Being a monk in medieval times was not a luxury. Yes, the monasteries were perhaps a haven of peace, they had better resources, they had latrines and they had hand-washing facilities. That, however, did not prevent the friars from being “infested with worms”, according to research from the University of Cambridge.
The archaeologists point out that the religious of the Augustinian Order, for example, were almost twice as likely as the rest of the population of the city of Cambridge – whose homes were much more unhealthy than the monasteries – of being infected by intestinal parasites. .
The theory of the specialists is that the friars were probably more prone to intestinal worms because the monks fertilized their crops in the convent gardens with their own feces, or bought fertilizer that contained human or pig excrement.
The study published in the International Journal of Paleopathology explains that the medieval population of Cambridge was made up of residents of the monasteries of several of the main Christian orders as well as merchants, craftsmen, workers, farmers and staff and students of the first universities.
The archaeologists analyzed soil samples taken around the pelvises of adult skeletons from the old Todos los Santos cemetery, next to the Castillo parish church, as well as from the grounds where the city’s Augustinian Convent once stood.
Most of the burials in the church date from between the 12th and 14th centuries. The people buried there were mainly from a lower socioeconomic status, mainly agricultural workers.
Instead, the Augustinian convent in Cambridge was an international space, known as the studium generale, where clergy from all over Britain and Europe came to read manuscripts. It was founded in the 1280s and lasted until 1538, before suffering the fate of most English monasteries: closed or destroyed as part of Henry VIII’s break with the Roman Catholic Church.
The researchers tested 19 monks from the convent grounds and 25 villagers from the Todos los Santos cemetery, finding that 11 of the friars (58%) were infected by worms, compared to only eight of the villagers who were not. religious (32%).
According to experts, these rates are probably the minimum and the real number of infections would have been much higher. The problem is that some traces of worm eggs in the sediment where the pelvis was found would have been destroyed over time by fungi and insects.
The 32% prevalence of parasites among townspeople is in line with analyzes of medieval burials in other European countries, suggesting that this is not particularly low. The thing is, infection rates at the monastery were remarkably high.
“The medieval friars of Cambridge seem to have been plagued by parasites,” explains Dr. Piers Mitchell, lead author of the study. Microscope specialist Tianyi Wang adds that “roundworm (roundworm) was the most common infection,” but evidence “of whipworm infection” was also found. “Both are spread by poor sanitation,” he notes.
Standard sanitation in medieval cities relied on the cesspool toilet: holes in the ground used for faeces and household waste. In monasteries, however, running water systems were a common feature, also in latrines. In Cambridge it is also believed that this was the case, although this is something that has not yet been confirmed because the site is only partially excavated.
On the other hand, not all the people buried in the Augustinian convents were clerics, since the wealthy people of the city could pay to be buried there. However, the team was able to determine which tombs belonged to the friars from the remains of their clothing.
“The monks were buried in the belts they wore as the standard dress of the order, and we were able to see the metal buckles in the dig,” says Craig Cessford of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit.
Since roundworms and whipworms are spread by poor sanitation, the researchers argue that the difference in infection rates between the religious and the general population could be due to how each group dealt with their human waste.
“One possibility is that the friars fertilized their gardens with human faeces, which was not unusual in the medieval period, and this may have led to repeated infections with the worms,” ??says Mitchell.
Medieval records reveal what Cambridge residents knew about parasites like the roundworm and whipworm. John Stockton, a physician who died in 1361, left a manuscript to the University of Peterhouse that included a section on De Lumbricis (“on worms”).
He points out that intestinal worms are generated by the excess of various types of mucus: “The round and long worms are formed from an excess of salty phlegm, the round and short worms are formed from the acid phlegm, while the round and short worms are formed from the acid phlegm. short and wide worms are formed from sweet or natural phlegm”.
The text prescribes “bitter medicinal plants” such as aloe and wormwood, but recommends that they be disguised with “honey or other sweet things” to help the medicine go down.
Another text, Tabula medicine, which was accepted by leading 15th-century Cambridge physicians, suggests remedies recommended by Franciscan monks such as Symon Welles, who advocated mixing a powder made from moles into a healing drink.
