WorksheetsLiving Conditions in Medieval Britain
Total questions: 25
Worksheet time: 13mins
What was one advantage for a peasant working in the countryside?
They earned lots of money
They were free
They worked in fresh air
Two causes of the Great Famine were...
A population increase over the years
Very hot summers
Outbreaks of animal disease
Not enough work for the peasants
What percentage of the population lived in the countryside?
About 30%
About 50%
About 70%
About 90%
What percentage of the population died in the Great Famine of 1316-16?
10%
20%
30%
40%
What type of grain was used to make the bread eaten by peasants?
Wheat
Rye
Barley
'St Anthony's Fire' was a disease the poor often suffered from. What was another name for this disease?
Typhoid
Ergotism
Cholera
Black Death
Why did rich people not suffer from ergotism?
They didn't eat bread
They could afford medicine to treat it
They ate bread made from wheat
Which two ways was a village supplied with water?
Streams
Water pipes
Water sellers
Springs
Which industry polluted streams in the countryside?
Fulling
Butchers
Tanners
Dyers
Villagers had a good supply of fish and would eat this instead of meat on a Friday.
True
False
Give two drinks villagers had.
Tea
Orange juice
Cider
Mead
The most common food eaten by villagers was...
Pottage
Bread
Cheese
Yoghurt
Two reasons why villagers brought their animals inside their huts...
To keep the animals safe
Animals were scared outside
To help keep the peasants warm
To fill the house with dung
A midden was
The pile of rubbish
A food peasants ate
Type of house a peasant lived in
What did they most commonly do with the waste from the middens and cesspits?
Spread it as a fertiliser on the fields
Burnt it
Just left it to rot away
Where did people in towns get most of their food from?
It was brought to their houses
From shops next to their houses
From market stalls run by peasants
They grew their own
What were the two main ways those living in a town accessed water?
Stream
Rivers
Conduits
Water-sellers
Who built the earliest conduits in towns?
The Church
Kings
Government
They did not have public latrines in the towns.
True
False
From 1293, what was the name of the people employed to clear the streets of waste?
Gongfermers
Rakers
Carters
Bin men
What was the name of the invisible poison in the air which people thought caused diseases?
Ergotism
Miasma
Smog
Why did people often grow flowers in their garden?
To sell at the market
They thought it brightened up their gardens
They thought the scent from flowers would purify the air
People often heated water as they thought this would keep their humours in balance.
True
False
What did a gongfermer do?
Worked on a market stall
Emptied the cesspits
Swept the streets
Tried to treat people who had a disease
At what time of the day would a gonfermer carry out their work?
Early in the morning
Lunchtime
At night
Any time of the day
