Health and diet in Elizabethan England

England during the Elizabethan era (1558 - 1603), though frequently regarded as the zenith of Renaissance, did not give its people a high standard of health. Various diseases and food problems emerged which made life difficult for them.

Health

Common diseases in the 16th century

The serious lack of sanitation in Elizabethan England, especially in big cities, gave rise to many diseases endangering the lives of the people in England. Streets were filled with rotting garbage, and animals were allowed to defecate wherever they wanted. Most of the people of the Tople land ate pigs and cows, which were known to eat garbage. This led to the attack of the sewage mouse. Sewers were blocked and rivers were contaminated by domestic waste. Epidemic diseases became increasingly common due to the growth of pests such as rats, fleas and lice, and were especially prevalent among children due to their high susceptibility to diseases.

Common diseases arising from the lack of sanitation included smallpox, measles, malaria, typhus, diphtheria, Scarlet fever, and chickenpox. As the 16th century was also a period of discovery and exploration for England, it is common that explorers and travelers contract diseases such as Malaria and sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis in foreign countries and spread them when they returned to their homeland.

Treatment of diseases

Advanced medicine did not exist back in the 16th century, therefore people sought for basic remedies to various illnesses usually by making their own medicine and potions using herbs and plants. Most people also preferred home medicine and household remedy as they were much cheaper than seeing doctors and physicians.

Examples for herbal and plant usage:

* Treatment for Malaria: Cinchona, a plant derivative from Peru
* Treatment for headache: Rose, Lavender and other sweet-scented herbs
* Treatment for earache: Roasted onion (placed inside the ear)
* Treatment for stomachache: wormwood, mint, and balm
* Treatment for lung problems: liquorice and comfrey

Examples of home-made recipes to cure Bubonic Plague:

"Take yarrow, tansy, featherfew, of each a handful, bruise them well together,let the sick urinate on the herbs, strain them, and drink the mixture."

"Take sage, rue, briar leaves, elder leaves of each a handful, stamp them and strain them with a quart of white wine, and put thereto a little ginger, and a good spoonful of the best treacle, and drink thereof morning and evening."

People also tried to cure diseases using methods based on their superstitious beliefs. For example, some believed that the use of magic and gemstones could cure mental illnesses and emotional discomfort. Astrology was also widely practised. They also believed in the four different internal 'humours' (liquids) represented by the four elements of air, water, earth and fire, and that the disruption in the balance among the elements would make one sick.

Typical lifespan

In the 16th century, the life span was shorter than that of today. The average lifespan of an adult male was 47 years, while the life expectancy of people in London was 35 years for the richer ones, and only 25 years for the less affluent ones. Death in infancy or early childhood was common. Also, about 40% of the people died before their middle teenage years. Fact|date=December 2007

The average lifespan then was much lower than that of the present due to many factors. For example, due to the poor sanitation in England, especially in big cities such as London, epidemic diseases were widely spread. It was also very common for children to contract various diseases and die at a young age as some homemade medicine were ineffective and inadequate, and many ill children were abandoned during the 16th century. Death in childbirth was also common. Moreover, due to the high costs of seeing a physician and the use of non-advanced medicine, people were unable to cure all diseases with their homemade medicine. Surgical procedures were also very basic without the use of high-tech machines and instruments. As the tools and instruments were not thoroughly and properly disinfected, wounds of patients were often infected which led to many deaths during the operations.

Diet

People of different social status and financial ability consumed different food. The lower classes had a humble, unvaried diet consisting largely of bread, fish, cheese and vegetables. Vegetables were food for the poor as the rich considered food from the ground as lowly, while meat was a luxury for the rich. The upper classes had a variety of meat to choose such as venison, beef, pork, lamb and fowl. They could also choose from many different fish such as salmon, eel and different shellfish. They occasionally took vegetables such as turnips, carrots, and radishes; and fruits such as apples, plums, and woodland strawberries. However, meat was still the main component of their diet. They were also fond of fancy desserts like pastries, tarts, cakes, and crystallized fruit and syrup.

Bread took up an important part in the diet during the Elizabethan era, and people of different statuses ate bread of different qualities. The Upper Classes ate fine white bread called Manchet while the poor ate coarse bread of barley or rye.

Therefore, both the rich and the poor had imbalanced diets. The lack of vegetables and fruits in their diets also caused a deficiency in Vitamin C, which usually results in scurvy.

Availability of food

Trade and industry flourished in the 16th century, making England more prosperous, benefiting the upper and middle Classes by improving their standard of living, therefore there was enough food for them. However, the lower classes did not benefit much and did not always have enough food. As the English population was fed by its own agricultural produce, starvation and poverty were common during the 1590s because there was a series of bad harvests. More efforts were also placed on the trading of wool in the 16th century which put less attention in the agricultural aspect of the economy, resulting in further starvation of the lower classes. There was also famine in England in 1594-1600 and in Cumbria, the poorest and most isolated part of England, people died of starvation. Diseases and natural disasters also contributed to the scarce supply of food at that time.

Moreover there was the population explosion during the 16th century. Just by looking at London, there were only 100,000 people when Mary Tudor died, but by the time Elizabeth I died, the number of people there had doubled. There was also serious inflation at that time, and many people were competing for food. The wealth-gap problem was also huge. While a very small proportion of the population enjoyed their life in luxury, a large number of people could barely maintain their daily life. There were children, men and women begging in the cities and the children only earned six pence a week. With the industry in the country growing, the landlord could use his land for industrial or other purposes anytime, and the farmers would be thrown out of job. Also, even when the situation became so serious, instead of welfare, the government spent a huge amount of money on wars and voyages of exploration.

References

* [http://renaissance.duelingmodems.com/compendium/38.html Food in Elizabethan England]