Medieval towns and countryside

Question 1

What was a conduit

Answer 1

A fountain where spring water flowed for all to use

Question 2

What was ale

Answer 2

A small/weak beer

Question 3

What did drovers do

Answer 3

Brought livestock into towns to be slaughtered

Question 4

What were rakers

Answer 4

Men who were paid to take away rubbish from the streets

Question 5

Where would rakers usually dump waste

Answer 5

In the rivers

Question 6

What was a latrine

Answer 6

A medieval toilet

Question 7

What was a gongfermers job

Answer 7

To clean out latrines and take away the mess

Question 8

Who would the gongfermers sell the human waste to

Answer 8

Farmers

Question 9

Where would some gongfermers dumb the human waste

Answer 9

Rivers

Question 10

What was wattle and daub

Answer 10

A technique of making the walls of a house out of sticks and then covering them in mud or clay

Question 11

What did some villages use the water streams to power

Answer 11

Water mills

Question 12

Why was small beer healthier than drinking water from the streams

Answer 12

The brewing of the beer killer any germs in the water

Question 13

When was the Great Famine

Answer 13

1315-1322

Question 14

How long did the Great Famine last

Answer 14

7 years - from 1315 till 1322

Question 15

What was pottage

Answer 15

A stew peasants would eat made out of vegetables and meat

Question 16

What was ergotism

Answer 16

A disease cause by a fungus which grew on rye

Question 17

Why was the meat smoked by the villagers

Answer 17

It would preserve it

Question 18

What was a privy

Answer 18

A toilet

Question 19

What was the waste from cesspits used for

Answer 19

Fertilising the fields

Question 20

What was a cesspit

Answer 20

A pit for the disposal of liquid waste and sewage

Question 21

What was a midden

Answer 21

A dung hill or refuse heap

Question 22

Why were rats attracted to peasants homes

Answer 22

Peasants would bring animals inside there houses

Question 23

Why would excrement leak into the cellars of houses

Answer 23

Some latrines weren’t lined

Question 24

What was tavern ale

Answer 24

Strong brewed ale

Question 25

When where raker employed

Answer 25

1293

Question 26

Why would people in towns have more varied diets

Answer 26

People would bring items from all around the local area to market days which would be sold to the townspeople

Question 27

By which century had town councils taken over the maintenance of conduits

Answer 27

16th century

Question 28

Why was it bad rats lived in thatched roofs of houses

Answer 28

They could easily spread disease because they were in close contact with humans

Question 29

For how many days could householder leave rubbish on the street for before they were fined

Answer 29

3-4