Chapter 3 Study Guide

By: Arianne Blank

Question 1

• What was “ The Little Ice Age?” and how did it affect the people of Europe?

Answer 1• Question: What was “The Little Ice Age?” And how did it affect the

people of Europe?

• Answer: “The Little Ice Age” was a period of time around 1300 when all of the winters began to be colder and wetter. In addition to this the summers, springs, and falls were cold and wet. “The Little Ice Age” affected the citizens of Europe, all of the crops were dying and the prices for them went up. Most medieval families could not afford food. Some effects of this were eating pets, eating other peoples’ garbage, and cannibalism.

Question 2

• What are some of the most important things that added to Europe’s growing problem of sanitation?

Answer 2• Question: What are some of the most important things that added to

Europe’s growing problem of sanitation?

• Answer: There are many things that added to Europe’s problem with sanitation. One of the most important was people dumping their chamber pots out into the streets; over time the streets would be flooded with human waste. Another important thing that added to the problem was butchers; the butchers would kill the animals in the streets ad leave some of the unused body parts just laying there. This was a real problem, as it attracted rats and insects to the cities, adding to the spread of plague. These are some things that contributed to Europe’s growing problem with sanitation.

Question 3

• Why did most people bathe only once or twice a year in the early 1300’s?

Answer 3• Question: Why did most people only bathe once or twice a year in the

early 1300’s?

• Answer: Most people didn’t bathe very often because they thought it would be easier to just wash their face in the morning, than to take a bath. Also some religions were opposed to bathing, and some people thought that it was a waste of water. After some time the beliefs got looser and people bathed more often. This is why people in the early 1300’s only bathed a few times a year.

Question 4

• What did the European cities try to do to fix the sanitation problem?

Answer 4• Question: What did the European cities try to do to fix the sanitation

problem?

• Answer: The European cities put gutters in the towns to get the waste out. Supposedly when the people dumped their chamber pots out the window the waste would land in the gutters. The gutters would lead into rivers or just into other parts of the cites. According to the people that built them the waste would flow down the gutters when it rained. It didn’t, it just sat there; this was a problem too. Also the cities tried to deal with the sanitation problem by hiring people to inspect the streets to make sure that people kept them clean. Also some people were hired to clean the streets and dump the waste into dumping areas, such as rivers and streams. This helped some, but the cities were still dirty, and so were the rivers and streams. This is how the European cities tried to fix the sanitation problem.