Through the process of rebuilding and establishing a more modern nation, Europeans gained cleaner living conditions and thus, a more sustainable life. Sanitation and cleanliness eliminates difficulties from the body, mind, and environment; however, hygiene was non-existent during the Elizabethan Era. This led to the manifestation of diseases and illnesses. Treatments were unreliable and solely based on superstitions, so there was a dramatic decrease in population. As Europe gained more insight on anatomy, treatments improved and fewer diseases circulated the nation. With knowledge, Elizabethans learned that sanitation was crucial to prevent illnesses, and they discovered more logical treatments to fight diseases. Knowledge proves to be power. Elizabethans lived in an unsanitary, unhealthy environment -- a consequence from the lack of knowledge. Due to the belief that touching water evoked a devil possession or terminal illness, Elizabethans rarely showered. Eventually, filth made way to body lice, which led to the outbreak of typhus, the fourth most fatal disease of the Elizabethan Age, “Epidemics of louse-borne typhus ravaged London several times during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. Crowded, filthy conditions and a near total lack of bathing made room for body lice" (Mabillard 2). Body lice gave the skin rashes. When scratched, the body lice defecated on the skin. A small, minor cut was all it took for the feces to enter the body and infect the person with typhus. The disease induced fevers, delirium, and tissue decay. If Elizabethans realized that hygiene prevented this outbreak, Typhus would have been a minor sickness rather than a viral, deadly disease. Furthermore, because the Elizabethan Era lacked working sewage syst... ... middle of paper ... ...phy/londondisease.html 30 March 2014. "Medical Doctor: Job Description & Career Info." Education Portal. http://educationportal.com/articles/Medical_Doctor_Job_Description_and_Info_for_Students_Considering_a_Career_as_a_Medical_Doctor_Dr.html. 23 Apr. 2014. “Medicine and Astrology.” The Shorter Shakespeare: Twelfth Night. Carel Press. http://www.folger.edu/documents/WhatsYourSignBackground.pdf. 23 Apr. 2014 Morrell, Peter. “Medical Astrology and Astrological Medicine.” Astrology. http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/astrology/medical.htm. 23 Apr. 2014. “Sanitation.” Elizabethan Museum. http://elizabethanmuseum.weebly.com/sanitation.html. 30 Mar. 2014 Singman, Jeffrey L. Daily Life in Elizabethan England. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1995. "Surgery: MedlinePlus." U.S National Library of Medicine. 1 Apr. 2014. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/surgery.html. 23 Apr. 2014.
Have you ever wondered what people ate in the Elizabethan Era? The Elizabethan Era had foods that are in common with foods that we ate today, but there are a few different types of foods that they ate then that we don't eat now. This paper will tell readers the things that the Elizabethan Era ate, and their different eating times.
The book, The Ghost Map, tells the story of the cholera outbreak that took place in England during the medieval era. During this time, London became popular, causing it to become one of the most populous urban cities in England. However, it suffered from overcrowding, a large lower class, and little health regulations. As a result, living conditions and water supply were not the cleanest, and many died from the disease cholera. Though this epidemic led to many deaths/illnesses during it’s time, it has proven to be helpful and important to public health today. Some public health advancements that have occurred as a result include healthier, cleaner, and longer lives lived.
A law was made, saying that once someone was ill with the plague they were to stay in their house. Anyone who happened to live in the same house as the unfortunate soul was also locked in, with fear that they could spread the disease. Beggars were not allowed to wonder the streets at anytime, and were executed immediately for doing so without a given reason. All of these, although sensible ideas (apart from the execution..) would not contribute towards public health, as the disease was not contagious in the human community. It was in fact passed on from fleas living on black rats, but this knowledge had not yet been developed.
———. "A surgeon's code of behaviour and ethics, c. 1376." English Historical Documents. Accessed December 8, 2013. http://www.historystudycenter.com/search/displaySuitemPageImageItemById.do?UseMapping=SuitemPageImage&QueryName=suitem&ItemID=10648&resource=ehd&imageNumber=4&scale=100.
Alchin, Linda. “Elizabethan Medicine and Illnesses” www.elizabethan-era.org. UK. N.P. 16 May 2012 Web. 17 Jan 2014
Queen Elizabeth had many different palaces, many workers for the palaces, and the many responsibilities of the workers. All the queen’s palaces were extremely ravishing with many embellishments inside the palaces. Lastly, the queen’s palaces had many interesting activities that took place in form entertainment in the palaces. Queen Elizabeth owned fifty houses and sixty castles in total but, "Elizabeth had 14 palaces in regular use at her disposal as well as numerous "stately homes" throughout England owned by noblemen and gentry.” Elizabeth owned Whitehall, the tower, Greenwich, St. James’s, Somerset house, the charterhouse, and Durham place. The night prior coronation, and Durham place was reserved for the ambassadors and guests (Olsen Para 1). Since Queen Elizabeth had many palaces and the palaces were magnificent and fascinating because the queens palaces were filled with many workers, the inside palace was spectacular, and there were many forms of entertainment.
The medicinal practices and problems of the Elizabethan Era were very important to the people, although they are very different from those of today. There were many different beliefs and diseases, like the Plague. Medicine was not an exact science and was related to Alchemy (Chemistry). Here, some of the many practices and beliefs of the Elizabethan Era will be discussed.
Sanitary conditions in the West were practically non-existent. In the cities, horse manure covered the streets. Housewives emptied garbage, dishwater, and chamber pots into the middle of the city streets where free-roaming pigs devoured the waste. The pigs left their urine and feces on the streets. It was not easy to wash clothes. Many people had clothes splattered with manure, mud, sweat, and tobacco juice. Privies, or necessary houses were often to close to the homes with a very noticeable odor on hot and/or windy days. If a family had a kitchen, all the members washed at the sink each day, without soap, rubbing the dirt off with a coarse towel. Eventually, many cold bedrooms had a basin, ewer (pitcher), cup, and cupboard chamber pot. Bed bugs and fleas covered many of the travelers’ beds. “Isaac Weld saw filthy beds swarming with bugs.” These insects followed the travelers, crawling on their clothes and skin.
The Black Death is now known to be spread by a flea. However, this flea was not the cause as it was the bacterium which lay in the stomach of the flea. This bacterium’s scientific name is Yersinia pestis. The main host of the flea is a rat, scientifically called Rattus rattus. Humans caught the disease because when the rats bred rapidly, it would lead to a population invasion. When the rat died, the flea would have to find another warm-blooded host to feed on, and next to them are humans. The flea bites the human and infects them. The unhygienic living conditions in the Middle Ages led to a faster spread of the disease, as a result creating a better environment for rats to live in. The lack of knowledge in the fourteenth century led to even worse remedies.
Medicine in the Middle Ages We are very lucky today! When we are sick, we go and see the doctor, and he or she can usually make us better with the use of medicine. It wasn‘t like this in the medieval era.
It cannot be argued that the Black Plague was detrimental to every aspect of Europe’s communities. It was a powerful epidemic that wiped out a third of the continent’s population. Out of the midst of all its terror, however, positive after effects presented themselves. Some of these effects included revolutions in the church and society, eventually leading to the separation of church and state. Feudalism was also challenged as peasants demanded wages and revolted. Along with social changes came technological innovations, new inventions, and an attention to hygiene and the beginning of modern medicine. The plague may have devastated Europe, but it also gave way to a new era.
“Typhus fever is another disease born of bad sanitation. It is also known as, "jail fever" or "ship fever," because it was so common among men held captive in such putrid surroundings. The disease was highly contagious and usually transmitted through human feces and lice that infested the unclean bodies of the Elizabethans.
Peter Zilahy once said,” You have to make choices even when there is nothing to choose from.” This quote vastly reflects the life of Elizabethan women for many reasons. The main reasons for this includes: life determinations- education , career , even the food on the table, was controlled by one thing, Wealth! Wealth controlled an immense part of people’s lives. Additionally, there were even fashion laws controlled by wealth. Furthermore, women’s rights were highly restricted during this era. Women did not live the same during this time.
Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live during the Elizabethan Era? To see the works of great playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson firsthand? The theater was one of the cornerstones of Elizabethan life, and many people knew the works of Shakespeare and Jonson. While Shakespeare was arguably the greatest of the time, many other playwrights, including Jonson, flourished during this time period.