Health During The Middle Ages Essay

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The evidence from York shows that the health of people declined during Middle Ages. How far do you agree with this statement? The city of York is has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major events throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city has heralded the rise and fall of many different eras and has had pivotal moments define its past, present and future. Ancient York was founded as a legionary headquarters in the roman times and was then known as Eboracum. Public health during the time of the Roman Empire was generally quite good with fresh water being brought to York via a series of lead pipes connected to a main aqueduct. Buildings were built out of stone and were connected to a sewerage system and also had heating for the colder months. This showed that roman York had a good public infrastructure and as a result analysis of skeletons dating from this period showed little evidence of rickets or other diet related illnesses. Roman…show more content…
Many houses in York were demolished which initially caused outrage but it is now apparent that this could actually be seen as beneficial because more and more stone houses were replacing them. Improved harvests meant that people were healthier due to a better diet. Cesspits were lined with stone and were now emptied when they were full. The abbey of St Mary’s had a functional sewer and clean water facilities. Houses in the Norman era were built by professional carpenters instead of the home owners and were kept clean through sweeping. York still had a problem with public waste though, enough so that King Edward III wrote to the city’s mayor in disgust. From the late 1300s onwards, evidence shows that people were better fed, better housed and were wealthier than earlier times. People still experienced major problems with infection with no real solution so life expectancy still failed to rise
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