Living conditions in the medieval and early modern eras

Poverty and malnutrition were common. Most people in medieval Britain were peasants who relied on the crops they grew and the few animals they kept to survive. After a poor harvest, they became even more susceptible to disease. Children were particularly vulnerable and it is estimated that 30 per cent died before the age of seven.

Famine was a constant threat. During the Great Famine of 1315–17, it is thought that 10 per cent of Britain’s population died. People often had to eat all their animals and the following year's seed. This created problems for future years.

War was an…