Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant and I'll be your history teacher for today.

I'm really looking forward to starting our learning journey together, and my role will be to make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on mediaeval medicine and health, where we've been asking ourselves, how much was known about medicine and health? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain why the quality of public health differed between mediaeval towns and monasteries.

There are five key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are sanitation, public health, contaminate, cesspit, and privy.

Sanitation refers to a system for protecting people's health by removing dirt and waste.

Public health refers to actions and systems intended to prevent disease and maintain good health within communities.

Contaminate means to make something dirty or harmful to people's health.

And cesspit is a large underground hole that is used for collecting human waste.

And a privy, well that was the mediaeval name given to a toilet.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by focusing on public health challenges in towns.

Most of mediaeval Britain's population lived in rural areas.

However, towns and their populations grew at this time.

The expansion of existing towns and the foundation of new ones made sanitation a significant public health challenge.

It was necessary for mediaeval towns to ensure that those who lived in them had good access to water, which was needed not only for hydration and cleaning, but also for many businesses.

Typically, people sourced the water they needed from wells and rivers.

However, these sources of water were vulnerable to contamination from sewage and other waste.

If water is contaminated by waste, then it may lead to the spread of germs which caused diseases like typhoid and dysentery, especially if the water is consumed.

Rivers became contaminated as many people used them to dispose of their waste.

Ordinary households often through their sewage into rivers and businesses acted similarly.

For example, meat butchers often disposed of their waste, which mainly consisted of blood and guts, by dumping it into their local river.

Water sources also became polluted unintentionally.

For example, privies existed in most towns, usually with cesspits underneath to collect their waste.

Because cesspits were frequently built without linings, it was easy for the sewage they contained to seep into underground wells and also into rivers.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, where did most people in mediaeval towns source their water from? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was rivers and wells.

Most people in mediaeval towns secured their water from rivers or wells.

Let's try another question.

This time, I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

If blank are present in water, it can lead to the spread of diseases like dysentery.

So, what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was germs. If germs are present in water, it can lead to the spread of diseases like dysentery.

And let's try one more question.

What commonly caused the water in wells to become contaminated? Was it butchers dumping animal blood and guts? People throwing out their toilet waste? Or sewage seeping out of cesspits? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was c.

Water in wells commonly became contaminated because of sewage seeping out cesspits which lacked linings.

Poor waste disposal also created another sanitation issue in mediaeval towns, dirty streets.

For one, it was common for households to throw urine collected in chamber parts out of windows and out onto the streets.

Heavy downpours of rain could lead to open drains and cesspits overflowing, which also spread sewage across streets and residential areas.

Excrement from animals added to this waste, littering the streets of towns.

However, this sanitation issue was less problematic in richer parts of towns where wealthy citizens could get their servants to sweep the street outside their houses.

By contrast, poorer areas were often the worst smelling parts of towns and the most littered with waste.

Foul smells was not a sanitation issue also afflicted in many towns.

Some of these smells came from the waste which surrounded many people's homes.

Bad smells were also created by businesses, which were often based side by side next to people's homes.

Leather tanners, for instance, used awful smelling chemicals as part of their work.

So, let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

How did most people dispose of urine in towns? Was it that they dumped it in rivers? That they threw it out of a window? Or that they used a privy and cesspit? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was b.

Most people in mediaeval towns disposed of urine by throwing it out of a window and onto the street.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge of public health challenges in mediaeval towns into practise.

I want you to describe two problems with sanitation in mediaeval towns.

For each problem you identify, make sure you support your answer by providing specific factual details.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to describe two problems with sanitation in mediaeval towns, and your answer may have included, one sanitation problem in mediaeval towns was the contamination of water.

For example, butchers often disposed of waste like blood and guts, in rivers, which were also used as sources of water to drink and clean with.

And you may also have written, another sanitation problem was dirty streets and public spaces.

As most people did not have a privy, it was common for urine to be thrown out of the windows of people's homes, leaving streets littered with sewage.

So really well done if your own answers look something similar to those models we've just seen.

And now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson where we are going to focus on attempts to improve public health in towns.

Actions were taken to try and improve conditions in mediaeval towns.

However, both the extent of these actions and their benefit for public health was limited by two key factors, a lack of scientific knowledge and the attitudes of authorities.

Mediaeval town authorities did make efforts to maintain a clean and healthy environment.

Some towns focused on regulating businesses more strictly.

For instance, in 1330, butchers in Cardiff were banned from throwing animal remains onto the street, whilst in Worcester from 1466 onwards, it was required that the blood and guts of any butchered animals had to be carried away that same night to prevent waste from building up in the city.

Other towns focused on regulating the actions of ordinary citizens.

In 1371, to discourage waste disposal in the Walbrook stream, London authorities required households who used the stream to pay a fee which would allow for it to be cleaned each year.

Similarly, in 1388, parliament passed a law introducing fines of up to 20 pounds, which would be worth more than 13,000 pounds in 2024, for dumping waste into ditches, ponds, and rivers.

It was less common for authorities to take steps which provided new facilities to improve sanitation, but this did occur on some occasions.

For example, after King Edward I complained about unhygienic conditions in York in 1298, orders were given to build public privies in the city.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, what punishment did parliament introduce for those who dumped waste into ditches, ponds, and rivers in 1388? Was it death penalties, fines of 20 pounds, or prison sentences? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was b.

In 1388, parliament introduced fines of 20 pounds to punish people who dumped waste into ditches, ponds, and rivers.

Despite attempts to make improvements, public health remained poor in towns by the end of the mediaeval period.

In part, this was due to a lack of scientific knowledge.

At the time, there was no knowledge of germs like bacteria and their role in spreading disease through things like contaminated water.

As a result, improvements that were made often aimed to remove unpleasant smells from towns, as these were believed to cause miasma, rather than limiting the spread of germs. Effective action for keeping drinking water clean was not taken.

Another reason why improvements to public health in towns was limited was because of the attitudes of authorities themselves.

Making major improvements would be expensive.

Mayors and counsellors did not want to become unpopular by raising local taxes to fund these improvements.

Therefore, authorities often made little change.

For instance, a population of around 60,000 people in London had access to just 16 public privies in 1300.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding.

We have a statement on the screen which reads, "Mediaeval authorities tried to prevent the spread of germs through contaminated water".

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that original statement was incorrect? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said there was no knowledge of germs in the mediaeval period.

Instead, attempts to improve public health were usually aimed at preventing miasma.

And let's try another question.

Why did mediaeval authorities often avoid making major improvements in towns? Was it because there was already good sanitation in most towns? Because major improvements required higher taxes? Or because public health was considered unimportant? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was b.

Mediaeval authorities often avoided making major improvements in towns because those changes would've required higher taxes, which can be very unpopular, and counsellors and mayors didn't wanna be blamed for raising people's taxes.

So, we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about attempts to improve public health into practise.

We have a claim from Laura where she says, "Public health was poor in mediaeval towns because no attempts were made to improve it".

I want you to explain why Laura's claim is incorrect.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, I asked you to explain why Laura's claim is incorrect.

And your answer may have included, Laura's claim is incorrect because there were some attempts to improve public health in mediaeval towns.

For instance, authorities in York and London did oversee the construction of public privies which helped manage waste.

However, the impact of these improvements was limited because authorities often did not do enough to avoid raising taxes.

For instance, there were just 16 public privies in London for 60,000 people in 1300.

Furthermore, a lack of knowledge of germs meant that when authorities did act, they were often focused on preventing miasma rather than preventing the spread of germs, which limited their effectiveness.

So well done if your own response looks something similar to that model we've just seen.

And that means we're now ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we're going to think about public health at monasteries.

Monasteries were sites populated by religious communities of monks and nuns.

For a range of reasons, public health was generally much better at monasteries than they were in mediaeval towns.

Because they were set up by communities devoted to their religion, monasteries were frequently located in rural areas some distance from towns.

This came with an immediate public health benefit.

Unlike densely populated towns, few people lived around monasteries, which made it harder for diseases to spread to those who lived there.

Monasteries were also built close by to rivers, which could be used to carry away sewage and provide clean drinking water.

Their distance from towns and cities also helped ensure the water sources used by monasteries were usually not polluted.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to identify two reasons why monasteries in remote locations benefited people's health.

So, was it because there was access to unpolluted water sources? Because there was better smelling air? Or because there was less dense populations? Remember, you are looking for two answers to this question.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answers were a and c.

Two reasons why monasteries in remote locations benefited people's health was because they generally had access to unpolluted water sources and had less dense populations, making it harder for diseases to spread between people.

Public health at monasteries also benefited from their wealth.

Monasteries owned considerable amounts of land in mediaeval Britain and were able to invest this into sanitation facilities.

For instance, many monasteries had bathhouses, allowing monks and nuns to wash themselves and their clothes regularly.

These sites also usually had their own privy, and even hospitals, known as infirmaries, for the nuns and monks who lived there.

This range of facilities allowed those in monasteries to live even more cleanly than many people in mediaeval towns.

Although personal hygiene was widely considered important, in mediaeval towns, regular baths could be a rare luxury even for rich citizens.

Unknowingly, this gave nuns and monks greater protection from disease causing germs. Monks and nuns were also better educated than most people in mediaeval Britain.

Every monastery had its own library, which helped those who lived there to gain medical knowledge.

These texts, alongside their religion, influenced the cleanliness of monks' and nuns' lifestyles, and also helped them develop knowledge of herbal remedies too.

Many monasteries had their own herb gardens, allowing their communities to produce some herbal treatments for healing.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, "Only nuns and monks thought personal hygiene was important in the mediaeval period".

But is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false.

But we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that original statement was incorrect? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said personal hygiene was widely considered important, but nuns and monks had better access to bathing and washing facilities.

So, we are now ready to put all of our knowledge into practise.

I want you to explain two reasons why public health was better at monasteries than it was in mediaeval towns.

You should ensure that your answer includes specific factual details and that it doesn't just describe differences between the two areas, but that it also focuses on why those differences mattered for public health.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, I asked you to explain two reasons why public health was better at monasteries than it was in mediaeval towns and your answer may have included, one reason why public health was better at monasteries than in mediaeval towns was because of their location.

Monasteries were built in rural areas and were generally quite isolated from the nearest towns.

This distance and the sparse population around them made it harder for diseases to spread to and between the nuns and monks in monasteries than it was between the densely packed populations of towns.

Monasteries were also built by rivers, which were generally uncontaminated, unlike those flowing through or next to most mediaeval towns.

This difference was mainly because less people were making use of rivers by monasteries so they contained less waste.

Another reason why public health was better at monasteries was because of their wealth.

Monasteries were major landowners in mediaeval England and used this wealth to invest in sanitation facilities which many people living in towns simply could not access.

For instance, in London in 1300, most households lacked their own privy and just 16 public privies served around 60,000 people.

By contrast, each monastery had its own set of privies which helped manage waste more cleanly.

Similarly, monasteries had their own bathhouses, allowing monks and nuns to wash regularly.

By contrast, even rich citizens in towns only bathed on rare occasions, leaving them more exposed to germs. So, really well done if your own response looks something similar to that model which we've just seen.

And so now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about mediaeval public health in towns and monasteries.

We've seen that water in rivers and wells in mediaeval towns was often contaminated by sewage and other waste.

Disposal of waste onto the streets also made the sanitation in mediaeval towns poor and produced bad smells.

Efforts to improve public health in towns were limited by a lack of knowledge of germs and a desire to avoid unpopular tax rises.

The remote location of monasteries allowed them to access cleaner water and offered more protection from the spread of diseases.

And monasteries were wealthy enough to invest in sanitation facilities, unlike most town households which had no privy nor cesspit of their own.

So, really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources today, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we continue to think about medicine and health in mediaeval Britain.