medieval towns and countryside

Question 1

wattle and daub

Answer 1

a material formerly used in building walls, consisting of a network of interwoven twigs covered in mud

Question 2

four humours

Answer 2

an ancient roman idea where illness was caused by having too much blood, black bile, yellow bile in the body and phelm

Question 3

miasma

Answer 3

disease was spread by bad smells and bad air

Question 4

harvest

Answer 4

the process or period of gathering crops

Question 5

when did black death start in England

Answer 5

1348

Question 6

3 different strains of the black death

Answer 6

bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic

Question 7

why did the black death spread so quickly in towns

Answer 7

with how close proximity the houses were to each other

Question 8

what did people think about doing when the black death arrived in their towns

Answer 8

move to the countryside for “purer air” which just made it spread quicker

Question 9

how was water contaminated

Answer 9

people bathing themselves and their animals in it

Question 10

what did people drink instead of water

Answer 10

small beer

Question 11

why did they drink small beer

Answer 11

ale was stronger and tasted better than water

Question 12

what is ergotism

Answer 12

poisoning produced by eating food affected by ergot

Question 13

what was the results of ergotism

Answer 13

headaches, vomiting, diarrhoea, and gangrene of the fingers and toes

Question 14

what did peasants eat

Answer 14

pottage

Question 15

what is pottage

Answer 15

a meat stew or soup

Question 16

what was fields and crops fertilised with

Answer 16

human and animal waste

Question 17

where were pipes leading too in towns

Answer 17

to spring water being flowed in and out of conduit

Question 18

what rules where supposed to be followed in towns

Answer 18

keep gutters clean and clear their drains and keep their own doorstep clean

Question 19

why were rules not followed

Answer 19

their was no “police force” and there was no real punishment for not following them

Question 20

what was a common problem in towns

Answer 20

drunkenness

Question 21

what were rakers

Answer 21

men paid to take rubbish of the streets

Question 22

where did they put the rubbish

Answer 22

they were meant to take it to the edge of town but many dumped it in the rivers

Question 23

where was the carcass left in towns

Answer 23

on the streets

Question 24

what did gongfermers do

Answer 24

when a latrine was full they would scoop out all the mess and take it away. their duties also included taking cart loads of waste out of towns

Question 25

when were gongfermers allowed to cart the waste out of towns

Answer 25

only at night

Question 26

why were gongfermers well paid

Answer 26

because no one else wanted to do the job

Question 27

what would go in a midden

Answer 27

floor sweepings and animal dung

Question 28

what were privies

Answer 28

a hole in the ground with a cesspit

Question 29

why would animals be kept in the a countryside house

Answer 29

at night to keep them warm and safe since they were to valuable to loose

Question 30

what would grow in damp conditions

Answer 30

a type of fungus would grow on rye which poor people used to make bread and also caused ergotism