people’s health Flashcards
(49 cards)
Food factors in countryside of Medieval Period
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Most people had a healthy diet- grew own fruit and vegetables
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Peasants had a limited diet - only really ate pottage or bread
Water factors in countryside of Medieval Period
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Every village near a stream or river
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Streams or rivers were always contaminated
House factors in countryside of Medieval Period
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Floors covered with straw and regularly swept
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Smoke = open fires - disease as no ventilation
Waste factors in countryside of Medieval Period
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Each garden had a midden and waste in the midden was used as fertilizer
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Not all human waste was properly disposed of
Food factors in towns of Medieval Period
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People had access to the market - meaning a more varied diet
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Vendors and taverns made pies from meat that was rancid (old and stale) - disease
Water factors in towns of Medieval Period
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Water carriers sold water from door to door
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Waste often thrown in streams so all water was contaminated - caused dysentery
House factors in towns of Medieval Period
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Rich people payed for drains and streets to be cleaned - benefitted everyone
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Houses had thatched roofs where mice, insects and rats lived - also in countryside
Waste factors in towns of Medieval Period
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Gongfermers took cesspit waste away at night to sell to farmers
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At end of market days, streets full of food and animal dung
What was the Black Death
- 1348 arrived by bacteria called Yerstina Pesitis in Britain
- infected by bitten by a flea carrying the plague
- carried through black rats
- pneumonic plague - spread through coughing and sneezing
- septisemic plague - kills through bloodstream
What was the symptoms and impact of the Black Death
SYMPTOMS
- high temperature
- severe headaches
- hard painful swellings called buboes
IMPACT
- victims buried in mass graves
- in towns, many shut themselves
inside
- people left town if could afford
What were responses to the Black Death
- religion
(Prayed and flagellants) - miasma (belief of bad air through bad smells)
(Burned herbs to purify the air) - unbalanced four humours (black bile, phlegm, yellow bile, blood
(Doctors used bloodletting and purging to get rid of plague)
Alignment of planets
Earthquakes
What were responses made by authorities to the Black Death
- local governments tried to close towns off I.e Gloucester but it didn’t work
- King Edward III ordered people to clean the streets
What are reasons for good public health in monasteries
- rich so could afford pipes
- monks and nuns believed caring for the poor and sick was most important and well educated
What were approaches to public health in towns
Winchester
- 1329, town employed people to check quality of meat before sold
Norwich
- between 1287 and 1289, publicly named and shamed 16 citizens for polluting water and dumping waste
York
- 1301, Edward I ordered authorities to bring regulations and keep the city clean
London
- 1293, rakers were employed to clear rubbish off streets
Food factors of Early Modern Period
(Wealthy)
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Wealthy had a more varied diet including
- fish, meat, fruit and vegetables
- Lots of new foods were imported such as chillies from Asia
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- ate more sugar - led to rotting teeth and obesity and suffering from gout (type of arthritis)
Food factors in towns of Early Modern Period (poor)
- basic food such as bread, vegetables and pottage
- diet led to lack of vitamins and iron
Water factors in towns of Early Modern Period
- continued to bathe in rivers and streams
- had wells in countryside
- in towns could collect water from conduits or buy from water sellers
Waste factors in towns of Early Modern Period
- most houses used privies built over a cesspit
- scavengers cleared cesspits of wealthier people every year or two
- poorer people emptied in an alley and it would pile up
When did the great plague occur
1665
What were early modern beliefs about the great plague
- cats and dogs spread miasma on their fur
- disease was spread through close contact with other people
What were responses to the great plague
- brung food to sick neighbours and relatives
- rich moved out to the countryside if plague hit their town
- bloodletting
- avoid miasma by sniffing flowers and herbs
What were responses to the great plague by the national government
- in 1518 Henry VIII ordered that
- houses infected with plague should be clearly identified
- bundles of straw should be hung from the windows of infected houses for a period of 40 days
- had to carry a white stick if left house and infected
What was the Gin Craze
- after 1660 gin became very very cheap
- ‘dead for a penny, dead drunk for two pence’
- crime increased
- people fell into poverty
- large increase in death rate
What were the Gin Acts of 1729,1736 and 1743
- passed laws to try stop gin consumption
- didn’t have a big effect
- number of small gin shops was too high
- encouraged many to make and sell gin illegally
