Medieval public health in towns and monasteries
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain why the quality of public health differed between medieval towns and monasteries.
Key learning points
- Water in medieval towns was often contaminated by waste and sewage.
- Streets in towns were often dirty because of poor waste disposal.
- Actions to improve public health in towns had limited impact.
- The location of monasteries helped protect them from disease.
- Monasteries invested in good sanitation facilities.
Keywords
Sanitation - a system for protecting people's health by removing dirt and waste
Public health - actions and systems intended to prevent disease and maintain good health within communities
Contaminate - to make something dirty or harmful to people’s health
Cesspit - a large underground hole that is used for collecting human waste
Privy - medieval name given to a toilet
Common misconception
Medieval people were not interested in good personal hygiene.
Personal hygiene was considered important by most, but access to washing facilities was unequal so levels of personal hygiene differed considerably between different groups of the population, such as nuns and monks and poor residents of towns.
Teacher tip
After reading section D of the Additional Material, ask pupils to discuss the following: 'why do you think ordinary people didn't build privies when local authorities didn't?'. After they've done this, ask further: 'why does this suggest authorities have an important role to play in public health?'.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Arabic was the language of which religion in the medieval period?
Q2.'The Canon of Medicine' listed the properties of how many different books?
Q3.Who was the author of 'The Canon of Medicine'?
Q4.Who wrote the book 'Doubts about Galen'?
Q5.What type of person first translated Islamic medical works to medieval Europe?
Q6.Starting with the earliest, sort the following medical figures into chronological order based on when they lived and completed their work.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1. refers to systems put in place for protecting people's health by removing dirt and waste.
Q2.How did most medieval townspeople access the water they needed?
Q3.Where were monasteries located?
Q4.In medieval towns, a lot of waste was disposed of by being thrown onto streets or into ...
Q5.Why didn't medieval townspeople bathe more regularly?
Q6.Which statement is most accurate?
To help you plan your 10 history lesson on: Medieval public health in towns and monasteries, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 history lesson on: Medieval public health in towns and monasteries, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 history lessons from the Britain: Health and the people - c1000 to the present day unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.