Medieval: Public Health in Middle Ages

Question 1

What did most medieval houses have?

Answer 1

Privies with cesspits underneath

Question 2

Give 3 ways medieval towns were unclean.

Answer 2

1. No paved streets - mud
2. Drains overflowing
3. Streets littered with waste
4. Built near (dirty) rivers
   ^ Overpopulation made all this worse

Question 3

How were abbeys cleaner than towns? How clean were they?

Answer 3

They were more isolated
However still somewhat subject to disease - close to rivers, water supplied kitchens, mills, etc

Question 4

Give 3 ways monasteries were cleaner than towns and abbeys.

Answer 4

1. Monks followed routines of cleanliness - ordered to use baths, celibacy
2. Complex systems of pipes
3. Had lavatoriums - room for washing

Question 5

When was the first Black Death?

Answer 5

1348

Question 6

Name 4 believed causes for the first Black Death.

Answer 6

1. Miasma
2. Alignment of the planets
3. Divine punishment
4. Jewish people poisoning the wells

Question 7

What was the actual reason for the Black Death of 1348?

Answer 7

Poor sanitation in the streets

Question 8

Name 3 treatments used during the Black Death of 1348.

Answer 8

1. Repentance
2. Soaked money in vinegar
3. Herbs held to noses
4. Drank mercury
5. Chickens shaven and strapped to buboes

Question 9

Name 2 preventative methods of the Black Death of 1348.

Answer 9

1. Quarantine for 40 days and nights
2. Local councils quarantined full areas

Question 10

How many people did the Black Death of 1348 kill?

Answer 10

The BD of 1348 killed 1/3 of the European population

Question 11

When was the Great Plague?

Answer 11

1665