Material and Social Life in the Middle Ages199have been emotionally devastating to the mother and
murder in the eyes of the law, but it was easy to conceal
in a world where infant mortality was common and
doctors scarce. Its incidence in the Middle Ages is
therefore a matter of controversy. Contemporary reli-
gious and civil authorities thought it was common, and
many an old folk tale recalls its horrors.
Abandonment, the most common alternative to in-
fanticide, appears to have declined sharply in the pros-
perous years of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It
became more frequent as population pressures in-
creased during the thirteenth century and revived be-
tween the famines of 1315–17 and the Black Death. As
in ancient times, estimating how many of these aban-
doned children survived is impossible. If hard times
persisted, less dramatic forms of birth control came into
play. People simply refused to marry and remained celi-
bate, sometimes for life. The marriage rate almost in-
variably declined during periods of economic stress.
Those who survived infancy still faced heavy odds.
Medieval life expectancy was probably in the low thir-
ties at birth (see table 11.3). Averages, however, can be
deceiving. Many people lived into their fifties, and the
proportionate number of individuals over the age of
eighty-five was probably not much smaller than it is to-
day. The primary causes of early death remained dis-
ease, often complicated by malnutrition, and the
inadequate treatment of wounds and injuries.
The spread of disease was encouraged by crowd-
ing and by a widespread indifference to personal hy-
giene. In the absence of a germ theory, personal
cleanliness was a matter of aesthetics, and bathing
was regarded with suspicion by Christian thinkers
who associated it with pagan luxury or with Jewish
and Muslim rituals. Its alternative was difficult and
expensive to achieve. By the twelfth century, fire-
wood, like timber, had become scarce and expensive
everywhere in western and central Europe. Bathing
in cold water in an unheated room was unattractive.
Most people had better uses for their limited supplies
of precious firewood. Rashes and skin infections were
therefore common. Crowding, often for warmth, and
the custom of keeping livestock and pets in the home
added to the problem by ensuring that many Euro-
peans would play host to a variety of insect pests.
This encouraged the spread of epidemics because lice
and fleas carried infectious diseases including typhus
and, later, plague.
Contaminated drinking water accounted for an-
other group of deadly ailments, while airborne viruses
and bacteria were as numerous as they are today. Here,
too, the absence of a germ theory rendered public
health measures ineffective. Water that looked clean
was thought to be safe, and indoor air was purified by
scenting it with perfumes and herbs. Malaria, endemic
in southern Europe, was thought to be caused by
breathing miasmas, or foul air. It is actually spread by
mosquitoes. The offending parasite remains in the
bloodstream for life, causing recurring attacks of chills
and fever even if it fails to kill its victim outright. Those
weakened by malnutrition or other ailments were the
most likely to succumb.The figures below represent the estimated life expectancy of male landholders in medieval England. They are arranged by
dates of birth and demonstrate the substantial changes in mortality that occurred over time. Life expectancy for women was
probably somewhat shorter owing to the dangers of childbirth.
Age 1200–76 1276–1301 1301–26 1326–48 1348–76 1376–1401 1401–25 1425–50
0 35.3 31.3 29.8 27.2 17.3 20.5 23.8 32.8
10 36.3 32.2 31.0 28.1 25.1 24.5 29.7 34.5
20 28.7 25.2 23.8 22.1 23.9 21.4 29.4 27.7
30 22.8 21.8 20.0 21.1 22.0 22.3 25.0 24.1
40 17.8 16.6 15.7 17.7 18.1 19.2 19.3 20.4
60 9.4 8.3 9.3 10.8 10.9 10.0 10.5 13.7
80 5.2 3.8 4.5 6.0 4.7 3.1 4.8 7.9
Source: Carlo Cipolla, The Middle Ages,Fontana Economic History of Europe (London: Colliers, 1973), p. 47. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.TABLE 11.3Life Expectancy in the Middle Ages