People’s Health - Early Modern Flashcards
New Discoveries
In the 17th century, Robert Hooke developed a microscope and discovered cells in plants.
In 1683, a Dutchman discovered tiny organisms called germs - however it would be another 200 years before we knew the link between germs (bacteria) and disease.
Work in the Early Modern Period
Most people still used woodcuts/spinning wheels to make yarn from wool - making of woollen cloth is still England’s main industry as this era is pre mass industrialisation. This means there is less disease as no smoke.
Growing power of parliament in the Early Modern Period
Parliament was more powerful than in the Middle Ages.
In the early 1700s, only 3% of adults could vote but MPs made laws which affected people’s lives.
New Products in the Early Modern Period
By 1750, Bristol was an important trading port and had doubled in size.
1600-1750 saw a transformation in trade with the wider world.
17th/18th century, England established colonies in North America and a slave trade in metals, sugar, tobacco
Growing Towns in the Early Modern Period
Towns grew quickly as more people moved from the countryside to look for work in urban areas.
By 1750, 1/5 of the population lived in cities.
These people often clustered in overcrowded suburbs outside city walls.
Ale houses in Early Modern Period
Number of ale houses expanded and people here would excessively eat/smoke/drink
Common is people (yeomans, husbandmen, etc.) drank a lot of ale/beer
Damaging as they didn’t know how their health (lungs/liver) would be damaged.
Daily bread in the Early Modern Period
Farming was still done by hand.
By 1700s, starvation decreased compared to previous years despite a growth of 3 million in population between 1550-1750
Power in Localities in the Early Modern Period
In EM period, elite groups (doctors, merchants and lawyers) didn’t depend on land.
Large landowners became Justices of Peace, enforcing law and acting as administrators
In towns, wealthy merchants controlled councils in roles like mayors and aldermen. When the plague struck, expected to take action in their locality.
Gin Reforms in the EM Period
1550 - it is illegal for ale houses to sell alcohol without a license (limited effect as smaller ale houses were not regulated , and there were a lot of them)
1660 - people began to drink spirits rather than beer or ale (spirits are stronger than ale/beer, so this induces further intoxication/more chaos/crime/ill health
1689 - imports of gin banned to encourage British distillers to make their own (gin can be sold more cheaply, therefore mass produced. Also, it’s is harder to monitor percentage of alcohol and this could be lethal when drunk)
Gin became really cheap so as a result 1000s of gin shops opened (people could mass produce and people could access it more easily. Therefore more chaos, more roots and poorer people spending all their money on gin. This leads to more crime.
1720 - gin drinking was a big problem and crime rate went up (so far no laws have been effective, crime leads to more violence and casualties. Suggests that economy is failing and there is a money crisis)
1729 - gin sellers need an annual license of £20 (difficult to enforce as lots of dram shops)
1736 - Gin Act License - license increases to £50 and tax to 20 shillings (failed for similar reasons as 1729, however there was rioting and increase in distilling illegally)
1743 - Gin Act restricted sale of gin in places selling wine and beer (this is an improvement, however did not stop sale completely)
1751 - anyone caught selling gun illegally was imprisoned/whipped/transported to Australia
The Great Plague - National Responses
1518 - isolate plague victims in their own home and identify them: straw was hung outside infected houses. People were isolated in pest houses outside city walls.
1578 - plague orders - include recording spread of the disease, financial help for the sick, and burning of victim’s clothing and bedding. Plague sufferers and healthy who lived in the same house were quarantined for at least 6 weeks. Special prayers were said to ask for God’s forgiveness.
1604 - the Plague Act increased financial help for families of the sick. City and town watchmen could use harsh punishments to enforce policy. There were harsher punishments if a victim left isolation. They could be hanged.
Gin Reform of 1550
1550 - it is illegal for ale houses to sell alcohol without a license (limited effect as smaller ale houses were not regulated , and there were a lot of them)
Gin reform of 1660
1660 - people began to drink spirits rather than beer or ale (spirits are stronger than ale/beer, so this induces further intoxication/more chaos/crime/ill health
Gin Reform of 1689
1689 - imports of gin banned to encourage British distillers to make their own (gin can be sold more cheaply, therefore mass produced. Also, it’s is harder to monitor percentage of alcohol and this could be lethal when drunk)
Gin became really cheap so as a result 1000s of gin shops opened (people could mass produce and people could access it more easily. Therefore more chaos, more roots and poorer people spending all their money on gin. This leads to more crime.
Gin Reform of 1720
1720 - gin drinking was a big problem and crime rate went up (so far no laws have been effective, crime leads to more violence and casualties. Suggests that economy is failing and there is a money crisis)
Gin Reform of 1729
1729 - gin sellers need an annual license of £20 (difficult to enforce as lots of dram shops)
Gin reform of 1736
1736 - Gin Act License - license increases to £50 and tax to 20 shillings (failed for similar reasons as 1729, however there was rioting and increase in distilling illegally)
Gin reform of 1743
1743 - Gin Act restricted sale of gin in places selling wine and beer (this is an improvement, however did not stop sale completely)
Gin Reform of 1751
1751 - anyone caught selling gun illegally was imprisoned/whipped/transported to Australia
Pesthouses
Pesthouses were kept in some cities/towns and were used to keep people with the plague.
Family sometimes had to go too
Outside city walls
Introduced in 1518
Searchers
Searchers smoked tobacco as they believed they wouldn’t catch the plague
Had the job of entering home of suspected plague victims
Searched for bodies and removed them
Bodies were placed in burial pits.
Watchmen
Employed to enforce quarantine on a whole family if one person was affected (40 days)
Red Cross painted on the door
Could use harsh punishments to enforce policy
Stayed outside house, made sure family didn’t leave
Plague doctors
Only for the rich - paid for privately
Only in Early Modern Period
Wore beak-like masks with pouches of posies and sweet smelling herbs
Waxed leather so it didn’t crack, therefore fleas can’t get in
Limited effectiveness as methods could be harmful - e.g. popping buboes could lead to infection
Certificates of health
Used as proof so plague won’t be spread (e.g. a doctors note)
People fleeing the country took them with them in hope they could pass through towns
Some town, like Cambridge, only allowed strangers in with a health certificate
Prayer and fasting
People struggling financially if sick, so more malnutrition.
Group prayers done as a family/household
People still went to church/turned to God
No longer flagellants as this was a Catholic belief
Housing in the early modern period
• Used tiles rather than thatch - better insulation
• Continuity of jetties
Living conditions in the EM period
• More coal was burnt in Tudor homes - mined in NE England
• Pottage was still eaten by many workers and servants and little meat was eaten. Most grow their own food still
• Privies, cess pits still caused problems in towns and cities well into the 19th century. Common sight
• Springs are still shared with animals. Animals still roamed the streets of some towns and left waste.
• 80% meat/protein diet for the rich and gout was common. This intake increases for the wealthy during this period
• Water could still be bought from water sellers
Individual responses to the Great Plague of 1665
• Sometimes foreign migrants were wrongly accused for starting the outbreak - Jews, French, Dutch
• Cures tried such as smoking tobacco and using sweet/pungent smelling substances to avoid the plague
• Rich still fled to the countryside
• went to church/turned to God
• group prayers
• some people social distanced (common sense) even if they weren’t exactly aware of the benefits
• England is now Protestant, so no longer flagellants
Great Plague - Local Responses
• Yarmouth - local authorities banned pigs, dogs and cats from infected streets
• Village of Eyam quarantines itself in 1665 to save Sheffield - worked, but 75% of Eyam died
• Bills of mortality produced in many towns - detailed weekly records of plague deaths
• Cambridge only allowed strangers in with a certificate of health
Beliefs about the plague
• believed in miasma
• belief that God was punishing
• planet alignment
• social distancing was encouraged later i the EM period, but wasn’t effective for bubonic
Quarantine
• 1518 - isolate plague victims in their own homes
• 1578 - isolate plague victims and family for 6 weeks
• 1604 - victims who left the house could be hanged
• Eyam quarantines itself in 1665 - 75% die
Smoking tobacco
• increase in tobacco as a result of the slave trade/plantations
• ineffective ‘cure’ - people smoked a lot more
• came about as a result of miasma theory, so couldn’t ‘smell’ the plague
• however more damaging to health as a whole
Bills of mortality
• Many towns produced these as a detailed weekly record of deaths
• couldn’t always be completely accurate, as they couldn’t always identify the plague
• helpful, as society could see when spread was decreasing
• at peak - 7000 were dying per week as a result of plague
Impact of local/national gov on public health in the EM period - water
• By 1750, several water companies in London and in other towns piped water in to the homes of those who could afford annual subscriptions - positive as water becomes more accessible (less thirst)
• Some poorer neighbourhoods still had to fetch water from a public conduit or buy from a water cart - makes water more inaccessible when from conduits - less nourished
Impact of local/national gov on health in the EM period - York
• In York in the 1500s, nobody could block the gutters which ran down both sides of the main streets
• 1500s - people were not allowed to build privies over the Queen’s Dike - a stream which ran through the city
• 1500s - household waste could not be put out for the scavengers until 7pm
• All households had to clean the streets outside their property twice a week
• 1500s - people fined for throwing urine and excrement into the street at night
• 1500s - pigs had to be kept in a sty and were not allowed to wander around the streets
• 1500s - anyone who made a dung hill in their yard had to pay a fine
Impact of national/local gov on health in EM period - waste
• some poorer neighbourhoods still faced overflowing cesspits causing bad smells by 1750
• some still had unpaved roads by 1750
Impact of national/local gov on health in EM period - streets
• Oil-burning street lamps first appeared in London in 1680s and most towns had lighting in their main street by 1750 - lower crime rates/casualties
• A print of Fenchurch in 1750 shows that many streets were paved with stone and posts marked off footpaths for pedestrians - airborne disease less likely to spread from walking in dirty streets
• some poorer neighbour hoods still had unlit roads by 1750
• councils encourage builders to construct streets and squares of large terraced houses where wealthy people could live - more space, less disease from overcrowding
