Medieval Britain 1250-1500

• The Black Death was caused by fleas on rats, which spread to humans through bites or contact with infected people.
• The Black Death killed around one third of the population
• What are the three types of plagues?

  Bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic.
• What were the different beliefs about what caused the black death?

  Miasma

  a punishment from God

  astrological alignment

  an unbalance of their humours
• Monasteries had clean water and we’re rich and powerful so they were able to help the poor with hospitals
• Some sources of water for the townspeople are conduits and wells. Those in the country had to travel long distances to get clean water.
• What were the treatments for the black death?

  blood letting

  tying live toads or chickens to the Buboes as an attempt to draw out the disease
• Housing in the countryside:

  • animals were valuable and were sometimes brought inside the house at night
  • windows were small with wooden shutters
  • open fires were burned inside the houses
  • peasants lived in small huts made of woven sticks covered in mud
• Poor laborers mainly ate pottage, a thick vegetable stew or soup, lacking in vitamins and iron