P H -Medieval Flashcards
medieval religious beliefs
-almost everyone christian
-believed gods ways too mysterious to grasp
-feared the devil
beliefs of gods church
-every christian a member
-by 1250 church wealthy and under power of pope
-priests served in parishes
-every parish had its own church
-many abbeys , monasteries and convents
-served local people and travellers , food shelter care for salvation
beliefs about kings
-god put on earth
-defend national from enemies and encourage law and order
-king did not think his responsibility to deal with health
-god chose some to be rich and some poor
-kings had nothing like wealth of roman empire that had ruled britain that provided water supply and drainage
belief about labourers
-below king and his lords
-did hard physical work that created wealth
-served the lord of the manor by working in the fields in return for a house and some land
influence of ancient ideas
-ideas of greek and roman thinjkers spread by the church
-greek idea of four elements, fire water air earth
-four humours -blood,phlegm,yellow and black bile, body on;y worked when balanced
-eating right foods balanced humours but if a fever the doctor would cut a vein and allow blood to flow from arm to restore
growth of towns
-only 15 towns with pop of 10000
-crowded on market days
-peasants sold spare produce for cash
-controlled by a mayor and town council
-many town councillors also members of guilds which controlled quality and price of goods made
where did most peasants live
simple one room huts insulated with wattle and daub (walls made of sticks and covered in sticky mud made from clay sand animal dung and straw)
features of wattle and daub houses
easy to head but bad ventilation so filled with smoke when fire lit
no chimney, only a hole in the thatched roof for smoke to escape
where did some peasants live
slightly larger houses made from a large timber rake
features of large timber frame houses
better ventilated but difficult to heat in winter
open hearth or fire for cooking and heating
no chimney so smoke billowed around house
what did most houses have
a kitchen garden to grow fruit and vegetables
where did animals go at night
farm animals sheltered inside the house to keep safe and warm as valuable
what did most villages have for animals
common land where peasants graze cattle and sheep
what was every village near
a stream or spring that provided water for humans and their animals
that fed into the village well
why was the village well safer than the stream
people would bathe in the streams and allow animals to drink from it
why were some village water supplies contaminated
water from upstream bathed in by humans and animals
how did some villagers use streams
to power water mills
then be used in creation of textiles
what did most peasants drink
weak beer called small beer as water tasted awful
brewing killed germs in the water
only a tiny bit of alcohol but stopped it going off so could be stored for days
when was the great famine
1315
what happened after the great famine
wet weather continued so faced years of famines until 1322 caused by bad weather and diseases which killed cattle and sheep
how many of the population died between 1315 and 1322
10 percent
diet of peasants in a good harvest
vegetables, milk, cheese, fish , pottage (stew made of vegetables)
what fungus grew on rye in damp
ergotism
symptoms of ergotism
painful spots filled with pus
burning skin
hallucinations
what was believed cause of ergotism
demons
how was real cause of ergotism discovered
1670s french doctor realised rich people never got it as their bread was made from wheat
how was meat smoked by villagers
hung inside houses over smoke from the fire to preserve it
what did each medieval garden have
a waste tip or midden to put floor sweepings and animal dung on
what were the toilets
privies - hole in the ground with a cesspit underneath
what did most houses have for human excrement
a cesspit , if not they had a shallow hole
