Medieval Towns/Countryside health Flashcards
What is Small beer?
A weak form of beer
What is a Cesspit?
A pit to dispose waste or sewage
What is a midden?
A hole for household and animal waste
What does contaminated mean?
Polluted or poisoned
Who would clean the streets?
A Drover
Who would empty the cesspits?
A gongfermer
What was ergotism?
A disease which grows on rye and poisens consumers
What is wattle and daub?
A material used in building walls. Consisting of sticks and twigs covered in mud.
What is pottage?
Soup/stew
What is the definition of harvest?
The process of gathering crops
What is a famine?
Extreme scarcity of food resulting in starvation
What was the disease that killed 1/3 of europe called?
The Black Death
What were the people at the bottom of the hierarchy called?
Peasants
What is a conduit?
A stream of water
What is dysentry?
Infection of the intestines by contact with human faeces
Why was water contaminated?
Gongfermers would chuck waste in the water and people would bathe in it
How many types of the black death were there?
3
How long did the bubonic form of the plague take to kill a patient?
3-4 days
How long did the pneumonic form take to kill a person?
2 days
How long did the septicemic form take to kill a patient?
About 4 days
What were the 3 forms of black death?
Bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic
What were the four humours?
Blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile
Who created the four humours idea?
Romans
What was miasma?
Bad air/smells
Did kings/governments do anything for public health?
No, they did not believe it was their role
What caused the black death to spread so fast?
Compact towns, Travel, trade and lack of science and technology
Where were animals stored?
At night animals were stored in houses
Were diets varied?
Yes, on a year of a good harvest
What were the symptoms of ergostism?
Painful spots and a burning sensation all over
When was the great famine in the 14th century?
1315-1322
How many people were killed by the 14th century famine?
10% of people
