THE GREATEST HEALTH PROBLEM OF THE MIDDLE AGES?

What was the greatest health problem of the Middle Ages? The Black Death of 1347-50, which killed 30-50% of Europe’s population, must be a strong contender, but how does it compare with other, less dramatic causes of death and suffering? This paper compares the patterns and level of affliction caused by a spectrum of ailments, ranging from plague through tuberculosis, leprosy, childbirth, dental disease, malaria, back pain, diseases of infancy, and social conditions such as warfare, poverty, religious prejudice, and spiritual despair. Using pre-modern demographic models and the World Health Organization’s calculation methods, we assess the impact of each health problem. If you were a medieval government aiming to improve your subjects’ health, which would you target? Then, since it is too late to offer public health advice to Edward III, we use the results to reflect upon the different patterns through which health affects historical processes and the potential pathways of human-disease co-evolution.
Author(s): Inskip, Sarah - Robb, John - Mitchell, Piers - Dittmar, Jenna (University of Cambridge)

Видео THE GREATEST HEALTH PROBLEM OF THE MIDDLE AGES? канала European Association of Archaeologists