Why did people in medieval England die so young?

Question

not uncommon to hear them dying at the age of around 15 or younger

Answer 1

Poor sanitation and lack of health care and medical knowledge

Answer 2

What we take for granted today - antibiotics, dentistry, hygiene, nutrition, sanitation, etc. - was in no way common in medieval England (or Europe). Sooner or later the people would die of diseases which today barely affect us.

Answer 3

Not just the lack of medicine, but the medical mindset of the time as well. They believed health and temperments were dictated by a balance of the different fluids in the body. This mindset led people to the practise of blood-letting, which did anything but help patients. Plus, they were unaware of bacteria, viruses, etc. This brought about beliefs that things like the plague were curses on them because they had angered God. And lots of other little habits made them die young, too. They just didn't have the scientific knowledge that we do these days.

Answer 4

it was because of the diseases, and it was the DARK ages.  aka BAD ages.

Answer 5

Actually it was more like 30 and it was not typical to live past 40 at this time. Because life was hard, conditions deplorable and you worked yourself into an early grave. You worked from sun up to sun down you did not have a lot of food and you had pestilence and no real medicine.

Answer 6

Mostly because the sanitary conditions were horrid back then and diseases ran rampant.

Answer 7

Lack of proper medicine (no anesthetics, antibacterials, and they didn't sterilize any of their tools and implements, thus they could not take care of any diseases. if someone got a cold or god forbid pneumonia, it was pretty much game over).

Lack of refrigeration for food (this would present a particularly nasty problem in the summer)

The peasants could barely afford to eat and keep a roof over their heads/clothes on their back let alone bathe (largely due to taxation, also the food the peasants ate was definitely sub-par to the royals' food).

Answer 8

They DIDN'T die that young!  

This is a common misconception people have about lifetimes in the past.  Life expantancy was low, because many people died as infants.  (eg, Tiberius Grachus, ancient Roman politician, had only one other brother who didn't survive infancy, out of 12.)  But IF you lived past infancy/age 5, you would generally live to lifespans pretty close to what they are today.

Beyond that, lifespans were determined by nutrition, and cleanliness.  A major famine (crop failue) would occur about every 5 years.  This was a major obstacle to survival, but such failures were usually localized (eg, in about the area of a US state).  Sanitation was also a problem in spreading disease.

People excreted and pissed close to their water supplies, which spread germs.

(Can't think of a good conclusion here.)

Answer 9

Sanitation - disease was rampant in the unsanitary conditions under which many lived. And, once they got sick, the medical beliefs of the time prompted physicians to do blood-letting as a remedy. Yep, the sicker you were, the more blood they took from your body. Then you add the fact that their diets weren't all that great, and you have a pretty good recipe for a short life. Women were at additional risk, as their care during childbirth often led to puerperal fever or other infection.

Answer 10

There were a lot of infectious diseases that could not be cured, the mortality rate among infants, children and teenagers continued to be high up until the 20th century.  Tuberculosis for instance was a big killer of young people up until the middle of the last century.

However, those that survived the diseases of infancy and childhood could live to a ripe old age, it wasn't that uncommon for people to live to be old, since those who could survive the perils of childhood illnesses were often quite hardy.

Answer 11

The reason was two fold: lack of antibiotics and lack of proper sanitation. In medieval Europe if someone was sick, the treatments were terrible. Men called "quacks" came in wearing a mask that looked like a duck, used so he wouldn't breath the contagion,would recite prayers and administered primitive drugs that more often killed people than saved them. Along with having no antibiotics they had no theory about germs. They had no idea that tiny germs that were spread by water or air were the cause of infection. They instead thought sick people were afflicted by God.

Secondly, sanitation was terrible there. People would often throw waste into the streets. Because of all the rubbish the rat population prospered creating a means by which great diseases like the great plague could spread.

Answer 12

cleanliness,food,medical aid,lifestyles to name a few

Answer 13

They had nothing to do but go to church, so they died of boredom.