Chapter one, Topic Three: Public Health in the Middle Ages Flashcards
What were the public health problems?
- Water for drinking/cooking collected from a river or storage pit
- Cesspits for human waste were sometimes built near water supplies
- People threw rubbish (including excrement) into the streets and rivers
- Cattle, sheep, horses and geese roamed the streets leaving dung
So, diseases such as plague were common and spread very quickly
What were some improvements made to improve public health?
- Night carts collected human waste from cesspits
- Exeter: aqueducts built to bring fresh water to the town
- Cesspits lined with brick or stone so they did not leak into water supplies
- Rakers sent to clean the streets
- Laws made to keep streets clean
Where were the best public health facilities and why?
Monasteries
- They were wealthy because rich people gave them money in return for prayers
- Built in isolated places where they drew fresh water
- Monks expected to keep clean (regularly washed their clothes)
When did the Black Death arrive to England and what percentage of people in Britain died?
1348
It is estimated to have killed one third of the population within a year
Describe the 2 types of disease that contributed to the Plague (how they were spread + symptoms)
Bubonic Plague
- Carried by rats, spread by fleas
- Symptoms: Painful swellings called buboes on neck, groin or armpits, high fever, severe headache
- Usually died after 3 days
Pneumonic Plague
- Spread by people coughing over others
- Disease attacked the lungs (people coughed up blood)
- Usually died in a day or two
What did people believe caused the Black Death?
God’s punishment (his plan to make people less sinful)
Miasma (bad air) coming from rubbish in the streets
Astrology (people became ill when a planet moved into a new constellation of stars)
Theory of the 4 Humours (people died because they were ‘stuffed with evil humours)
How did people try to prevent the plague spreading?
Miasma: People carried sweet-smelling herbs to overpower bad air. Windows and doors were sealed shut. People rung bells to keep air moving
God’s Punishment: People fasted to show they were sorry for their sins. Some punished themselves in public and begged for forgiveness. Bishops ordered daily services and processions to pray for forgiveness.
How did people treat the Plague?
- Prayed for people to recover
- Cut open buboes to let out the pus
- Used treatments based on Galen’s ‘theory of opposites’ (black death was fever, so people ate cold food and took cold baths)
What were the short and long-term effects of the Black Death?
Short-term:
- Over 1/3 of population killed in a year
- Food shortages due to loss of workers (food prices increased)
Long-term:
- Workers were paid more as there was a shortage so employers had to pay higher wages to attract them
- People had more money as a result of this, so they spent some on education and more people could read and write. This helped to spread new ideas more quickly
