GCSE History: People's Health in Medieval Times (1250-1500)

Key Themes

• Living Conditions: Housing, diet, water, and waste.
• Response to Epidemics: Focus on the Black Death.
• Public Health: Role of national and local government, and monasteries.

Impact of Living Conditions

• Factors: Beliefs, attitudes, values, government, science, technology, urbanization, wealth, and poverty.

Characteristics of Medieval Britain

• Farming and Food:
  • Majority were peasants performing hard physical labor.
  • Frequent bad harvests led to famine (e.g., Great Famine 1315-1316).
• Towns: Small, busy with guilds, crafts, trades.
  • Market days increased disease spread.
• Religion: Predominantly Christian, beliefs in disease as divine punishment.
• Old Ideas: Four humors, based on Greek and Roman medical theories.
• Technology: Limited, with manual production; no understanding of germs.
• Government: Kings focused on wars, not health.

Living Conditions

• Housing:
  • Villages: Simple huts, dark, smoky, shared with animals.
  • Towns: Dense housing, rich had gardens, mixed poor and rich areas.
• Water and Waste:
  • Countryside: Springs and wells, shared with animals.
  • Towns: Conduits for water, cesspits managed by gong farmers.
• Diet:
  • Bread: Staple food, rye bread could cause ergotism.
  • Drinks: Ale and cider healthier than water.
  • Meat and Fish: Varied diet for the rich, poor relied on pottage.

Response to Epidemics: The Black Death

• The Black Death (1348-49):
  • Killed 50% of England's population.
  • Spread by fleas on rats, no understanding of germs.
  • Types: Bubonic, Septicemic, Pneumonic.
• Beliefs About Causes:
  • Divine punishment, miasma (bad air), imbalance of humors.
• Treatments and Responses:
  • Bloodletting, praying, isolation, flagellants.
  • Limited government action (e.g., London's street cleaning).

Public Health Measures

• Monasteries:
  • Set standards for cleanliness and healthcare.
  • Rich, able to fund clean water and latrines.
• Towns:
  • Local actions to improve conditions (e.g., paving streets, moving dung heaps).
  • Guilds enforced food standards.
• Post-Black Death Initiatives:
  • London led in public health with new water and sanitation measures.
  • Guilds ensured trade standards and public health.

Conclusion

• The medieval period saw a limited understanding of disease and health.
• Responses were deeply influenced by religion and outdated theories.
• Public health was largely managed at a local level, with monasteries and some towns taking the lead in improvements.