Preventions and public health in the Middle Ages

• Although treatment of disease was common, there was a strong focus in the Middle Ages on prevention of diease.
• Many people thought only GOD could cure diseases so they aimed to prevent first.
• Flagellants whipped themselves to beg God for forgiveness during the Black Death.
• Many people simply followed a Christian lifestyle; praying, going to church and following the commandments.
• The king ordered religious services during the black death.
• To prevent diseases, some wore, amulets (charms) and bought incantations to provide protection from spirits. People also based their treatments on the zodiac charts.
• Physicians promoted ‘Regimin Sanitis’ for patients to keep healthy. This included avoiding stress, exercise, eating a healthy diet and bathing regularly but was only used by the rich as it was expensive to have a list created for you.
• Main problems in public health: waste and litter, too many animals, dirty water and leaking latrines.
• Water and litter: Streets were filled with litter and blood and humans waste into it.

  Solution: laws banned littering, public latrines (toilets) built in London. Butchers had to clean the waste to throw waste out of towns.
• Too many animals: animals were butchered in streets, and horses left dung in streets.

  Solution: 12. Rakers were employed to clean the streets of London by 1370. Cities, like Newcastle paved the streets to make them easier to clean.
• Dirty water: Water supplies were polluted by human and industrial waste.

  Solution: In Gloucester, they used lead pipes and aqueduct to bring in fresh water. However, it was only for the rich!
• Leaking latrines: latrines, and cesspits contaminated water supplies.

  Solution: laws locations for private latrines. Cesspits built with stone to stop leaks. Night carts went round, emptying, cesspits in town like Hull.
• The government ONLY spent to improve public health in the middle ages during the Black Death.
• There was a little progress in the middle ages continuity as a majority of preventions remain based on religious factors. However, the ideas are regimen sanitis were healthy.

  You could argue that public health improved with rakers, freshwater and efforts to clean cities. However, it was not enough to improve public health.