life in the middle ages between the 5th and 15th centuries was hard long before the discovery of penicillin people accepted that death was going to be with them sooner rather than later around the 10th to 11th centuries in the middle of the period changes within society began to gather momentum in the near east and across europe birth rates were increasing and populations were growing not only was there an increase in migration between countries but also movement from rural to urban areas towns became cities as they expanded to accommodate more people leading to problems with overcrowding
poverty and filth it was an evil that affected the whole of medieval society both rich and poor the towns cities and even rural areas were filthy hygiene and public health were completely absent and it was years before the likes of bacteria and antibiotics would be discovered most houses had floors laid with white clay and rushes that would occasionally be changed though the bottom layer was usually left untouched sometimes for several years concealing spit vomit urine from dogs as well as humans spillage from ale and scraps of meat and fish and outside wasn't much better the
streets were open sewers excrement rubbish and animal carcasses were thrown into rivers poisoning the water disease carrying rodents such as rats and mice thrived in these environments which were perfect conditions for bacteria to breed infections spread quickly and there were no inoculations against it no cures and no defenses against the misery it could inflict on the people of medieval england disease became man's greatest enemy because it was almost impossible to avoid let's travel back in time and take a look at some of the worst diseases to catch during the middle ages welcome to medieval madness
saint anthony's fire was a constant presence throughout the middle ages also known as ergotism it is brought about by the ingestion of contaminated rye grain causing ergot poisoning it is named after the benedictine monk saint anthony who offered help to sufferers fire refers to the burning sensation that victims felt in their hands and feet caused by a mold which grows on the rye grain ergotism displays two characteristics gangrene in the chronic type and convulsions in the acute version of the sickness symptoms include muscle cramps insomnia nausea agitation and sores a burning sensation is caused by
the restriction of blood to the extremities so that in later stages gangrene sets in causing first the fingers and toes and then the hands and feet to drop off those affected can appear to be crazed because of hallucinations and convulsions and this could explain the dancing epidemics that occurred between the 14th and 17th centuries outbreaks of the disease occurred in waves and in 994 ce one epidemic in france caused the deaths of between twenty thousand and forty thousand people throughout the country because the church had declared sickness to be a result of sin many connected
to the symptoms of ergotism as a doorway into hell if stored poorly rye grain can become damp and develop the fungus but in those times of poverty and hunger eating contaminated grain often seemed a better alternative than dying of starvation sometimes the suspect grain would be deliberately fed to prisoners this would make their urine very acidic and especially useful for the tanning process prisoners who were fed the tainted grain would eventually die of kidney failure in later years historians have debated whether ergo poisoning was responsible for the hallucinations of the young girls whose accusations led
to the salem witch trials under the mass poisoning in ponte sandesbury in the 1950s [Music] now carrying with it a stigma of uncleanliness and decay leprosy was one of the most notorious diseases of the middle ages it became known as the living death but many believed the suffering of lepers was similar to the suffering of christ and because those inflicted were withstanding purgatory on earth that they were closer to god and would go directly to heaven when they died leprosy is caused by a bacterium that enters the lungs it's usually caught from inhaling droplets when
an infected person has coughed or sneezed once established in the lungs it will spread to other parts of the body the bacteria affect the bones in the face especially the nasal area and infection can damage the skin and eyes it can also alter the atomic nerve system of the body causing sufferers to lose their sense of feeling any damage sustained to the fingers and toes can go unnoticed and become infected and ulcerated once the corruption of the hands and feet becomes established the cartilage at the end of the fingers and toes may start to be
absorbed by the body so they become shorter and shorter and the skin around them contracts leprosy isn't fatal but it does drastically weaken the immune system so that the sufferer was more likely to die from other diseases such as diphtheria or tuberculosis [Music] this is why leprosy is known as the living death it doesn't actually kill you in fact you could have the disease for years and die from some other complications during the 11th century the problem of leprosy became so great in and around european cities that special hospitals were built they became known as
leprocerium most sufferers were happy to be looked after in these places they were fed well and they had a chaplain who would say prayers for them and prepare them for death many saw their own suffering as a way of making penance for their sins giving them a better chance of getting into heaven the leprosarium were often funded by rich noblemen who wanted to be held in high esteem for their philanthropy it was also a way of having the clergy pray for their souls life expectancy was very low during medieval times and so the church offered
a realistic but positive view of how a life should be led a good life and a confession of sin would guarantee a place in paradise in fact in the 13th century the fourth council of the lateran stated that before a doctor could even treat a patient they should first be absolved of all their sins this was because disease could not be cured unless god forgave the sins that caused it first it seems that smallpox was prevalent in asia from the first century but it was soldiers returning from the crusades that spread to the disease into
europe during the 11th and 12th centuries it is an infectious disease that has now been globally eradicated although the illness had a lower risk of death than other medieval diseases it was still devastating to sufferers and had a mortality of 30 percent with rates even higher among babies initial symptoms included vomiting and a high temperature followed by a development of ulcers in the mouth and a rash covering the skin over several days the rash would become blisters filled with a fluid the blisters would eventually fall off leaving unsightly scars some sufferers were left blind smallpox
had many names such as the speckled monster and red plague it was later named smallpox to differentiate it from the venereal disease syphilis which became known as the great pox some historians believe that syphilis was carried to europe from the new world after the voyages of columbus the first recorded outbreak happened in the siege of naples in 1493 although it could have been around before then in naples french troops were the first to begin suffering from the illness so it was called the french disease by the italians sufferers had painful green pustules over their bodies
from the head to the knees the flesh would fall off their faces urination would become so painful that sometimes a metal rod would be inserted through the urethra and into the bladder eventually the victim would become mad and death would occur within a few months syphilis spread becoming an epidemic and killed as many as 5 million although after about 50 years the symptoms of syphilis became much less devastating this made carriers less easy to recognize and helped it spread most people who fell ill during the middle ages would be looked after by their own family
until they got better or died wealthy nobles would be able to employ a full-time position to look after them medical knowledge relied on superstition and alchemy most doctors would diagnose any illness as an imbalance of the humors health then was based on the idea of four humors being blood phlegm black bile and yellow bile if these four were out of balance then that would cause an illness so a physician may have checked the humeral balance of a patient by checking their pulse or looking at their urine early treatments for syphilis included bathing in wine or
olive oil the use of laxatives or bloodletting bloodletting and caughtery were thought to be a way of balancing the humors phlebotomy was thought to be more precise than leeches although their use was quite common specific incisions could locate a vein better than a leech so knives or flames were used to cut different veins depending on the sufferer's condition cauterization was often utilized to stop blood loss in medieval times it was commonly used in tooth extraction a knife or other piece of metal would be heated to a high temperature over a fire and then applied to
the wound this would coagulate the blood rapidly and stop the bleeding although there would often be extensive tissue damage during the procedure sometimes cautery would be used as a treatment for mental illness in what is thought of as the first instance of biological warfare the mongol forces catapulted plague-infested corpses into the italian trading station of kafur in late 1347. it started the most devastating pandemic in human history in october of that year 12 ships carrying italian merchants from the black sea doctored the sicilian port of messina most of the sailors were already dead those still
alive were suffering their bodies covered in black boils that oozed with blood and pus the death ships were quickly sent back out to sea but it was too late the disease was transmitted from the bite of infected fleas and rats and was carried on other merchant trading ships around the globe of course medieval europe with its unsanitary and overcrowded towns and cities was the perfect place for the plague bacteria to multiply and spread the bacteria would then begin to attack the lymph nodes in the body black bruising would appear beneath the skin and purse-filled swellings
called buboes would develop under the armpits in the neck and in the groin areas these black marks gave the infection its name as the disease took hold other symptoms included shortness of breath a raging fever and the putrefaction of the skin soon the body lost control of its muscle function and would begin to spasm uncontrollably this could be followed by a continuous vomiting of blood organ failure and coma it was a slow and torturous death it's likely that 70 percent of victims died within five days of contracting the plague as time went on the disease
mutated and became a strain now known as the pneumonic plague which affected the lungs this became airborne causing what little chance of survival they had to vanish one hundred percent of those that caught the pneumonic form of the disease died over a period of five years the black death killed over 200 million people that is almost a third of the population of europe now england alone lost half of its inhabitants one consequence that occurred after the black death was a considerable shortage of labor and for those medieval peasants who had survived there was a vast
improvement in their pay working conditions and standard of living taxes decreased and because there was an oversupply of goods their price fell too over the years archaeologists have discovered several mass graves that were used to bury the victims of the black death a decent individual internment was valued highly in medieval society so this only goes to show how ill-equipped they were when faced by the devastating numbers needing to be buried and the shortage of anyone able to carry out the task although there are now antibiotics available to treat the plague there are still between 1
000 to 3 000 cases every year worldwide the black death was not the only disease to create devastation during the middle ages the english sweat also claimed thousands of lives just as the reign of henry vii began this new sickness began to spread across england it could have been brought over from france by henry tudor's invading army but there are no reports of it affecting either his troops or mercenaries nevertheless just three weeks after the battle of bosworth field the infection began to run rampant in london killing thousands and causing panic the most frightening aspect
of the disease was its ability to kill with such speed there were several reports of people suddenly falling dead in the street it began with a raging fever aching in the neck shoulders and limbs next there was abdominal pain and vomiting this was followed by a phase of profuse sweating death was quick after shortness of breath chest pain and palpitations bizarrely the disease seemed to particularly affect the english upper classes especially rich young men infants and the elderly seemed to be immune as were foreigners living in england those in scotland wales and ireland were also
unaffected many young englishmen fled to these countries to avoid the disease but died there anyway there have been many theories as to what exactly caused the sweating sickness including influenza and anthrax the exact cause of the infection and the reasons as to why it acted so strangely is still a mystery the oddly named virus water elf disease caused sufferers to develop itchy red spots fever blackened nails fatigue and watery eyes it was thought to have been caused by witchcraft either by a spell or a witch's stab in the 10th century one cure was to take
a mix of 13 herbs place them in a vessel and put them under an altar nine masses had to be sung over the container of herbs which then had to be boiled in butter sheep's fat and salt once this was strained and the herbs discarded off in a stream the resulting solve should be smeared over the eyes forehead and any other affected body parts another treatment recommended ingesting 12 different herbs and plants that had been soaked in ale before singing a particular chant three times to remove the witch's curse the cause of this disease is
still a mystery possible explanations have been measles chickenpox and even endocarditis which is an infection of the heart the king's evil was a name given to scrofula it's a less familiar type of tuberculosis that affects the lymph glands of the neck causing them to swell rather than the lungs the first sign of scrofula was the appearance of a persistent painless swelling on the neck the skin over the growth would become purple in color as the illness progressed the swelling would rupture and cause large open sores this was accompanied by fever and fatigue like the water
elf disease this illness had some bizarre treatments it was thought to be curable by the king's touch clovis of france was the first ruler believes to have been given the gift to cure the disease in the 6th century by the 13th century in france and 14th in england a ceremony had been developed king edward iii used a touch piece a type of medallion which was given to sufferers as a holy relic during the original ritual the king would wash the diseased flesh of the sufferer with water but henry tudor stopped this practice in the 15th
century instead he would just lay a hand on his subject whilst a priest prayed for them and gave them the medallion those who were unfortunate enough not to be offered the miraculous touch of a monarch could seek treatment from a healer or physician some recommended ointment made from mercury from ancient times it had been used as a cure all for diseases such as typhoid constipation parasites and syphilis it had many other names too such as cinnabar or quicksilver if taken in pill form mercury would cause sweating and vomiting reactions which were thought to cleanse the
body side effects ranged from headaches to breathing difficulties and problems with vision but they were often thought to be caused by the illness itself rather than the treatment we now know how poisonous mercury actually is disease was nearly impossible for everyday people to avoid during the middle ages and this influenced attitudes towards life and death obviously people wanted to live as long as possible and avoid infectious disease they would flee from epidemics when they could but they were fairly tolerant of death dying was very much part of medieval life there were few old people around
most children saw their parents die between the ages of 30 to 40 and grandparents were a rarity most people in the middle ages were extremely religious and had no fear of passing away to them death was just the beginning so that's a small selection of the horrendous diseases that were rife throughout the middle ages a reminder of how lucky we are to have access to modern medicine thanks for watching this episode of medieval madness and i'll catch you next week for another one
