Medieval monks were ’riddled with worms’

Augustinian friars being excavated by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit. Credit: Cambridge Archaeological Unit Research examining traces of parasites in the remains of medieval Cambridge residents suggests that local friars were almost twice as likely as ordinary working townspeople to have intestinal worms - despite monasteries of the period having far more sanitary facilities. One possibility is that the friars manured their vegetable gardens with human faeces Piers Mitchell A new analysis of remains from medieval Cambridge shows that local Augustinian friars were almost twice as likely as the city's general population to be infected by intestinal parasites. This is despite most Augustinian monasteries of the period having latrine blocks and hand-washing facilities, unlike the houses of ordinary working people. Researchers from the University of Cambridge's Department of Archaeology say the difference in parasitic infection may be down to monks manuring crops in friary gardens with their own faeces, or purchasing fertiliser containing human or pig excrement. The study, published today in the International Journal of Paleopathology , is the first to compare parasite prevalence in people from the same medieval community who were living different lifestyles, and so might have differed in their infection risk. The population of medieval Cambridge consisted of residents of monasteries, friaries and nunneries of various major Christian orders, along with merchants, traders, craftsmen, labourers, farmers, and staff and students at the early university.