allowed to be built
-in 1417, the city authorities closed the public baths during an outbreak of plague

Question 37

examples of how winchester & shrewsbury tried to improve public health:

Answer 37

winchester
-in 1329, the town got people to check the quality of all meat before it was sold

shrewsbury
-in 1276, authorities in shrewsbury raised money from its richer inhabitants to pave the marketplace