The Truth About Medieval Water

Many people believe that medieval people avoided drinking water because they feared contamination, choosing instead to drink beer and wine all day. This video challenges that myth using primary historical sources: from King Edwin ordering a bronze cup to be placed beside a spring, to London’s gravity-fed Great Conduit, and even an ingenious siphon system in Perugia that made water appear to “flow uphill.” Also included is a barley-water recipe from 1393, demonstrating that people in the Middle Ages placed real importance on clean and drinkable water. Sources: Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People (8th century) — accounts of King Edwin and Abbot Ceadda. Le Ménagier de Paris (1393) — recipe for tisane/barley water. Paulus Aegineta, Medical Compendium (7th century) Andrew Boorde, A Dyetary of Helth (16th century) — classification of different types of water according to the theory of the four humors. William FitzStephen, Description of London (c. 1180) — descriptions of London’s springs, which later supplied the Great Conduit. Ælfric, Colloquy (10th century) — an educational dialogue discussing ale and water.