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Welcome! This website has been designed to provide a brief overview of medical history and to explain the key concepts relating to public health in England during the Middle Ages. Specifically, it is aimed at year 10/11 students who are taking the Edexcel GCSE, ‘Medicine Through Time’. Please note: this website is currently being written and changes are being made daily. Please visit us again soon! |
What will I find on this website?
An introduction to medieval medical history, including Classical ideas about health, and the Church's teachings on sin and disease.
A brief overview of what medieval cities were like as places to live, work and pray.Information on plague and the dangers of surgery.
A guide to medieval public health, including a description of how the authorities attempted to keep markets, rivers, and roads clean and free of dung, and the complaints that residents raised about the state of the environment.
Weblinks and suggestions for further reading.
Videos of two historic medieval buildings, created by students at Oriel High School.
Why was this website created?
This website was created by Dr Christopher Bonfield, a medieval medical historian, at the University of East Anglia. It is designed to be used by anyone with an interest in medieval medicine and public health. The website was also created to help students taking the Edexcel GCSE, ‘Medicine Through Time’, to better understand some of the underlining principles of medieval medicine and to prompt them to think about the following questions:
How did medieval men and women understand health disease? Were all medieval cities dirty and smelly? To what extent did the authorities care about the state of the environment; and what dangers were posed by raw sewerage and muck heaps?
This website also acts as a permanent record of lectures, seminars and small-group workshops that took place in the Forum, Norwich, in 2010. The events were sponsored by the University of East Anglia's Outreach Department and Cue East, and were attended by year 10/11 students from Oriel High School, Gorleston. Part of this website contains two videos of a medieval hospital and a medieval friary that were created by the students!
