Vegetables
included onions, leeks, and cabbage. Fruits included apples,
pears, plums, cherries, and strawberries. Water was obtained from
streams running through the town to the Thames and from springs.
Only the rich, palaces, and churches could afford beeswax candles;
others had home-made tallow [cow or sheep fat] candles which
smelled and gave off smoke. Most people washed their bodies. Even
the poor had beds and bed clothes. Few babies survived childhood.
If a man reached 30, he could expect to live until age 50.
Thousands of Londoners died during a hot summer from fevers,
plague and the like.
In London, bells heralded the start and finish of all organized
business. The sellers of merchandise and hirers of labor were
distributed every morning into their several localities according
to their trade. Vendors, craftsmen, and laborers had their
customary places. Some vendors walked the streets announcing their
wares for sale. There were craft guilds of bakers, butchers,
clothworkers, and saddlers, as well as of weavers. Vendors on the
Thames River bank sold cooked fish caught from the river and wine
from ships and wine cellars. Cook shops sold roasted meats covered
with hotly spiced sauces.
London Bridge was built of stone for the first time. It was
supported by a series of stone arches standing on small man-made
islands. It had such a width that a row of wood houses and a
chapel was built on top of it.
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