Life in Medieval London Trivia Quiz

Answer: use one of the city's public latrines

Medieval London had many public latrines. The best-known ones were on London Bridge and emptied directly into the Thames.

Answer: take it out to the street and pour it in the gutter

It was illegal to throw anything out the window. Most Londoners agreed that it was a disgusting habit, and people who violated the ordinances were often presented to civic authorities by their neighbours. However, penalties were not enforced with a great deal of enthusiasm. Violators were supposed to be fined, but, even when an official caught someone in the act, they were usually let off with a warning - unless they hit someone! Even more serious consequences were possible. Periodically someone - usually drunk and invariably male - would bypass the chamber pot entirely and go directly out the window or off an outside staircase.

When these people came to the attention of an official it was usually the Coroner. Intoxication tends to have a negative effect on one's sense of balance.

Answer: he thought it would be more effective than threatening to excommunicate them

Medieval piety wasn't always quite as enthusiastic is imagined.

Answer: beer

Traditional ale brewers were particularly zealous in warning against the dangers of beer. They were, I am sure, entirely unaffected by self-interest.:)

Answer: he was made to wear a conduit-shaped hat and led around the city on a horse

People condemned to the stocks usually had something tied around their necks to indicate their crime. Public humiliation was a mainstay of medieval criminal justice, and there was no lack of creativity in its implementation. In this case, the "hat" was filled with water which dribbled out a little pipe to soak the miscreant. Piping water indoors was no innovation. Castles, monasteries and great houses had had such conveniences for several centuries. Kings often bestowed the right to tap into castle or palace water supplies on people they wished to honour. Caernarfon Castle was particularly well supplied.

There were two pipes that led into the kitchen, one of which ran behind the ovens. The castle had hot and cold running water in the thirteenth century.

Answer: all of these

And this would be an example of the failure of 14th c. regulations. Medieval cities suffered from the NIMBY phenomenon too. Between 1343 and 1393, the butchers were evicted from three separate sites by unhappy neighbours and kicked out of the city about five times.

Unfortunately, slaughtering outside the city increased the cost of meat so much that they never really stayed out. They eventually reached a compromise. They were to take their refuse to the river, chop it up in small pieces, take it out in a boat and throw it into the middle of the river at ebb tide. Dire punishments were threatened for anyone who lost part of the load on the way to the river.

There were few complaints after 1393, so they probably adhered to the regulations fairly well.

Answer: rakers

Medieval London had both street cleaners and garbage collection, much as we do now. Rakers were supposed to either cart the rubbish to the dumping grounds outside the city or to take it down to 'laystalls' on the Thames, where it would be picked up by dungboats and carried out to the dumps that way. Most did, but some tried to take shortcuts.

A few were charged with depositing their filth in neighbouring wards. They were also prohibited from cleaning the streets when it rained - the lazy among them found it much simpler to let the runoff wash it away.

Answer: only if they belonged to the Hospitallers of St. Antony

Wandering pigs were a real nuisance, and sometimes even a danger. St. Antony's, which was a charitable order, had special dispensation to let its pigs wander around the city and root through whatever rubbish hadn't been cleaned up yet. Many citizens were jealous of this privilege since it allowed substantial savings on feed.

There was no net gain for the rakers - whatever trash the pigs disposed of was returned to the streets after a little biological processing. Moreover, they were actually dangerous. Young children were sometimes mauled or even killed by pigs that had wandered into their houses.

Answer: all of these

There was a basic understanding of the risks of contagious disease, poor sanitation and excess weight. In short, attitudes toward prevention haven't changed much. Treatment is another issue. Some of the herbs they used were effective, but a medieval physician might also prescribe a concoction of cow dung or ground diamonds to his unfortunate patient.

Answer: hit on the head by a bucket of oyster shells thrown out a window

I don't know if there are any good ways to die, but if there are these don't qualify. A man was hit by a bucket of oyster shells in the manner described, but he survived. The fellow who drowned in a cess-pit was a raker. He who lives by the filth dies by the filth?