Living Conditions in Medieval Britain (OCR GCSE History B (Schools History Project)): Revision Note

Summary

People's health and life expectancy are affected by their living conditions and diet. That was true in medieval times and remains true today. In medieval Britain, people did not understand about germs or the importance of diet. However, their living habits, what they ate and drank and how they dealt with their waste all had a major impact on their health and wellbeing.

Medieval housing

• The size of a medieval person's home depended on their position in society

Lord of the Manor's housing

• The lord of the manor would have the biggest house

  • These often had stone walls and the privacy of separate rooms

Homes of peasants

• The homes of peasants were often constructed of wattle and daub - woven sticks smeared with a mud mixture to keep the wind out

  • The houses had one room with a stone hearth in the centre with a hole in the thatched roof directly above it

  • A fire would be lit on the hearth

  • This was used for both heating and cooking

  • The hole in the roof would allow the smoke to escape

• Any windows in the walls would have wooden shutters rather than glass

• Floors were usually made from compacted mud and covered with straw that was routinely swept out and replaced

• Animals such as cows could be brought indoors, especially during the winter

  • This was to keep the animal safe and to provide warmth

Medieval food

• The diet of a medieval person would also depend on their position in society

• Peasants would eat a vegetable-based diet, and most meals were of a dish known as pottage

  • Pottage was a thick soup made of ingredients such as cabbage, onions, peas, leaks, broad beans, barley and oats

    • It was cooked in a large iron pot

  • Whatever ingredients were available were added to the pot every day and the mixture would be topped up with water

  • Animal bones were sometimes added to the pottage, and bread was either purchased or baked in the shared village ovens

    • Meat was expensive and eaten only on special occasions

  • As well as the food that they grew, peasants would also gather honey from beehives, and nuts and fruit from the woods

  • The food supply was never secure

    • If a harvest failed, peasants were the first to go without food

  • It is estimated that around 10% of Britain's peasants died in the Great Famine of 1315-16

• The diet of Lords and knights and their families would also feature pottage but it would have included much more meat and expensive spices

  • Common meats included beef, lamb or mutton, pork, pigeon, chicken, goose and wild birds such as woodcocks

  • Meat was replaced with fish on Fridays as the Church instructed people not to eat meat on the day of Jesus' death

Clean water in Medieval Britain

• Villages were built near streams or springs that provided a constant source of water

  • The location of the village was usually chosen for access to water

  • Springs were preferred to streams

    • They were less likely to be polluted by animals drinking from them

  • Streams were popular for bathing and washing

• Drinking water during this time was dangerous and medieval people understood this

  • They were much more likely to drink an ale that was brewed from barley and called 'small beer'

  • It had a low alcohol content but enough to prevent it from going bad

  • The boiling that took place during the brewing process killed off germs

    • Medieval people did not know about germs but they understood that it was safer than water

  • Cider made from apples and mead made from honey were other alcoholic drinks that were popular in medieval Britain

• People living in towns were even less likely to drink water because

  • Water in towns was more polluted by the larger population

  • Beer would have been readily available.

Waste in Medieval Britain

• There would be a space outside each home called a midden that was used as a rubbish dump

  • Animal dung and the reeds that covered the floor of the home would be dumped here, along with any other household waste

• Some homes, like the lord of the manor's, might have had a cesspit, which acted like a toilet

  • Unlike a toilet, it did not flush and would have to be regularly emptied with shovels

  • Peasants often just dug a small ditch, which they covered over after they had finished or walked to some nearby woods

• The waste from both middens and cesspits was scattered on fields and acted as a fertiliser that enriched the soil