Abstract
This article explores the urban environmental concerns of late-medieval English towns and cities and argues that these urban areas had a form of public health. During this period, regulations that focused on maintaining the good health of town and city inhabitants were created and enforced. Among other things, these regulations focused on reducing unsanitary trade practices, protecting water sources, eliminating foul smells from the air, and preventing the consumption of bad food and water. They also represented a practical application of medieval theories and perceptions of disease—namely that disease was linked to bad smells. Rather than lacking any form of public health due to medieval theories of disease, they actively pursued it due to the ancient and medieval link between environmental health and physical health.
Highlights
To the mayor and bailiffs of York, The king, detesting the abominable smell abounding in the said city more than in any other city of the realm from dung and manure and other filth and dirt wherewith the streets and lanes are filled and obstructed, and wishing to provide for the protection of the health of the inhabitants and of those coming to the present parliament, orders them to cause all the streets and lanes of the city to be cleansed from such filth before St
To be kept clean.... (Lyte, 1898, membrane 9d). This quote from 1332 highlights a few causes of bad smells within medieval English towns and cities, and a central concern for eliminating those smells and keeping the urban environment clean—that they could affect the health of urban inhabitants
Medieval citizens cared about urban cleanliness due to their environmentally-based understanding of disease that focused mainly on the smell of the air and water
Summary
To the mayor and bailiffs of York, The king, detesting the abominable smell abounding in the said city more than in any other city of the realm from dung and manure and other filth and dirt wherewith the streets and lanes are filled and obstructed, and wishing to provide for the protection of the health of the inhabitants and of those coming to the present parliament, orders them to cause all the streets and lanes of the city to be cleansed from such filth before St.
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