When we think of medieval friars, we may well picture Robin Hood’s jolly Friar Tuck, known for his rotund figure and love of food and drink.
But it turns out some of these monks were full of more than just cakes and ale.
According to a study released recently, Augustinian friars in medieval England were nearly twice as likely to suffer from intestinal parasites as other people, despite most monasteries being equipped with washing facilities – a rarity for ordinary citizens.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology excavated the remains of 19 friars from the grounds of a former Augustinian friary in Cambridge, England.
Medieval monks had better washing facilities than ordinary people.
By comparing soil samples taken from around the pelvises of the friars and 25 townspeople of low socioeconomic status from the same 12th-14th-century era, the researchers were able to compare the prevalence of parasites in people with vastly different lifestyles, according to the study, published in the International Journal of Paleopathology.
The percentage of parasitic presence in locals was as expected, like that found in previous studies on European medieval burials, but the researchers said the infection rates from the former friary remains are high.
“The friars of medieval Cambridge appear to have been riddled with parasites,” Piers Mitchell, the study’s lead author, said in a press release.
It’s the first time anyone has tried to work out how common parasites were in people with different lifestyles from the same medieval town, he added.
Researcher Tianyi Wang, who did the microscopy to find the parasite eggs, said the most common species found was roundworm, followed by whipworm, both of which are spread by “poor sanitation.”
Although the friars had access to latrines and washing facilities – usually with running water, though this has yet to be confirmed at the Cambridge site – the researchers suggest the stark difference in the infection rate must be due to differences in dealing with human waste.
“One possibility is that the friars manured their vegetable gardens with human feces, not unusual in the medieval period, and this may have led to repeated infection with the worms,” Mitchell explained.
Compared with the privy – fancy by medieval standards – to which monks were accustomed, ordinary people had to make do with a cesspit, a simple hole in the ground.
Parasitic worms in humans
Intestinal worms are parasites, deriving their nutrition from the human gut. Three kinds of worms can infest the human intestine: roundworms, tapeworms, and flukes. The various species within these groups can live in different parts of the intestines, causing differing symptom patterns.
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What are the most common human parasites?
The Most Common Parasites that Can Affect Humans
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What are the most common human parasites?
How common are parasites in humans?
What do parasites live in the human body?
Parasites are organisms that rely on a host for food and nutrients. They live in or on the host at the host’s expense. Intestinal parasites live in the digestive tract in the intestines. Most of the time humans are accidental hosts in the parasite life cycle. In humans, there are two intestinal parasite types:
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How to tell if you have parasites?
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What is the most dangerous parasite?
What Are the Symptoms of a Parasite Infection?
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Keep an eye out for symptoms of parasites like these:
For more information on intestinal parasites, persons should consult their family physician.
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Top o’ the morning!