People’s Health - Medieval Living Conditions Flashcards
State beliefs about God in medieval England
• majority of England was Christian
• there was one God and one religion - people didn’t search for evidence or use science to explain life - this was often hazardous for health as limited discoveries in medicine, disease, life style etc.
Growth of towns in the medieval period
• 1500s - there were 15 towns and less than 10,000 people living in England
• Market days in towns were very busy
Growth of wool trade
• Wool trade was a significant business and there was enormous demand for wool
• Sheep were used for wool, meat, milk, and their faeces for fertiliser. Everyone who had land owned sheep, from peasants to major land owners.
Kings - servants of God
• Kings believed in the Divine Right, which was the belief that God put them on Earth and therefore they had the right to exploit their power.
• little democracy
• king controlled taxes and money, land, law and order
Limits of Technology
• 90% lived in the countryside - mostly for agriculture
• used a miller - grinds the grain
• no medical technology
The Influence of Ancient Ideas
• Hippocrates, a Greek doctor, developed the idea of the four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile
• he believed if you were unwell, something was out of balance and would use methods such as blood letting
Humours also thought to be linked to the seasons
Hippocrates developed idea of observing clinically the patient, not just disease - encourage use of natural cures
• Galen developed the theory of opposites, concerning how people could be treated using the four humours (balancing theory, blood letting) - however also made mistakes about how the blood passes through the body
Lords: the servants of Kings
• Barons were responsible for sharing out the land and enforcing King’s law
Providers of treatment in the medieval times
• Monasteries provided care for people in their local area. Treatments were based on prayer and herbal remedies.
• Richer people could afford a private physician who practises the ideas of Hippocrates and Galen
Labourers: the servants of all
• Labourers of land/ agriculture rely on good harvest otherwise this leads to famine - e.g. Great Famine of 1350
Ale - daily life and leisure
• Ale was healthier than water due to contamination (because faeces was throw in the rivers) and it was boiled, which kills harmful bacteria and prevents disease transferring
• Negative effect on liver as a result of excessive alcohol consumption (liver disease) - hazard to health, not much health knowledge around this due to divine belief in God
Roman Catholic Church
• Most of Western Europe follows this church - substantial belief, difficult to question knowledge
• (Henry the VIII introduces C of E)
• Very wealthy and powerful
• Lead by the pope
• Each parish had a small building for services (hymns, funerals, baptism, weddings)
Diet and Lifestyle - Countryside
• Food hanging from a rafter is cooked by the smokers - this is good for people’s health as smoke preserves the meat and prevents disease.
• Ate pottage - cooked in a pot (a stew made from meat and seasonal vegetables)
• Bread was a staple (ergotism) so farmers can sustain energy
• There was little variation in a peasant’s diet - therefore not always sufficiently nourished, and no change to health can persist
St Anthony’s Fire - Rye bread and Ergotism
• Rye bread was a staple of diet which persisted throughout the medieval period
• Peasants ate rye bread because it was cheap
• When fungus developed on the wheat which makes rye bread in damp conditions, a type of ergot poisoning named St Anthony’s Fire occurred
• This caused a distinct, intense burning pain which gave the disease it’s name, as well as gangrene, madness and hallucinations
• Due to limited scientific knowledge and the significance of bread in a peasants diet in the medieval period, the symptoms caused by ergotism persisted without much improvement as such little change occurred in diet throughout the medieval period.
Water Access in the Medieval Period
• In the countryside, water was mainly from streams - this was beneficial for health because it is not contaminated by the polluted river
• However springs sometimes shared with animals
• Rich could afford water-sellers which transported water in leather bags
• Rich could afford conduits which were lead pipes carrying spring water
Countryside Waste in the Medieval Era
• Animals were kept inside so they are not stolen as they are prized possessions - this leads to animal waste within the house (spread of disease)
• Left a midden outside their home - this was a waste heap for food, animal bones, potato peels, etc. - this was collected by someone
• Had a cesspit - there was a privy (toilet) above it and was sometimes lined with bricks
• moss used instead of toilet papayer
Town Waste in the Medieval Era
• People throw their waste/faeces out the window and onto the streets. A taker is responsible for removing this waste.
• A gong fermer is one of the best paying jobs as they remove faeces from cesspits. They would sometimes throw this waste into the river - increase in spread of bacteria and disease as pollutes river.
• Dead bodies were taken away in the same carts and fresh produce - during the Black Death, lice from the cloth could transfer
• Raw sewage is left in the middle of the street - disease can transfer during busiest times of day.
• 1310 - butchers can no longer shave fur off animals in town due to the waste produced
• latrines in market squares
